Controlled demolition of Key Bridge section on Dali delayed to Sunday

The Saturday controlled demolition of the section of the Key Bridge that is atop the Dali container ship has been delayed until Sunday, officials said.

A spokesman for Key Bridge Unified Command said concerns about winds prompted the delay.

“It’s over open water, and crew members are using hydraulic lifts with 200-foot reaches that are on barges,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Ronald Hodges said Friday. “Any motion in the wind and waters poses a risk to crew members.”

He said crews are continuing to install explosive charges on the bridge span. Those will be detonated to break apart the bridge section into smaller pieces, which will slide into the river and be hauled away.

The demolition is the first step in freeing the Dali, which is expected to be refloated and returned to the Port of Baltimore.

Hodges said he did not have a specific time for the rescheduled operation on Sunday, but another member of the command said it would be between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to coincide with low tide.

Baltimore Sun reporter Hayes Gardner contributed to this article.