US President Joe Biden promised Friday to get a collapsed Baltimore bridge rebuilt as he visited the site of the disaster that killed six people.
“I’m here to say, your nation has your back,” Biden said in front of the mangled remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which still lie across the huge cargo ship that destroyed it.
Biden added that a new channel allowing access to one of America’s biggest ports would open by the end of May, as his administration tries to limit the economic fallout in an election year.
The president’s helicopter Marine One flew over the wreckage of the bridge in Baltimore harbor so he could get an aerial view of the colossal scale of the March 26 disaster.
Biden then received a briefing from recovery workers who are trying to remove the thousands of tons of wreckage and open alternate channels to allow ships in and out of the port.
“From the air I saw the bridge that’s been ripped apart, but on the ground I see a community that’s been pulled together,” he added.
The bridge was destroyed in seconds when the Singapore-flagged Dali cargo ship plowed into a support column, killing six road workers and shocking the country.
The Democrat urged Congress to back his plans to fully pay for the rebuilding of the bridge, despite the current paralysis on Capitol Hill as Republicans block much of his legislation.
“We’re going to get this paid for,” Biden said.
“We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible.”
The White House has been keen to show that Biden is dealing with the bridge disaster, which threatens supply chains that could have an impact on the economy with the US presidential election some seven months away.
The port of Baltimore is a key hub for the auto industry, handling almost 850,000 autos and light trucks last year — more than any other US port — according to Maryland state figures.
