An underwater glimpse at what divers face in Key Bridge recovery

Tuesday marked a full week since a container ship collided with the Key Bridge causing it's collapse. The catastrophic incident left six construction workers dead, four who remain trapped beneath the rubble in the Patapsco River. Crews have been working around the clock since to clear the channel of the wreckage. Until that work is completed, operations at the Port of Baltimore are suspended severely impacting certain local, state, and national supply chains.

So far underwater conditions have not cooperated, making it unsafe for divers to recover the bodies. 'Because of the superstructure surrounding what we believe are the construction worker vehicles, and the amount of concrete and debris, divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that,' said Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler, last Wednesday. 'We have exhausted all search efforts in the areas around this wreckage and based on sonar scans, we firmly believe that the vehicles are encased in the superstructure and concrete that we tragically saw come down.'

To get the job done, massive cranes have been deployed along with the US Army Corps of Engineers to remove 2,900 feet of steel and concrete lodged at the bottom of the river. New 3D images were released by the U.S. Navy this week showing an underwater glimpse into what crews are dealing with. 'These 3D images show the sheer magnitude of the very difficult and challenging salvage operation ahead,' said the Baltimore District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on their Facebook Page. 'The underwater sonar imaging tool, known as CODA Octopus, is the primary survey tool used by divers, with visibility clouded to just one to two feet because of the four to five feet of mud and loose bottom of the Patapsco River.'

Some progress has been made, however. On Monday Unified Command, opened a temporary alternate channel near where the Key Bridge stood, for emergency supplies. The Tugboat Crystal Coast was the first vessel to pass through. It was pushing a barge supplying jet fuel for Dover Air Force Base. The make-shift channel is only 11 feet deep, far shorter than the minimum 55 feet required for incoming commercial ships. Efforts are already underway to open up a second channel.

Getting the port back up and running could take weeks, officials say, costing billions of dollars in lost commerce. As for rebuilding the bridge, it may be years.