Workers began removing the first segments of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge over the weekend and completed a “temporary alternate channel for government and commercial vessels directly involved in response efforts.”

It was a milestone, if a modest one.

The temporary channel’s dimensions underline the magnitude of the challenge ahead, as crews work toward the ultimate goal of removing the tangled mass of steel so they can float the Dali away and restore the shipping lane to full normal capacity:

The channel – to be used only by authorized personnel involved in the clean-up and recovery – has “a controlling depth of 11 feet, a 264-foot horizontal clearance, and vertical clearance 96 feet,” according to TA 3rd Class Olinda Romero, a spokeswoman for the joint federal and state command center for cleanup operations.

The 984-foot long Dali – the container ship that struck the bridge last week – has a 40-foot draft and maximum draft of 49 feet when fully loaded.

Although too shallow for commercial shipping (even if allowed), the temporary channel “will mark an important first step along the road to reopening the port of Baltimore,” Coast Guard Captain David O’Connell, the federal on-scene response coordinator, declared.

At a news conference today, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said the tangled metal in the Patapsco is proving to be “more complicated than we had hoped for,” dimming hopes that the main 50-foot harbor channel under the bridge can be reactivated soon.

An additional 15-foot-deep temporary channel is planned on the southwest side of the bridge for commercial tugs and barges, Gilreath said.

The Dali disaster has left several large ships marooned in Baltimore, including the 902-foot-long vehicle carrier, Carmen, managed by Wallenius Marine of Sweden.

Although the docks will soon be cleared of cargo, Port of Baltimore-dependent companies and related businesses are braced for a lengthy and costly interruption to operations.

Officials involved in the cleanup say it is likely to take many weeks to clear debris around the structure, but have no estimate for how long it will take for shipping to return to normal levels.

Step-by-step Salvage Plan

Port of Baltimore vessel traffic has been paralyzed since last Tuesday (March 26) when the bridge was struck by the Dali, killing six workers who were on the span filling potholes.

After two bodies were recovered in the harbor the next day, efforts to locate those of the other four were suspended amid dangerous conditions at the site.

Romero said work will continue today, where possible, amid the rain and wind gusts.

Information about the cleanup and recovery is being channeled through the “Key Bridge Response 2024 Unified Command,” a group of federal and state agencies that includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard and the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Over the weekend, the Unified Command released a graphic [see above] outlining the tentative sequence of tasks ahead for the salvage operations plan:

A. Stabilize Dali to prevent pivoting.
B. Analyze internal bridge truss structures.
C. Position 1,000-ton and 600-ton floating cranes.
D. Cut diagonal truss to lift from vessel and swing wreckage for removal.
E. Refloat Dali away from wreckage.
F. Disassemble and remove bridge.

Two crane barges – a 650-ton crane and a 330-ton crane – are working on scene, officials said.

The removed wreckage is being lifted and transferred to a barge as daylight allows.

A 230-ton land-based crane will offload and process the wreckage at Tradepoint Atlantic’s Sparrows Point dock, which is located about four miles southeast of the bridge and was not impacted by its collapse.

The Unified Command has also noted the presence of an underwater natural gas pipeline running under the incident site.

“BGE has reduced pressure of the line to 35 psi, and officials are continuing to coordinate with BGE to ‘inert’ the pipeline to free it from hazards and risk,” it said.

Sad Scene

For those wishing to view firsthand the bridge graveyard, options are limited.

Nearby Fort Armistead, the initial site of press conferences, is now closed to the public.

A 2,000-yard safety zone in the waters around the bridge is also off-limits to boaters and gawkers.

But those visiting Fort McHenry yesterday had a sweeping view of the Dali – stacked high with containers, frozen on the horizon amid the jagged steel teeth of the busted bridge.

Some saw it as they biked or jogged on the path around the historic fort.

Families stopped by, several decked in Easter Sunday Easter church service outfits, for a casual view and a selfie.

Others, who came with binoculars and cameras outfitted with telephoto lenses, were able to see the Dali’s blue hull and red, yellow and white metal containers piled high on the deck like casually stacked bricks.

Eloise Smith, a lifelong East Baltimore resident who has driven over the Key Bridge many times, stood quietly and said she was thinking of the workers who perished.

“Oh, my god, those poor guys,” Smith said. “I heard they were just eating their lunch in their cars when the bridge just dropped out from under them.”