Team Blitz India
NEW YORK: The Baltimore shipping channel where the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed has fully reopened following the catastrophic collision in March, authorities said on June 10, as per a BBC report.
The Fort McHenry Federal Channel has been restored to its original operational dimensions for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore, one of America’s busiest ports, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The Dali, a massive cargo ship, struck the Key Bridge on March 26, triggering a collapse that killed six workers and affected entry into the port.
Tonnes of wreckage
In the weeks since, the channel has gradually opened to traffic as crews worked to clear 50,000 tonnes of bridge wreckage and remove the 984-foot-long and 158-foot-wide container ship from the crash site.
The riverbed was certified as safe for transit and the channel reached its full operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. “We are proud of the unified efforts that fully reopened the Federal Channel to port operations,” Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the US. Army Corps of Engineers, said in a statement. “The partnerships that endured through this response made this pivotal mission successful.” The incident remains under investigation.
Two blackouts
According to a preliminary report released last month by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Dali experienced two power blackouts while docked, 10 hours before the collision that toppled part of a bridge span.
After leaving the port in the early morning hours of March 26, it experienced two more blackouts close to 1:28 a.m., which is the time it collided with the bridge, according to the NTSB.
