Unified Command clears channel at Key Bridge collapse site

By Tori Yorgey

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    EDGEMERE, Maryland (WBAL) — The Key Bridge Response Unified Command is one step closer to reopening the permanent Fort McHenry 700-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep channel at the site of the Key Bridge collapse.

Salvage operators believe they have fully cleared within the dimensions of the channel at the site, the Army Corps of Engineers told 11 News on Sunday.

Crews plan to conduct a side-scan survey of the area early Monday morning and inspect it to ensure everything is ready and safe for the reopening of the channel, which will be the same width and depth as it was before the collapse on March 26.

“I think they’re doing a great job, I mean, considering the bridge fell,” said Karen Walker who was woken up by the sound of the Key Bridge plunging into the Patapsco River in March. “So, I mean, you got to give them a little bit of time to clean it up. But Baltimore Strong and we’ll be back and better than ever.”

The reopening will depend on the survey results expected to start around 5:30 a.m. Monday. The formal reopening of the channel will be done by the Captain of the Port.

Once crews do fully reopen the channel, there will still be machinery out on the water working to pull up any other debris or wreckage outside of the channel. The Unified Command expects this work to last the month of June.

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