The city of Baltimore is gearing up for a dramatic operation on Monday as U.S. crews prepare to set off controlled explosions to remove a portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from a massive container ship that caused the disaster back in March.
The detonations are set to break the bridge’s truss into small sections, allowing salvage crews to clear the twisted metal wreckage using cranes and barges, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Originally scheduled for Sunday, the operation was delayed due to weather conditions.
The 948-foot Dali ship, which lost power and crashed into a bridge support, causing the span to collapse into the Patapsco River, will be refloated and removed from the main channel, reopening the port fully, the Corps confirmed.
The incident, which tragically claimed the lives of six construction workers, initially halted traffic at the Port of Baltimore, a key hub for various cargo categories in the United States. Since then, temporary channels have been opened to resume some shipping, with the goal of restoring full port access by the end of May.
The reconstruction of the bridge is estimated to cost between $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, with completion expected by fall 2028. Additionally, the FBI has launched a criminal probe into the collapse, with safety investigators analyzing data from the ship’s “black box” recorder to determine the cause of the disaster.
As the city works towards recovery and rebuilding, the controlled explosions on Monday mark a significant step in the ongoing efforts to restore normalcy to the Port of Baltimore.