“All I’ve ever known is the Key Bridge,” Moore said. “And to go out there and to look up and just to see the sky, when you’re standing in a place that if you would have looked up before you would have seen something that was just iconic for the city, I think that’s one of the moments when it just really hits you.”

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said in an interview after being on the boat with Moore that the close-up view was “devastating.”

“Out on the water I began to perceive some of the lucky breaks we got even in the midst of this catastrophe,” he said. “Had it been at rush hour, that would have been an unspeakable nightmare. If we had all of this wreckage plus an oil spill, that would have been a compounded nightmare.”

During a news conference later Friday with Raskin, Olszewski, and officials from the Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland State Police, and Maryland Department of Transportation, Moore said two more cranes will arrive Friday evening and Monday to help remove debris from the collision site. Divers will resume their search for the bodies of the four remaining construction workers “when conditions change.”

With 10 days left in the legislative session, the governor said it was “vital” the General Assembly set aside their differences and passed a budget with enough money for transportation needs, even as the state faces a $3.3 billion shortfall. Federal officials approved on Thursday an initial $60 million request to fund preliminary costs of mobilization, operations, and debris recovery, but called it a “down payment.”

Moore did not specify a timeline for cleanup, but wanted it “done quickly, and done right.”

“We are not going to stop working,” he said.

_____

©2024 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.