The military has been called on to blow up the bridge. Photo: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)
The
enormous
Dali
container
ship
has
been
stuck
in
Baltimore
since
it
hit
and
destroyed
the
Francis
Scott
Key
bridge
way
back
in
March.
The
ship
lost
power
and
careered
into
one
of
the
supports
for
the
bridge,
bringing
it
crashing
down
and
killing
six
workers
on
the
bridge.
Now,
engineers
are
planning
to
blow
up
the
remnants
of
the
bridge
so
they
can
finally
re-float
the
ship
and
return
it
to
port.
Salvage workers at the site of the collapsed bridge are planning to carry out a controlled explosion of sections of the bridge, reports CBS News. If they successfully destroy the section of the bridge that is resting on the bow of the ship, they will be able to refloat the vessel and return it to port. As the site explains:
Politely called “precision cutting,” the controlled demolition will use small charges to split the portion of the collapsed bridge on the ship’s bow into smaller, more manageable sections.
“The operation requires careful handling of roadbed material, crushed containers, and bridge fragments currently resting on the vessel,” officials said Monday.
In order to get the operation under way, workers called in explosives experts from the U.S. Army to help carry out the work. Members of the Corps of Engineers will set the charges at specific intervals along the collapsed section of bridge in order to break it down in the “safest and swiftest” way possible, reports CBS.
The Dali has been stuck in Baltimore for more than six weeks. Photo: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)
The work will see engineers remove thousands of tons of steel and roadway from the bow of the Dali ship. And this is no simple task, so nearby residents are being urged to stay away from the work zone in the coming days. In fact, a 2,000 foot safety zone has been put in place and anyone within this area must wear hearing protection when the explosions start going off. As CBS explains:
Most of the Safety Zone consists of the Patapsco River, but portion of Hawkins Point falls in its range. Unified Command said “focused efforts” will be made to prepare those in the area for the event.
That effort will include a mobile notification in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Emergency Management.
The exact timing of the explosions remains under wraps, as it’s also reliant on the perfect conditions on the remnants of the bridge. However, officials told the news outlet that they hoped to have the bridge removed and the ship refloated by the end of this week.
If that happens, it will mark almost seven weeks since the Dali first struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge back on March 26.
This article originally appeared on Jalopnik.
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