Baltimore Shipping Channel Fully Reopens After Catastrophic Bridge Collapse
TimeMAY 31 2024
Baltimore Shipping Channel Fully Reopens
Above: The destroyed Francis Scott Key Bridge that was pinning the container ship Dali in place was detached from the ship using a controlled detonation of explosives in the Patapsco River May 13, 2024. Image copyright: Chip Somodevilla/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The reopening of this channel is proof that government agencies can work together to complete even the biggest undertakings. In all, the couple of months it took to get the channel fully reopened was faster than expected. The same type of teamwork should lead to a speedy reconstruction of the bridge.
Establishment-critical narrative
Before taking a victory lap, government officials should have to answer for the Key Bridge being considered "fracture critical" in the first place. And while rebuilding the bridge is a worthy endeavor, the government has to figure out what to do to protect the eight other major bridges nationwide that have been deemed vulnerable to a similar incident.