The main shipping channel entering Baltimore harbor reopened on Monday, less than three months after a wayward cargo ship collapsed the Key Bridge into the river, the Baltimore Banner reports. Officials announced enough of the channel has been cleared to allow two way-traffic in the area where the bridge one stood.
After extracting a 90-ton piece of wreckage on Saturday, crews used magnetometers, LIDAR, and sonar to conduct a complete sweep of the are for hazardous material. The riverbed is not cleared of debris, but none of the remaining wreckage appear to block shipping traffic. Although parts of the roadbed still sit on the bottom of the Patapsco River, federal and state authorities certified the region safe for ship transit.