Key Bridge Update – April 30

Work has been on-going in the salvage operation at the Key Bridge collapse site at the Port of Baltimore. Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced Tuesday that the removal of 182 containers from the bow of the Dali has been completed. Now crews will be more able to begin work to remove the section of bridge that’s lying on the bow of the container ship and the bottom of the river bed. U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said that they will use precision cutting techniques to cut that section of bridge away. Also at work with about 100 other assets in the water are the Chesapeake 1000 – aka Chessie, the largest crane available on the Eastern Seaboard and Gus – the largest hydraulic grabber in the country. Gus can haul 1000 tons from the water in a single grab!

Four transit channels of differing depths have been available for the past few weeks and over 200 vessels have been able to transit in or out of the Port of Baltimore – including 19 that have used the deeper limited access 38-foot deep channel in the past week. However that channel has been temporarily closed while Chessie and Gus remove additional debris from the 50-foot main channel and work continues to remove the Dali from the the channel as well. It’s hoped that the main channel could be open sometime this month.

The search also continues for the 2 missing construction workers. Unified Command officials say they have areas where they might be, but conditions under water for the divers are dangerous and visibility poor.