Biden administration touts quick reopening of critical Baltimore shipping channel
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A Japanese bulk carrier sailing though the recently opened channel in the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – This week’s reopening of Baltimore’s main shipping channel – less than three months after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse – was due to expertise gained from a Covid-19-era task force, a highway overpass collapse and the 2021 infrastructure law, government officials have said.
The deadly March 26 collision
Within hours, US President Joe Biden directed aides to get the channel reopened and the bridge rebuilt, and vowed the federal government would cover the full costs
His administration previously faced criticism for its initial response to the 2023 derailment of a train in Ohio.
Federal officials said on June 10 that full access to the channel has been restored
After the collapse, the Coast Guard quickly established a unified command to coordinate search, recovery and response efforts. It oversaw more than 1,500 individual responders that involved 56 federal, state and local agencies, along with 500 specialists operating a fleet of boats to remove steel and concrete debris and address shipping impacts.
“I think that one of the most important things we did was establishing the unified command,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian told Reuters.
“So there was clear command and control of what is a very complex operational challenge across stakeholders from federal and state government and the private sector,” she said.
For example, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which oversees the federal navigation channel, was able to tap the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage for the massive operation.
“That’s exactly the power of the unified command,” said Colonel Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore district commander for USACE, which by early April had set an ambitious timetable for reopening the channel.
Lessons learned
A council created by Mr Biden in 2021 to address Covid-related supply chain shortages was convened shortly after the bridge collapse, and federal agencies opened specialised offices to monitor supply chain issues.
“We developed these protocols during the first year of the pandemic,” White House National Economic Council director Ms Lael Brainard said. “This very intensive sprint that we immediately activate to basically troubleshoot and share information.”
Ms Brainard also cited lessons learned from the June 2023 collapse of an Interstate-95 overpass in Philadelphia that was quickly reopened.
“The I-95 collapse was such a rapid response that we had a sense of, ‘Okay, we know what to do’,” she said.
Ms Brainard and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg led a call to ensure business, labour and port operators had the “same information to help them rapidly develop workaround plans”.
Both cited the US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion) infrastructure law that has dramatically boosted spending on bridges and other projects as having given the administration know-how and “muscle memory” to tackle big challenges.
Mr Buttigieg’s office approved US$60 million in emergency funds for Maryland to rebuild and remove debris, while the US Army Corps and Coast Guard said on June 10 they have spent nearly US$100 million on the bridge response and debris removal.
Mr Buttigieg also repurposed a grant so more cargo area could be established and waived hours of service limits for impacted trucking.
“When the president of the United States says that every part of this administration should do everything you can think of within the limits of law, we can actually move quite quickly,” Mr Buttigieg told Reuters.
A replacement bridge will cost an estimated US$1.7 billion to US$1.9 billion, and federal officials are working to speed environmental approvals. Maryland hopes it will be completed by late 2028. REUTERS
