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US President Joe Biden has vowed to “move heaven and earth” to reopen “one of the nation’s largest shipping hubs” by rebuilding the collapsed bridge in Baltimore – which experts say could cost over $600m (£474m).
Local officials have said Baltimore port in Maryland – which sees more than a million shipping containers enter and exit every year – is closed for all maritime and much road-based traffic “until further notice”.
Trucks, however, are being allowed to move goods out of the area.
Baltimore bridge collapse latest: Six people still missing as two pulled from water
But the collapse, caused by a shipping container crashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in the early hours of Tuesday, is “going to block Baltimore from operating for some time”, according to Richard Meade, the editor of Lloyd’s List, the 287-year-old provider of shipping data.
Diversions and delays
Diversions are already taking place with “huge insurance implications”, Mr Meade told Sky News, as companies and authorities consider how to divert trade into other ports.
He said: “There are going to be implications in terms of what the eastern seaboard of the US now does to rearrange its logistics in order to account for this, because this is not going to be resolved in a quick manner.”
Such diversions will push up costs, he added.
Estimating the cost
The need to rebuild quickly is going to bring the cost to at least 10 times the original 1970s price of around $60m, according to David MacKenzie, chair of engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden.
“It’s got to be built quickly because you’ve heard of the pressure on the commuter…
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