By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Political Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The Unified Command announced the full reopening of the Port of Baltimore’s main channel on June 10. Earlier in the day, the command released a statement saying they expect the full reopening to occur in the “next few days,” but around 6 p.m., they announced its restoration.
“One of our four key directives in the wake of the Key Bridge collapse has been to fully clear the federal channel. Today, we bring that directive to completion,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in a statement shortly after the announcement. “With the channel now fully open, we can get more Marylanders back to work at the Port of Baltimore, increase the flow of commerce through the city and accelerate our economic recovery.”
The federal channel has been restored to its original dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep. Previously, the channel was only open to 400 feet wide and 50 feet deep, allowing some commercial maritime traffic to resume.
Though Moore applauded the combined work of the Unified Command thus far, he emphasized that the work is not done until the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt.
Since March 26, members of the Unified Command have worked to safely remove bridge wreckage, restore waterway traffic to the Port of Baltimore and recover the six workers who lost their lives in the bridge collapse.
“I cannot overstate how proud I am of our team,” said Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). “It was incredible seeing so many people from different parts of our government, from around our country and all over the world, come together in the Unified Command and accomplish so much in this amount of time.”
The response to the collapse of the Key Bridge included the combined efforts of the USACE, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland State Police and the Maryland Transportation Authority.
The Unified Command initially aimed to reopen the channel by the end of May, but it was ultimately delayed.
On June 4, the Unified Command removed the final large steel truss, about 700 feet wide, from the Patapsco River. This achievement was the last major step in reopening the full federal channel.
Salvage crews freed the large steel truss using concrete breakers, oxyacetylene torches and underwater surveys to detach tons of roadway, steel rebar and cable.