The largest floating crane on the Eastern Seaboard has begun removing debris from the wreckage of the collapsed I-695/Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Baltimore Port channel.
The Chesapeake 1000 crane, nicknamed Chessy, can been seen in the video at the end of this story hauling off large debris from the collapsed bridge.
The crane, which has a lifting capacity of 1,000 tons, was contracted out by the Naval Sea Systems Command for the task of removing debris after the cargo ship Dali struck a pillar of the bridge March 26 causing its decks to collapse into the Patapsco River.
Donjon Marine Co. of New Jersey owns and operates the crane, which has a boom that extends 230 feet 9 inches and has an additional 25-plus-foot-long jib boom.
Chessy is joined by several other cranes working to remove the wreckage to fully reopen the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic. They include 400-, 200- and 150-ton cranes.
Alternative smaller channels have been opened, with full reopening scheduled for the end of May.
The Chesapeake 1000 has steel deckhouses fitted on deck with the forward house containing hoist machinery and equipment and the midship house containing the generator room, office and galley, according to Donjon Marine.
