Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg did not want to put a dollar amount or time frame on President Joe Biden‘s commitment to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was hit by a container ship.
It is “too soon to be certain” about how much construction of the bridge could cost and how long it could take, in addition to the economic consequences of the accident, Buttigieg told reporters Wednesday during a White House briefing, adding “rebuilding will not be quick, or easy, or cheap, but we will get it done.”
“The original bridge took five years to construct,” Buttigieg said. “That tells you what went into that original structure.”
After the search and rescue mission for the six people who remain unaccounted for was reclassified as a recovery effort earlier Wednesday, Buttigieg reiterated that he would prefer not to “get ahead” of any investigation, including by the National Transportation Safety Board.
“A bridge like this one, completed in the 1970s, was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support pier from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds,” he said. “Part of what’s being debated is whether any design feature now known would have made a difference.”
Buttigieg and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also did not have any more details on when Biden will reach out to the families of the missing men, construction workers who were on the bridge fixing potholes, nor regarding when the president plans to visit the site.
But Buttigieg did preemptively appeal for bipartisanship in case the Biden administration needs to submit another supplemental budget request to Congress for funding for the bridge.
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“Today this is happening in Baltimore. Tomorrow it could be your district,” he said. “We really need to stand together — red, blue, and purple — to get these things done.”
U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, who also briefed, underscored that the hazardous material found in 56 containers aboard the Dali, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, did not pose a risk to the public.