The emergency passage, 264 feet wide and 11 feet deep, was cleared Monday to allow essential boats to pass along the Patapsco River around the shattered wreckage at the bridge disaster site.
A second 15-foot channel is expected to provide access for ships to Baltimore Harbor and will be followed by a third, even deeper channel.
“Today is an important step in the process of cutting through the debris and opening the canals. We know we still have work to do,” Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.
U. S. Coast Guard Capt. David O’Connell, the federal coordinator on site for the unified response to the bridge collapse, said in an exclusive interview with CBS News that auxiliary channels are expected to open along the northeast segment of the canal and one along the southern segment.
There is pre-existing debris along the south side of the channel that the Coast Guard is working to remove.
“We’ll be working with the rescue team to get this out of the water tomorrow,” O’Connell said.
The two transition channels will be primarily for jet ships, commercial automobiles and those involved in rescue work.
Work is underway on a third, deeper channel that would require up to 25 feet deep to operate; however, more debris surrounding the colliding ship, the Dali, is desired.
“I’m expecting smaller draft vessels, maybe a couple of smaller tugs to be announced in the next few days,” O’Connell said. “It’s a draft of 13 to 14 feet, but unfortunately it’s not a lot of boats. But in fact, it’s a start on the road to phase three, which will take us to a draft of 20 to 25 feet and there will be many more advertising vessels.
In one case, Moore argues that untangling the clutter from the debris is still dangerous.
“We’re talking about a scenario where the underwater bridge component was described by Unified Command as a ‘chaotic wreck,'” Moore said. “Every time someone goes into the water, they’re taking a risk. Every time we move part of the structure, the scenario can be even more dangerous. We will have to act quickly, but we cannot be careless.
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