New sonar images show remnants of Baltimore bridge collapse amid challenging recovery plan
New underwater sonar images are capturing the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the bottom of the Baltimore's Patapsco River.
The U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command captured remnants of the bridge, which collapsed on March 26 when a massive commercial vessel named Dali rammed into it after losing power. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shared images on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday.
The scans show the metal framework of the ship that is set to be removed by the end of April to make way for a 35-foot-deep, 280-foot-wide Limited Access Channel, according to the Corps of Engineers.
"The Limited Access Channel will permit larger ships in and out of the @portofbalt, such as marine tugs, Maritime Administration (MARAD) vessels, and those used for Roll-on/Roll-off shipping," the Corps said on X.
Images illustrate difficulty of salvage operation
The Corps of Engineers previously revealed sonar images in an April 2 Facebook post showing the sheer magnitude of the immensely challenging salvage operation.
Divers primarily used the imaging tool CODA Octopus to examine the site but visibility was "clouded to just one to two feet because of the four to five feet of mud and loose bottom of the Patapsco River." They're unable to use videos as they would fail to capture anything but darkness.
"Divers are forced to work in virtual darkness, because when lit, their view is similar to driving through a heavy snowfall at night with high-beam headlights on," the post said. "So murky is the water, divers must be guided via detailed verbal directions from operators in vessels topside who are viewing real-time CODA imagery."
When did the Baltimore bridge collapse happen?
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26 after a massive cargo ship rammed into it, causing the structure to crumble into the Patapsco River and blocking access to the Port of Baltimore.
Bridge collapse death count
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge killed six workers who were patching potholes. The workers came from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
Two victims were recovered and identified as as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26. Hernandez was living in Baltimore and Castillo was living in Dundalk, Maryland. They were found trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water around the bridge's middle span.
'Thousands of tons of debris'
Efforts to restore port of Baltimore began on March 31 after a crane removed a 200-ton piece of the bridge blocking the entry into the Port of Baltimore. Gov. Wes Moore said the piece was among thousands of tons of debris that remain in the river and above the ship.
About 1,100 Corps of Engineers personnel have been deployed to help reopen the largest vehicle-handling port in the U.S using highly specialized equipment.
The keel of the Dali also rests at the bottom of the harbor, weighed down by part of the bridge, further complicating efforts to clear the channel, according to a senior U.S. official.
Contributing: Saman Shafiq, Eduardo Cuevas, Francesca Chambers, N'dea Yancey-Bragg