(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden is set to speak Friday afternoon during his trip to Baltimore, Maryland, a little more than a week after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed.
Eight workers had been filling potholes on the bridge last month when it was hit by a cargo ship. Two men were rescued, while six died. Of those who were killed, only two bodies have been recovered.
After the collapse, Biden vowed that the federal government would pay for the entire cost of reconstructing the bridge. So far, the Federal Highway Administration has allocated $60 million in emergency funding to the project.
On Friday, the White House said it is asking Congress to allow the federal government to cover 100% of the bridge cleanup and reconstruction costs, instead of getting the money through a separate supplemental funding request.
Officials have repeatedly warned that the recovery and reconstruction efforts won’t be easy. During a Thursday appearance on “CUOMO,” Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that recovery operations are “remarkably complex.”
“We have 27,000 tons of bridge debris that’s also now sitting pancaked at the bottom of the river,” Moore said. “And there are four souls that are still unaccounted for.”
Moore said he can’t overstate the level of devastation the collapse has had on Baltimore.
“It’s really unprecedented when you have a ship that is literally the size of the Eiffel Tower and the weight of the Washington Monument that is now sitting trapped in the middle of the Patapsco River,” Moore said.
Along with the turmoil for the victims’ families, there are concerns about how the bridge collapse will affect Baltimore’s economy as the port’s main shipping channel was destroyed.
As much as $200 million in cargo moves through Baltimore’s port a day, making it the leading hub for importing and exporting vehicles.
There have been two temporary channels created to allow a limited amount of marine traffic through the wreckage, and there’s been work on getting a third one open as well, the Associated Press wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Author: Cassie Buchman
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