President Biden plans on Friday to visit the site of the Baltimore bridge that collapsed after a colossal cargo ship plowed into it last week, killing six people and severing a major shipping and transportation artery.
During his visit to the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Mr. Biden will take an aerial tour, receive briefings on the response efforts and meet with the families of construction workers who were plunged into the Patapsco River along with the structure.
Mr. Biden is set to encounter a more than mile-long tangle of concrete and steel that has snarled traffic, devastated blue-collar communities and disrupted operations at one of America’s biggest ports, threatening chaos that could ripple across supply chains.
The president has already pledged federal support to help the city recover from the March 26 catastrophe, including a vow to “pay for the entire cost of reconstructing” the bridge “as soon as humanly possible.” It was unclear whether he would announce new measures during his visit, such as an emergency funding package that would need congressional approval. Some Republicans have already rebuffed his promise to pay the entire bridge cost.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on Thursday that Mr. Biden would gather more information about what aid was needed during his visit, and pointed to support the federal government had already provided.
“The president is continuing to lead a whole-of-government approach in responding to the bridge collapse,” she said. “As the president said within hours of the collapse, this administration will be with the people of Baltimore every step of the way.”
