The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was being transported to Baltimore so crews on Friday can begin removing the wreckage of a collapsed highway bridge that has halted a search for four workers still missing days after the disaster and blocked the city's vital port from operating.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the crane, which was arriving by barge and can lift up to 1,000 tons, will be one of at least two used to clear the channel of the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the cargo ship that hit it this week.
"The best minds in the world” are working on the plans for removal, Moore said. The US Army Corps of Engineers for the Baltimore District told the governor that it and the Navy were mobilizing major resources from around the country at record speed to clear the channel.
“This is not just about Maryland,” Moore said. “This is about the nation’s economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.”
He warned of a long road to recovery but said he was grateful to the Biden administration for approving $60 million in immediate aid. President Joe Biden has said the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.
“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”
Thirty-two members of the Army Corps of Engineers were surveying the scene of the collapse and 38 Navy contractors were working on the salvage operation, officials said Thursday.
The devastation left behind after the cargo ship lost power and struck a support pillar early Tuesday is extensive. Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the bridge’s middle span Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone can reach the bodies of four other missing workers.
State police have said that based on sonar scans, the vehicles appear to be encased in a “superstructure” of concrete and other debris.
Federal and state officials have said the collision and collapse appeared to be an accident.
Rebuilding the bridge could take anywhere from 18 months to several years, experts say, while the cost could be at least $400 million — or more than twice that.
It all depends on factors that are still mostly unknown. They range from the design of the new bridge to how swiftly government officials can navigate the bureaucracy of approving permits and awarding contracts.
Realistically, the project could take five to seven years, according to Ben Schafer, an engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University.
“The lead time on air conditioning equipment right now for a home renovation is like 16 months, right?" Schafer said. He continued: “So it’s like you’re telling me they’re going to build a whole bridge in two years? I want it to be true, but I think empirically it doesn’t feel right to me.”
Others are more optimistic about the potential timeline: Sameh Badie, an engineering professor at George Washington University, said the project could take as little as 18 months to two years.
