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Rebuilding process continues one month after Baltimore bridge collapse

By Samantha Manning, CMG Washington News Bureau
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - APRIL 25: Salvage crews continue to remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on April 25, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. Four weeks since the maritime accident in the Patapsco River, a temporary channel opens today to allow ships stuck in the Port of Baltimore to leave. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Francis Scott Key Bridge BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - APRIL 25: Salvage crews continue to remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on April 25, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. Four weeks since the maritime accident in the Patapsco River, a temporary channel opens today to allow ships stuck in the Port of Baltimore to leave. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

By Samantha Manning, CMG Washington News Bureau

WASHINGTON — It’s been one month since a malfunctioning cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore causing it to collapse.

“It was just surreal,” said Sue Monaghan as she described watching the images of the collapse. “My daughter brought me her phone and I thought, ‘why are you asking me to look at a movie?’ And she said, ‘mom it’s the Key Bridge,’ and I just couldn’t wrap my head around that.”

Monaghan is the president of a warehousing and trucking company in Baltimore named Baltimore International Warehousing & Transportation Inc.

“We pull containers from the Port of Baltimore and either deliver them within a 1,500 mile radius or we bring them to the warehouse for distribution,” said Monaghan. “We handle a lot of canned goods that go to distribution facilities.”

Monaghan said the business had to temporarily lay off ten of their 30 truck drivers following the bridge collapse.

But there has been progress over the last week. The workers are now back on the job thanks to assistance from a state grant.

And on Thursday, the first cargo ship since the collapse passed through Baltimore Harbor.

It went through a temporary channel that was made around the wreckage. There are four temporary channels as crews work to remove steel and debris from the water.

“We have to and we will open the full federal channel,” said Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) during a press conference on Tuesday.

But that process will take time --- and so will rebuilding the bridge.

It could take anywhere from 18 months to several years with a price tag potentially reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.

The wait also comes at a cost for many businesses.

“We’re looking at other grants for lost revenue because that will impact us down the line,” said Monaghan. “We’re used to revenue coming in and it just won’t be there.”

Both the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the bridge collapse.

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