Biden tours Key Bridge wreckage in Baltimore, vows a swift rebuild to reopen busy port

President Biden is pledging to “move heaven and earth” to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen Baltimore’s busy port.

Mr. Biden joined Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, and top officials from the U.S. Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard on an aerial tour of the wreckage on Friday. Later, his motorcade exited Interstate 695 and drove near the base of the bridge, with mangled portions of the span visible along with the ship in the water.

Mr. Biden’s trip was designed to give him a firsthand look at the disaster and increase pressure on Congress to fund the recovery.

“We’re coming back, we’re coming back soon,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re gonna move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly, as humanly, possible. And we’re gonna do so with union labor and American steel.”

“They’re the best workers in the world, and that’s not hyperbole,” he said.

Mr. Biden has said the federal government should fund the entire cost of the rebuild, which could cost billions. Some Republicans are pushing back on the idea, demanding that funding be tied to demands for liability from the shipping company or unrelated policy provision.

The Biden administration allocated $60 million in emergency funds after the March 26 collapse.

“Your nation has your back and I mean it,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re gonna get this paid for, aren’t we?”

The Key Bridge was brought down after the cargo ship Dali lost power and rammed into a support pillar, sending the structure crashing down into the water below.

An eight-man construction crew was filling potholes on the bridge when it went down. The bodies of two men were found inside a submerged pickup truck, though officials fear at least four more are dead. Two men were saved shortly after the bridge crumbled into the water.  

Mr. Biden, during his visit, planned to meet with family members of the workers who died.

“I’ve come here to grieve with you,” Mr. Biden said.

Salvage teams from the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard are using massive cranes to gradually remove the bridge wreckage that’s clogging the river.

Brigadier General John Lloyd of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told Mr. Biden how they were planning to cut portions of the mangled bridge off the ship and that the project involved dozens of divers and 12 cranes.

The corps expects to open a limited access channel — 280 feet wide and 35 feet deep — to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April. It hopes to restore the permanent, 700-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep navigation channel by the end of May, placing the port at normal capacity.

The governor pledged to “win this moment.”

“The city of Baltimore is stronger today than ever before,” Mr. Moore said.

Rep. David Trone, a Maryland Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate, urged Congress to fund Baltimore’s needs as it recovers.

“I strongly urge my Congressional colleagues to rise to the challenges ahead and help fund this effort because this isn’t a Maryland problem, it’s an American one,” said Mr. Trone, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee. “The Port of Baltimore is a pillar of our nation’s economy: supporting nearly 150,000 jobs, importing more vehicles than any other port, and contributing over $15 million to the economy every day.”

• Matt Delaney contributed to this report.