THE BALTIMORE channel severed by the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge has fully re-opened to shipping.

The US Army Corps of Engineers announced on 10 June that it had restored the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original operation dimensions – 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep – for maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore.

The multi-agency Unified Command surveyed the channel on June 10 following the removal of wreckage at the 50-foot mudline. The survey certified the riverbed as safe for transit.

It has been 11 weeks since the containership Dali sent the Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpling into the Patapsco River. The USACE in April opened a so-called Limited Access Channel to allow trapped commercial vessels to depart the port. The channel was widened to 400 feet on 21 May after Dali had been removed.

The channel is now fully operational, according to USACE, and it “enables the flexibility” to regain two-way traffic and cancel the additional safety requirements that were implemented because of the reduced channel width.

Restoring the channel to its original width and depth involved the removal of about 50,000 tons of bridge wreckage from the Patapsco River.

Response efforts involved about 500 specialists from around the world, operating a fleet of 18 barges, 22 tugboats, 13 floating cranes, 10 excavators and four survey boats.

Baltimore District commander Col. Estee Pinchasin said the USACE would maintain the critical waterway as it has for the last 107 years.

“I cannot overstate how proud I am of our team,” she said.

“It was incredible seeing so many people from different parts of our government, from around our country and all over the world, come together in the Unified Command and accomplish so much in this amount of time.

“Although the overarching goal to restore full operational capacity to the Federal Channel was successful, each day, we thought of those who lost their lives, their families, and the workers impacted by this tragic event. Not a day went by that we didn’t think about all of them, and that kept us going.”

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which was operationally and financially impacted by the bridge collapse (the PCTC Carmen was among the ships trapped in port) thanked those involved in the response.

“Wallenius Wilhelmsen would like to extend our gratitude to Unified Command, the agencies, responders, technical experts, our colleagues in the region and of course the people of Baltimore for their efforts in successfully completing the first phase of the long-term rebuilding project”, WW COO logistics services Mike Hynekamp said.

The Unified Command will continue surveys and removal of steel at and below the 50-foot mudline to ensure future dredging operations are not impacted.

The wreckage will continue to be transported to Sparrows Point for follow-on processing.

USACS said follow-on work in the channel from this point onwards will be part of routine maintenance.