Divers are relying on sonar technology to guide them underwater as salvage efforts continue after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last week.
Col. Estee S. Pinchacin, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baltimore, said Wednesday that the Coda Octopus is the primary survey tool used by divers.
“So visibility, if you’re lucky, is 1 to 2 feet right in front of them. It’s clouded by 4 to 5 feet of mud and the gentle bottom of the Patapsco River,” Pinchacin said. Ta. “Divers basically work in the dark, because if they use lights and we shine them, it’s like driving in a snowstorm with your high beams on. It’s from.”
Pinchasin said the divers are guided by detailed verbal instructions and instructions from operators and vessels on the surface.
The Maryland crane was used to clean up bridge collapses and was also used on CIA missions in the 1970s.
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team work at the scene of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore on March 26. (FBI Baltimore)
“And what the divers are doing is trying to feel that connection. Sonar and imagery can show you where things are and how they’re lying, but if they “It’s very important for us to know how they are connected. They are all connected,” Pinchasin said of the debris, debris and riverbed. “And that’s what divers have to go down and find.”
3D images show the remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the bottom of the Patapsco River. (U.S. Navy Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Salvage and Diving Supervisor (SUPSALV))
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released 3D images of the wreckage online earlier this week. The photo was provided by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Salvage Diving Supervisor (SUPSALV) and was taken by a diver on a CODA Octopus.
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The Army Corps of Engineers said the three images show “the magnitude of the extremely difficult and challenging salvage effort ahead.”
There is no usable underwater video footage of the wreckage because, as one diver put it, “You don’t need to video what you can’t see.”
These 3D images were taken by divers using CODA Octopus sonar technology. (U.S. Navy Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Salvage and Diving Supervisor (SUPSALV))
Gov. Wes Moore said conditions were unsafe for divers trying to retrieve the bodies of four construction workers believed to be trapped underwater in the wreckage, and rough weather was making the salvage effort more difficult. A large floating crane nicknamed “Chessie” is assisting in the salvage operation.
Authorities believe six road construction workers died in the collapse, two of whom were found dead last week. Two other workers survived.
Divers said thick mud and murky water made visibility so low that it was nearly impossible to capture video of the wreckage. (U.S. Navy Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Salvage and Diving Supervisor (SUPSALV))
The bridge collapsed when it was struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power early on March 26 while en route from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. The ship issued a Mayday alert, giving police enough time to stop traffic, but not enough to save road construction workers filling the hole in the bridge. The ship remains stationary and 21 crew members remain on board.
Dali is managed by Singapore’s Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Danish shipping giant Maersk chartered the Dali.
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Synergy and Grace Ocean filed a motion in court Monday seeking to limit liability, a routine but important step in cases filed under U.S. maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible and how much is owed.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
