Re-Opened Port

Hope rises on Baltimore port reopening

A Maryland farm eagerly awaits shipping channels reopening and soybeans exports resuming.

By: Chris Torres American Agriculturist

CLEANUP CONTINUES: Salvage crews continue to remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Patapsco River. The bridge collapsed after being struck by the 984-foot ship at 1:30 a.m. March 26. KENT NISHIMURA/GETTY IMAGES

Nearly a month after the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the subsequent closure of the Port of Baltimore, there is hope that ships carrying agricultural products could be on the move soon.

Government officials are hoping to open a limited-access channel by the end of the month that would support one-way traffic barges and roll-on and roll-off farm equipment. The port is the largest export point for ag equipment in the U.S.

Thus far, three temporary channels underneath the remaining portions of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge have opened:

• One channel has a depth of 11 feet, a 264-foot horizontal clearance and a 95-foot vertical clearance.
• The second channel has a depth of 14 feet, a 280-foot horizontal clearance and a 124-foot vertical clearance.
• The third channel has a depth of 20 feet, a 300-foot horizontal clearance and a 135-foot vertical clearance.

Kevin Atticks, secretary of agriculture, says the Army Corps of Engineers’ goal is to open a 35-foot-deep channel by the end of this month, and then a permanent 50-foot-deep, 700-foot-wide channel by the end of May, which would essentially reopen the port to full traffic.

But he also warned that nothing is guaranteed given the complexities of the site cleanup.

“It’s easy to underestimate FINISH READING HERE

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