Baltimore bridge collapse: 1100 tons of steel removed from water

Governor Wes Moore provides update on Baltimore Key Bridge 3 weeks after collapse

Governor Wes Moore provides updates on the efforts underway following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse three weeks ago.

BALTIMORE - Maryland Governor Wes Moore provided an update to recovery efforts three weeks after the Baltimore Key bridge collapsed, killing six construction workers.

At a briefing on Tuesday, Moore said workers have removed 1,110 tons of steel from the water – five times the weight of the Statue of Liberty. Section 1B of the bridge is next, a major part of the bridge that weighs 300 tons.

40 containers have been removed from the bow of the Dali, the cargo ship that hit the bridge on the morning of March 26.

So far, there hasn't been a single injury in the clearing of the channel of debris from the bridge and the cargo ship.

"While we are excited to report this kind of momentum…the thing we also know is this: The road ahead is still long," said Moore. "The same type of caution, the same type of professionalism, the same type of certainty that was needed for this type of lift, that is the same type of focus and the same type of expectation that will go into every single lift."

Moore said they are on track to open a 35-foot-deep channel by the end of April, and by the end of May the full channel will be open.

Last week, Maryland lawmakers introduced a bill that would require the federal government to cover the costs of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"You cannot have a fully functioning Port of Baltimore if the Key Bridge is missing," said Moore Tuesday. "The Key Bridge is not about nostalgia. It's about necessity."