President Biden plans Friday to visit the site of the Baltimore bridge that collapsed when a mammoth freighter crashed into it last week, killing six people and severing a major shipping and transportation artery.
During his visit to the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Mr. Biden will take an aerial tour, receive updates on the response efforts and meet with the families of construction workers who drowned in the Patapsco River along with the construction.
Mr. Biden is set to tackle a miles-long tangle of concrete and steel that has snarled traffic, devastated blue-collar communities and disrupted operations at one of America’s largest ports, threatening chaos that could ripple in supply chains.
The president has already pledged federal support to help the city recover from the March 26 disaster, including vowing to “pay the full cost of rebuilding” the bridge “as soon as possible.” It was unclear whether he would announce new measures during his visit, such as an emergency funding package that would need congressional approval. Some Republicans have already balked at his promise to pay the full cost of the bridge.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that Mr. Biden would gather more information about the help needed during his visit, and signaled support for the federal government that has already provided.
“The president continues to lead a whole-of-government approach to addressing the bridge collapse,” he said. “As the president said within hours of the collapse, this administration will be with the people of Baltimore every step of the way.”
This week, senior administration officials called major employers in the Baltimore area, including retail chains such as Home Depot and distributors such as Amazon, to encourage them to retain workers, Ms. Jean-Pierre said.
Since the collapse, the administration has funded port cleanup, unlocked $60 million in emergency funding to help rebuild the bridge, provided low-interest loans to affected businesses and overseen efforts to monitor and manage any supply chain disruptions.
The structure, which took five years to build, opened in 1977 and served as a critical transportation link on the East Coast, carrying more than 30,000 vehicles a day as they traveled Interstate 695. Named after Francis Scott Key, Maryland- born author of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The bridge collapsed overnight when a 985-foot cargo ship plowed into it shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore, a vital economic engine that handles more cars and farm equipment than any other port in the country. The boat, the Dali, lost power before hitting the bridge, but sent a phone call that gave officials enough time to shut down the bridge.
But it was not enough time to reach the workers who were already on the bridge.
Six construction workers were missing after the collapse and the bodies of two of them were recovered from the river on March 27. Recovery efforts for the remaining workers, who are presumed dead, have been suspended. Authorities said the bodies were likely encased in steel and concrete.
“They were hard workers working through the night to repair potholes on a bridge that tens of thousands of travelers crossed every day,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.
