The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced an “ambitious” timeline to partially reopen the Fort McHenry Channel in Baltimore by the end of April and fully reopen it by the end of May, around two months after the Francis Scott Key Bridge plunged into the Patapsco River after it was struck by a cargo ship. The announcement came the day before President Biden is expected to travel to the site of the bridge’s collapse, as he urged Congress to approve federal funding for its reconstruction.

Engineers expect to open a “limited access” channel that would allow for one-way traffic into the Port of Baltimore, within four weeks, the Corps announced in a news release on Thursday.

The smaller channel would stretch 280 feet wide and 35 feet deep, less than half the width of the full channel. It would be accessible for barge container service and some roll on/roll off vessels carrying cars or farm equipment, according to USACE. The permanent, 700-foot-wide and 50-foot-deep channel will reopen with normal capacity by the end of May, according to the “tentative” timeline. Lt. Gen. Scott A. Spellmon, commanding general for the USACE, said authorities carried out “underwater surveys and detailed structural analysis” of the bridge’s wreckage in the two weeks since the collapse. “A fully opened federal channel remains our primary goal, and we will carry out this work with care and precision, with safety as our chief priority,” he said. Spellmon said the timeline could change due to weather conditions and the state of the wreckage. “These are ambitious timelines that may still be impacted by significant adverse weather conditions or changes in the complexity of the wreckage,” he said.

“We are working quickly and safely to clear the channel and restore full service at this port that is so vital to the nation,” he added. “At the same time, we continue to keep faith with the families of the missing and are working with our partners to help locate and recover their loved ones.”
Six construction workers died during the collapse after they plunged into the cold waters below the bridge. Rescuers pulled out two additional workers, but the six were declared dead after an hours-long search.

Divers discovered the bodies of Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, trapped in a red pickup truck submerged 25 feet deep in the river. The victims also included Miguel Luna, a father of three, Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval, 38, a father of two from Owing Mills, Maryland, Jose Lopez, a father of two, and Carlos Hernández. The victims originally hailed from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.