The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving have completed the challenging task of clearing the wreckage and restoring the channel to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep.

Since the bridge’s collapse on March 26, crews with the Unified Command have been working tirelessly to clear the wreckage and move the M/V Dali from the Federal Channel. On June 10, after removal of wreckage at the 50-foot mud-line, the Unified Command certified the riverbed as safe for transit.

The M/V Dali was safely moved on May 20, allowing the Limited Access Channel to be widened to 400 feet by May 21. This allowed all pre-collapse, deep-draft commercial vessels to transit through the Port of Baltimore. The channel’s full restoration now allows for two-way traffic and cancels the additional safety requirements that were previously implemented due to the reduced channel width.

“The partnerships that endured through this response made this pivotal mission successful,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the USACE.

The restoration process involved removing around 50,000 tons of bridge wreckage from the Patapsco River. The Unified Command, which included six agencies, coordinated the response among approximately 56 federal, state, and local agencies.

“I cannot overstate how proud I am of our team. 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,” said Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander.

Moving forward, the wreckage will continue to be transported to Sparrows Point for follow-on processing. Routine maintenance of the channel will ensure future dredging operations will not be impacted.

“Although the overarching goal to restore full operational capacity to the Federal Channel was successful, each day, we thought of those who lost their lives, their families, and the workers impacted by this tragic event,” said Pinchasin. “Not a day went by that we didn’t think about all of them, and that kept us going.”

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