The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is deploying more than 1,100 personnel to Baltimore, Md., following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morni…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is deploying more than 1,100 personnel to Baltimore, Md., following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning, the service said in a statement.

The corps’ Baltimore District has activated its Emergency Operations Center, “clearing the way for more than 1,100 engineering, construction, contracting and operations specialists to provide support to local, state and federal agencies” in clearing the fallen bridge, the Army said in the release.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major bridge in Baltimore, collapsed just seconds after being struck by the Dali, a cargo ship managed by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd, a Singaporean company.

  • SSTF@lemmy.world
    10·
    8 months ago

    Just gonna skim Wikipedia real quick.

    In a typical year, the Corps of Engineers responds to more than 30 Presidential disaster declarations, plus numerous state and local emergencies. Emergency responses usually involve cooperation with other military elements and Federal agencies in support of State and local efforts.

    More than 67 percent of the goods consumed by Americans and more than half of the nation’s oil imports are processed through deepwater ports maintained by the Corps of Engineers, which maintains more than 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of commercially navigable channels across the U.S.

    USACE maintains direct control of 609 dams, maintains or operates 257 navigation locks, and operates 75 hydroelectric facilities generating 24% of the nation’s hydropower and three percent of its total electricity.

    Four billion gallons of water per day are drawn from the Corps of Engineers’ 136 multi-use flood control projects comprising 9,800,000 acre-feet (12.1 km3) of water storage, making it one of the United States’ largest water supply agencies.

    Today, the Corps of Engineers maintains more than 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of inland waterways.

    USACE also maintains 300 commercial harbors, through which pass 2,000,000,000 short tons (1.8×109 metric tons) of cargo a year, and more than 600 smaller harbors.

    The Corps of Engineers is the nation’s largest provider of outdoor recreation, operating more than 2,500 recreation areas at 463 projects

    It goes on, but suffice to say if they put out a press release every time they did something you’d lose your mind.