Cranes began arriving on March 28 at the scene of the catastrophic bridge collapse over Baltimore harbour, as the authorities shifted to a cleanup phase of recovery and warned of extensive work before the major United States port can reopen.

According to CNA and other media reports the machinery will be deployed in a tricky operation to clear the twisted steel remnants of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, from where it fell into the Patapsco River – blocking the entrance to the Port of Baltimore –

The Army Corps of Engineers “is moving the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to Baltimore to help us”, Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters on the evening of March 28. Meanwhile, Biden administration has approves $60 million for bridge costs.

Coast Guard Rear-Admiral Shannon Gilreath outlined the intense work ahead: “Before we can actually engage in lifting, we’ve got to… figure out how to cut the bridge into the right size pieces so that we can actually lift them with the crane” out of the water.

Given the complexity and potential risks, efforts to recover the bodies of the four men still missing were called off.

“That water is so dark and the debris is so dense that, in most instances, our divers cannot see any more than a foot or two in front of them,” Mr Moore explained.

Even as crews look ahead toward recovery, “we’re… incredibly sensitive to the notion that this is also the resting place for four fathers, for four brothers, for four sons”, senior White House official Tom Perez told MSNBC earlier in the day.

The missing men, all Latin American immigrants, are believed to have been killed when the Singapore-flagged 300m container ship Dali lost power and hit a bridge support column.

Nearly the entire steel structure – crossed by tens of thousands of motorists each day – collapsed within seconds.