Federal officials also announced that the first round of relief funds – $60 million sought by Maryland state officials – would go toward disaster recovery just hours after the request was filed.
Corps leaders leading the Patapsco River cleanup effort outlined a three-phase effort to get one of the nation's largest shipping hubs back up and running. They are desperately trying to stem the economic fallout from Tuesday's cargo ship collision.
The team will first try to remove the giant steel truss blocking the shipping channel, allowing one-way traffic to enter and exit the port again. The second step involves lifting and relocating part of the 985-foot-tall Dali Bridge. Finally, the concrete and steel frames that have settled on the riverbed are dredged.
Officials haven't yet given a timeline for how long the process will take, but infrastructure and salvage experts say the cleanup will take place in frigid waters, where divers must cut through steel beams, and on board ships. He said the 764 tonnes of hazardous materials left behind would pose major challenges. Dali.
Peter Ford, a former merchant seaman and founder of Skyrock Advisors, which provides consulting on infrastructure projects, likened the operation to freeing a container ship stuck in the Suez Canal in 2021, but it is likely more complex. right.
“This is very technical, very difficult and frankly dangerous,” Ford said. “A vessel of this size. A bridge of this size. I've never seen a situation in my career where the entire span was completely lowered and part of it was still on the ship.”
Federal officials have not provided details on how they plan to conduct the cleanup, but Ford said they will use sonar and other tools to determine where debris is located on the bed of the Patapsco River, about 50 meters above sea level. He said that he thinks they should start by understanding the situation on a map. foot depth.
He said it would involve chopping up debris above and below the surface and possibly requiring divers. A barge or boat-based crane then lifts the parts onto a nearby floating barge. He said cutting steel can be particularly dangerous because beams can shift or fall. In some cases, workers may be forced to build platforms to support beams while cutting them, he said.
He said the team would likely need to go below deck to check the Dali's seaworthiness before towing it into port. Finally, he said they will likely use shovels to dredge material from the riverbed.
James Bell, president of ADCO Environmental Services, a Chicago-based hazardous materials cleaning company, says one complicating factor is the 56 shipping containers containing hazardous materials, including Some of them said they were broken. Hazardous materials include corrosive and flammable liquids, lithium-ion batteries, etc.
National Transportation Safety Board officials said Wednesday they noticed a shiny surface on the Patapsco and the team deployed a floating boom to stop the leak.
“Hazardous materials personnel always arrive after emergency responders,” Bell said. “We need to remove the hazardous materials so that when we bring in new workers to begin removing the bridge, they are not at risk.”
Bell said the flammable and corrosive liquid is unlikely to leak because it is packaged inside steel drums or industrial “totes” designed to transport chemicals safely. .
“meanwhile, [shipping] Containers can fall off bridges and be damaged. [drums and totes] It’s very strong and holds up very well,” Bell said. “These lithium-ion batteries probably pose the greatest danger of all batteries because once they catch fire, they don't go out easily.”
Some experts said that while the cleanup sounds tough, it could have been even more difficult. Stephen Fraley, a partner at Pacific Maritime Group, which is handling the salvage effort, said Baltimore avoided the worst-case scenario.
“We're lucky that the hull appears to be intact. It doesn't appear to be leaking water. It doesn't appear to be leaking fuel,” Fraley said. “It's stable, so it doesn't look like it's going to capsize.”
Both Ford and Fraley expected it would take months to completely clear the river of debris.
Maryland transportation officials had The state requested $60 million in federal emergency relief funds Thursday morning, and Gov. Wes Moore (D) previously declared a state of emergency, allowing Maryland to quickly receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. was giving qualifications. Within hours, federal officials approved aid from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Emergency Relief Fund.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, will pay for the entire cost of clearing the Patapsco River channel.
Funds from the Emergency Relief Fund will pay for the state of Maryland's costs to divert traffic from the collapsed section of Interstate 695, a major highway that used to use the Key Bridge, and the design and design of new structures. It will cover the cost of rebuilding, Van Hollen said.
He said policymakers have already begun discussing raising the height of new bridges and introducing new technology to make the next structure safer.
Van Hollen said the emergency relief fund will cover most of the reconstruction project, but not the total amount. He said he and other members of Maryland's congressional delegation plan to introduce legislation to increase federal funding to make up for the shortfall.
President Biden said earlier this week that the federal government should pay for the entire cost of repairing the waterway and building a new bridge.
“If these funds were to be used to design and ultimately build a new bridge, the federal government would pay a large portion of the cost, but not all of it,” Van Hollen said. “And that’s where the senator is. [Ben] Cardan and I plan to introduce legislation that would allow the federal government to cover all future costs. ”
However, any legislative spending for Maryland could take months to pass, even if it moves smoothly on Capitol Hill.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg convened a meeting of port, labor and industry officials Thursday to discuss ways to alleviate supply chain disruptions caused by the partial closure of the Port of Baltimore.
A solemn moment took place Thursday to remember the six construction workers who died in the bridge collapse. On Opening Day for the Baltimore Orioles, after all players were introduced and both teams stood at the baseline, fans were asked to stand at Camden Yards shortly before 3 p.m.
A replica of the Fort McHenry flag was unfurled in center field, and a long roar rang out. Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown asked fans to take off their hats and observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
Maryland Department of Transportation officials who helped stop traffic on the bridge before it collapsed were also recognized.
Nicolas Rivero, Danny Nguyen and Scott Dance contributed to this report.
