Lighting
Collapsed bridge in Baltimore: reconstruction in the shadow of the presidential campaign
Port authorities in Baltimore, Maryland, have established a shipping corridor to clear rubble from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed on the night of Monday March 25 to Tuesday March 26. This first step marks the start of a gradual resumption of activity for one of the main ports in the United States.
U.S. authorities opened a temporary canal Monday, allowing some essential ships to bypass the wreck to enter and exit one of the country's busiest shipping hubs. Getty Images via AFP - KEVIN DIETSCH
By: RFI Follow
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For the first time since the collapse of the bridge, caused by a container ship which crashed into a pillar in the middle of the night, a
boat passed
through the temporary corridor set up to allow passengers to pass on Monday, April 1. vessels considered “essential”. It is a tugboat pushing a fuel barge intended to refuel planes at Dover Air Force Base, a US Army airbase in the neighboring state of Delaware.
This corridor, initially, will be reserved for buildings involved in clearance and rescue operations. Then, the port will open to other ships, once the work has enabled the canal to be widened. This corridor will measure 3.4 meters deep and 80 meters wide. Currently, its narrowness does not allow the passage of larger ships. This is “
insufficient for container ships or cargo ships to be able to use it
,” a coast guard spokesperson told AFP.
A second canal, which would allow access for larger ships, is being opened, and should be accessible “
in the coming days
,” assured Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
Several critical sectors affected
The Port of Baltimore plays a strategic role, particularly for the automobile, coal and sugar sectors. The second hub in the
United States
for the transit of aluminum, copper and coal, it is also the main entry point for new cars, with more than 800,000 cars in 2023, as well as for imports. sugar.
The loss of activity is estimated at nearly $50 million per day, according to figures from the Institute for Regional Economic Studies at Towson University in Maryland, published in
The Economist
.
In 2023, more than 52 million tons of foreign goods entered the United States
through
the Port of Baltimore, worth nearly $80 billion. However, according to several experts, the economic consequences of the accident should have a limited effect on the American economy, because the ships can deport to other port infrastructures on the east coast.
Another major challenge is that of the land transport of certain dangerous materials,
Brandon Daniels, supply chain specialist, tells
Bloomberg
. “
The roads are also affected by the collapse of the port, in particular Route 8695, which is the preferred route for the transport of dangerous materials such as bulk gasoline, propane gas, explosives, radioactive materials, which are supposed to pass by this route. These material flows will slow down in the near future
. »
For this specialist, lessons must be learned from this incident: “
The bridges will have to be reinforced, we must build more, and have alternative channels. Increased surveillance measures will also need to be put in place for the arrival of large container ships at the port, including better lighting and more shipping lanes.
»
The worrying state of American bridges had been singled out by the Biden administration to pass, in 2021, a law considering $1.2 trillion in investment to modernize infrastructure across the country.
Joe Biden on site
The affair also takes a political turn. American President Joe Biden, campaigning for his re-election against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, is due to go there on Friday April 5. While $60 million has been released by the federal government, the total cost of rebuilding the bridge is estimated at $2 billion. “
My intention is for the federal government to pay the full cost of rebuilding this bridge, and I expect Congress to support my efforts
,” Joe Biden said. But obtaining these funds is far from assured in the current political context.
Republicans, aligned with Donald Trump's “MAGA” (“
Make America Great Again
”) movement, could obstruct the delivery of aid, just as they did for Ukraine. Some of them have already declared that they would reject the financing proposals, casting the shadow of a new standoff with the executive.
After the collapse of the bridge, these elected officials had already sought to politically recover from the disaster, pointing the finger at funds intended for green energy and diversity initiatives. “
This is what happens when you have governors who prioritize diversity over the well-being and security of citizens
,” a Utah legislator wrote on X (formerly Twitter), for example.
On Friday, April 5, Joe Biden will meet with the governor of Maryland, as well as state and local officials. This visit to Baltimore, beyond its local dimension, undeniably has a national aspect, seven months before the presidential election.
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