Baltimore Harbor is a step closer to reopening after engineers brought down the largest remaining span of the Francis Scott Key Bridge with a controlled demolition on Monday evening.
The explosions were part of a larger plan to free an international container ship that had been marooned in the harbor for nearly two months while shipping traffic had been ground to a halt.
Numerous videos of the explosion from different angles showed a span of steel protruding from a pier struck by the Singapore-registered MV Dali – which brought down the bridge in March – collapsing into the water following a boom and a cloud of smoke.
Explosives made precision cuts into the remaining Key Bridge truss, breaking it apart for removal: https://t.co/d2uDIh0ALd pic.twitter.com/O9JWnkERSu
— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) May 13, 2024
That explosion was LOUD! The #KeyBridge is now off the Dali. @wbalradio #FSK #KeyBridge pic.twitter.com/rG5B13yEF8
— Phil Yacuboski (@WBALPhil) May 13, 2024
Crews just set off explosives to get the largest remaining piece of the Key Bridge off of the Dali so it can be guided back into the Port of Baltimore. Once the ship is removed, maritime traffic can begin returning to normal.
READ MORE: https://t.co/q7P2oe6RYQ pic.twitter.com/hcVsvDOHMK
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) May 13, 2024
Was this the right move?
Steel that had been pre-cut and charged with explosives fell into the water and will be lifted and placed onto barges, WBAL-TV reported.
While Monday’s demolition was successful, more remnants of the bridge span remained aboard the deck of the ship and in the Patapsco River.
The remaining wreckage will be removed at a safe pace, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
“They’re going to have to lift it with the grabber or they’ll be removing it after cutting it down some more, but we’re continuing the salvage operations in the same methodical and disciplined safe way we’ve been removing wreckage all along,” said Col. Estee Pinchasin, according to WBAL.
Some wreckage was left on the ship’s deck because of concerns about hazardous materials still onboard.
The 21 crew members aboard the Dali remained below deck during Monday’s controlled explosion. The men have been aboard the vessel since it left the port on March 26 and collided with the bridge.
The plan is to refloat the ship and bring it into the harbor by the end of the week so that shipping traffic to and from the busy port can return to normal for the first time since the bridge collapsed and claimed the lives of six road workers.
The men were repairing potholes on the structure when the Dali experienced electrical issues and struck a support beam in the middle of the night.
BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 26, 2024
NBC News reported the Army Corps of Engineers was working with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Maryland State Police and other law enforcement and government agencies to reopen the port.
Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday that the slow, methodical approach to removing the bridge’s remnants is about ensuring no one else is injured or killed.
“This is a best practice,” Moore said at a news conference. “Safety in this operation is our top priority.”
Engineers were waiting for high tide on Tuesday to assist them in towing the vessel to the harbor, where it will be repaired, The Associated Press reported.
Of the estimated 50,000 tons of steel and concrete that plunged into the river when the bridge came down, only an estimated 6,000 tons had been removed as of Monday.
