Bridge collapse: Temporary channel opens for boats working on response

A 200-ton piece of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was removed Sunday from the vast debris field of twisted metal and concrete clogging entry to the Port of Baltimore, officials said.

Tons more wreckage as well as the crippled container ship Dali that crashed into the span and collapsed it still needs to be cleared, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told ABC News Sunday.

"We're talking about huge pieces," Moore said of the debris crews are cutting up and preparing to remove from the waterway. "I mean, just sitting on the Dali, you're looking at 3,000 or 4,000 tons of steel sitting on top of the ship."

The operation to clean up the disaster site and reopen the channel began on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday, officials said.

Moore told ABC News a timeline hasn't been set on when the channel will be reopened, echoing a statement from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Additionally, crews conducted a “grounding survey” on Sunday to “determine how hard the ground around the Dali is to inform the strategy for pulling it off," officials told ABC News.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday there is still no timeline for when the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the crippled container ship Dali will be removed so the Port of Baltimore can reopen.

In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," Buttigieg said the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy are bringing in a 1,000-ton crane and a 600-ton crane to clear the twisted debris from the channel.

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Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Key Bridge recovery

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins “GMA” to discuss plans to reopen the Port of Baltimore and the path to recovery after the collapse of the Key Bridge in Maryland.

ABCNews.com

"They have not wanted to speculate yet on a timeline because the operation is so complex," Buttigieg said. "It's not that you just have to remove the wreckage, it's that you have to do it in a way that doesn't cause portions of the bridge that are there across the water to shift. They've been under a lot of compression, tension; they could behave almost like a spring if they are not expertly managed."

In addition to removing the debris, Buttigieg said the 248 million-pound shipping vessel still poses a problem, saying, "Measures are being taken to stop the ship from swinging into the channel."

The secretary said part of the $60 million in federal funding released for the cleanup and recovery efforts will also go to the "acquisition, procurement and preparation for the new bridge."

He said that while other East Coast ports have been absorbing container traffic, the Port of Baltimore is uniquely designed to handle the bulk of automobiles shipped to the United States.

"So as soon as it can safely be reopened, that, of course, is a major priority that really affects our entire national supply system," Buttigieg said.

Highly trained demolition crews will begin cutting the top portion of the north side of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge into smaller sections for safe removal by crane. One crane barge and one working barge are staged at the incident to support Saturday’s operations.

Salvage teams will use gas-powered cutters to systematically separate sections of the steel bridge, which will be taken to a disposal site. At the same time, salvage divers continue to conduct underwater assessments of the work site to support further operations. Every lifting operation requires engineering analysis to inform salvage operation plans.

The Unified Command is working in partnership with Baltimore Gas and Electric to reduce pressure of an underwater pipeline that spans the width of the channel and runs under the incident site. Unified Command is coordinating to inert the pipeline to free it from hazards and risk. Pipeline operations will continue through the weekend.

The Unified Command continues to maintain a 2000-yard maritime Safety Zone for the recovery efforts and a Temporary Flight Restriction with a radius of three nautical miles from the surface -- up to and including 1,500 feet above ground level -- also remains in effect.

The Safety Zone is enforced for the protection of personnel, vessels, and the marine environment from the potential hazards associated with salvage work. The vessel remains stable with crew aboard.

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney

The first portions of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge will be lifted out of the water on Saturday, marking the start of attempts to clear the channel to access to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced.

"The north sections of the Key Bridge are going to be cut up and removed, this will eventually allow us to open up a temporary restricted channel that will help us to get more vessels in the water, around the sight of the collapse," Moore said.

"This restricted channel will allow barges, tug boats, and other smaller marine vessels to get around the wreckage. Once these portions are removed, the Army Corps of Engineers and its partners will need to reevaluate and assess the integrity of the wreckage before more sections are removed," Moore said.

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1st portions of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge will be lifted Saturday

The first portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be lifted out of the water on Saturday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced.

ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Davone Morales