Channel Could Reopen Fully This Weekend, Key Bridge Rebuild Proposals Underway

BALTIMORE, MD — Officials hope to reopen Baltimore's full channel this Saturday, WBAL reported. Crews previously said the Fort McHenry Channel could reopen anywhere from Saturday to Monday.

That would be nearly 11 weeks after the container ship Dali lost power, toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killed six road workers and cost over 1,100 port jobs.

Crews removed the last hunk of bridge wreckage blocking the Patapsco River earlier this week. They have since conducted surveys and recovered smaller debris to soon restore unrestricted access to the Port of Baltimore.

The original channel was 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep. All ships have been able to return to the port using a 400-foot-wide channel since May 20. That's when crews refloated and relocated the 984-foot Dali.

"I think the significance of opening the 700-foot channel is just getting back to a normal status, without any restrictions," U.S. Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region Cmdr. Baxter Smoak told WBAL.

The May 20 partial reopening beat the state's initial target of May 31, but the full reopening missed that goal slightly. Saturday is the target for the reopening, but it could open as late as Monday.

"To be back to a fully normal channel the first week in June is really astounding," Smoak told WBAL. "It's really inspiring to be a part of such an amazing team that's accomplished so much more than anybody ever thought was possible within the time frame that we've had."

Attention now turns toward rebuilding the bridge. Officials estimated that the new crossing will open by fall 2028 and cost up to $1.9 billion. President Joe Biden (D) promised that the federal government would pay for the entire project.

The Maryland Transportation Authority announced on May 31 that it's now accepting contractor proposals for the bridge rebuild. Proposals are due June 24. The project team will be selected by late summer.

The MDTA is hosting a virtual community update this Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Anybody can attend. Visit keybridgerebuild.com to register.

Read all of Patch's Key Bridge collapse coverage here.

WBAL said more than 500 commercial vessels have transited the limited access channels, including about 100 deep-draft ships. That makes Smoak think Baltimore will soon return to its pace of 200 monthly arrivals.

Smoak added that he hopes the Dali will leave Baltimore this month.

"We hope to have her out of port mid to late June," Smoak told WBAL. "In order to get underneath the Bay Bridge (the ship) needs to have the weight of those containers on her, so she's going to transit to Norfolk, offload all containers, have some temporary repairs done and then she'll likely go overseas to a shipyard to be refitted and then put back into container ship service."

Controlled explosives on May 13 freed the grounded Dali from the bridge wreckage.

The Baltimore Sun reported that crews for weeks gradually removed the 10-million-pound "Section 4" of bridge truss. That's the same piece that laid atop the Dali for the 55 days it blocked much of the Patapsco River.

The Sun said the first 140-ton segment was lifted on May 24. The second 470-ton chunk was hoisted last Saturday. The final 400-ton portion was extracted this Monday and Tuesday, The Sun reported.

"Using concrete breakers, underwater surveys, and oxyacetylene torches, they separated tons of concrete roadway, cable, and steel rebar from 'Section 4C' while removing debris with clamshell dredges," a Unified Command press release said Wednesday.

Visit WBAL to see Smoak's full update on the Key Bridge clean-up.

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