The huge Dali container ship has been stuck in Baltimore since its collision destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge already in March. The ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge supports. cause it to crash and killed six workers on the bridge. Now engineers are planning an explosion the remains of the bridge so that they can finally refloat the ship and bring it back to port.
Salvage workers at the site of the collapsed bridge plan a controlled demolition of parts of the bridge, reports CBS News. If they manage to destroy the part of the bridge that rests on the ship’s bow, they can refloat the ship and return it to port. As the website explains:
The controlled demolition, politely referred to as “precision cutting,” uses small loads to break the portion of the collapsed bridge at the bow of the ship into smaller, more manageable sections.
“The operation requires careful handling of roadbed material, broken containers and bridge fragments currently resting on the ship,” officials said Monday.
To get the operation off the ground, workers called in U.S. Army explosives experts to help carry out the work. Members of the Corps of Engineers will set the loads at specific intervals along the route Collapsed bridge section to break it down in the “safest and fastest” way, CBS reports.
The work will see engineers remove thousands of tonnes of steel and roadway the bow of the Dali ship. As this is not an easy task, residents are urged to stay away from the work zone in the coming days. In fact, a 2,000-foot safety zone has been established and anyone in that area must wear hearing protection when the explosions go off. As CBS explains:
Most of the safety zone consists of the Patapsco River, but portions of Hawkins Point lie within its range. Unified Command said “dedicated efforts” are being made to prepare people in the region for the event.
This effort includes mobile notification in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Emergency Management.
The exact timing of the explosions remains secret as it also depends on the perfect conditions the remains of the bridge. However, officials told the news outlet that they hoped to remove the bridge and refloat the ship by the end of this week.
If that happens, nearly seven weeks will have passed since the Dali first hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.