Baltimore Disaster Spurs Calls for Reset of Infrastructure Priorities

Some say Francis Key Bridge could’ve been stouter. Others say nothing built in 1977 can stop the moving mountains of today’s seas. All call for focus on ports.

The fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge is pictured in Baltimore, Md., on March 31, 2024. Mike Pesoli/AP Photos

The U.S. Coast Guard has opened two channels to allow repair crafts and salvage barges into Baltimore Harbor. However, it will be weeks before container ships can navigate the span of the Patapsco River now blocked by the Francis Key Bridge, which was knocked down by a 95,000-ton cargo ship in a crash that killed six people on March 26.

“This marks an important first step along the road to reopening the port of Baltimore,” Coast Guard Capt. David O'Connell, federal on-scene coordinator, said in an April 1 statement.