Second channel opened, allowing some vessels to bypass wreckage at the Baltimore bridge collapse site
Crews opened a second temporary channel on Tuesday allowing a limited amount of marine traffic to bypass the wreckage of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had blocked the vital port’s main shipping channel since its destruction one week ago.
BALTIMORE — Crews opened a second temporary channel on Tuesday allowing a limited amount of marine traffic to bypass the wreckage of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had blocked the vital port’s main shipping channel since its destruction one week ago.
Work is ongoing to open a third channel that will allow larger vessels to pass through the bottleneck, officials announced at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. The channels are primarily open primarily to vessels that are helping with the cleanup effort, along with some barges and tugs that have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore.
A tugboat pushing a fuel barge was the first vessel to use an alternate channel late Monday. It was supplying jet fuel to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base.
Gov. Wes Moore said rough weather conditions over the last two days, including thunderstorms, have made it unsafe for divers trying to recover the bodies of the four construction workers who are believed trapped underwater in the wreckage. “We promised these families that we would do everything in our power to bring them closure, but also my directive is to complete this mission with no injuries and no casualties,” Moore said.
U.S Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin said the underwater conditions are “extremely unforgiving” for divers.
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