New sonar photographs show the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the bed of Baltimore’s Patapsco River. The bridge fell on March 26 after being struck by the big commercial vessel Dali, which had lost power.
The photographs were obtained by the US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command, and the US Army Corps of Engineers shared them on social media.
The scans show the ship’s metal framework, which is set for removal by the end of April. This will open the way for a new Limited Access Channel that is 35 feet deep and 280 feet wide.
“The channel will accommodate larger ships at the @portofbalt, including marine tugs, Maritime Administration (MARAD) vessels, and Roll-on/Roll-off shipping,” the Corps stated on social media.
Baltimore activists want Francis Scott Key Bridge renamed
Civil rights groups in Maryland are requesting the state to rename the Francis Scott Key Bridge due to Key’s history as a slave owner.
Key had slaves and allegedly believed that Black people were inherently inferior as a race.
“Every single public structure that is built to honor someone is being done using all taxpayers’ money,” Snowden said. “Whoever the bridge is named after should be somebody that all taxpayers can respect.”
The Caucus of African American Leaders proposes renaming it in honor of Rep. Parren J. Mitchell, the first Black Marylander elected to the United States House of Representatives. “He spent a life, his entire life, creating a bridge between the African American community and the larger society,” Carl O. Snowden, the chairman of the Caucus of African American Leaders, told NBC. Mitchell died in 2007.
Furthermore, they propose renaming the Sen. Frederick Malkus Memorial Bridge after Gloria Richardson, a famous civil rights advocate. The caucus intends to put forward these proposals to Governor Wes Moore and advocate for a memorial for the six Latino workers killed in the bridge collapse.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26, creating severe disruption at the Port of Baltimore. The collapse killed six workers from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico who were fixing potholes. Two victims, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, were rescued from a submerged red pickup truck near the bridge’s middle span.
