WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said on March 29 that he will travel to Baltimore next week as officials race to manage the fallout from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Mr Biden will join Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a close political ally, as he visits the city a week after a cargo ship struck a support pylon early on March 26, plunging the bridge into the water below.
The bodies of two construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge have been recovered, and four others are presumed dead.
The disaster has paralysed shipping in and out of the Port of Baltimore.
The Biden administration has scrambled officials from multiple agencies – including the Transportation Department, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Transportation Safety Board – to investigate and begin the major task of clearing the wreckage and restoring traffic through the shipping channel.
On March 28, the administration announced it will provide US$60 million (S$81 million) in “quick release” emergency relief that it described as “a down payment towards initial costs”. Mr Biden has said the federal government will “pay the entire cost of reconstructing” the bridge.
The visit comes as state and federal officials have raised alarms over the potential economic hardships that the port’s closure could have on both port workers and the regional economy.
On March 27, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters that about 8,000 workers associated with the port could soon see work evaporate with no ships arriving.
Typically, US$100 million to US$200 million in goods pass through the port daily, and roughly US$2 million in wages are at stake each day the port is closed, he said.
Maryland lawmakers have said they are drafting an emergency Bill to help guard against lost wages for around 15,000 workers that could be directly or indirectly affected.
Many of those affected are also union workers, whose cause Mr Biden has often taken up as a fierce proponent of organised labour.
On March 28, the Transportation Department convened a meeting with port administrators, labour leaders and industry groups to discuss possible supply chain disruptions and plan how to redirect traffic while shipping in and out of Baltimore is suspended. NYTIMES
