The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has led a massive transportation cleanup effort after a container ship caused the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. Many of the USACE’s actions illustrate trends that are driving the transportation disaster recovery sector, which encompasses bridges, roadways, railways, ships and aviation. 

When it comes to addressing transportation disasters, the most immediate concern is to secure the site and rescue any survivors followed by mitigating the impact of the event. In the case of the Baltimore Bridge collapse, this means reopening access to the Port of Baltimore as soon, and as much, as possible by using massive floating cranes to remove wreckage from the site.

The USACE’s progress in this regard has been impressive if unavoidably limited. Less than a month after the bridge collapse, on April 20, 2024, “A third temporary channel for boats to enter and depart the Port of Baltimore has opened, expanding further shipping access as collapsed sections of the Francis Scott Key Bridge are salvaged before the span can ultimately be rebuilt,” reports the Associated Press. “With the new channel open, about 15% of pre-collapse commercial activity will resume.

“Officials hope to open a channel by the end of the month to allow most maritime traffic back into one of the East Coast’s busiest maritime transit hubs,” says the AP report. Concurrent with this, the USACE is working on removing debris from the MV Dali and refloating it prior to removing more debris from the channel floor so that full ship traffic can be restored.

These actions mirror trends such as effective site management, speedy restoration to service and safe removal of debris that are being pursued by the transportation disaster recovery sector as a whole. 

FOUR MORE TRENDS IN TRANSPORTATION DISASTER RECOVERY

Trend #1: The advent of ruggedized computer technology and networking are changing the very nature of the transportation disaster cleanup sector.

Although heavy-duty machines will always be needed to remove debris and clear sites, smart technologies like remote sensing tools, artificial intelligence, drones and satellite imagery can be valuable assets for remote assessment of damages. A report titled Transport Sector Recovery: Opportunities to Build Resilience, which is part of the Disaster Recovery Guidance Series issued by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery says, “These tools help speed up assessments, provide real-time accuracy and reduce the safety risks associated with having personnel on the ground. For example, when telecommunications are operational, RoadLab Pro, a free smartphone app, can be used to evaluate road conditions, map road networks, detect major road bumps, and report safety hazards.” It is available at Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store.

Trend #2: Technology is improving the cleanup response to railway derailments and, in some cases, preventing them entirely.

A U.S. Department of Transportation report stated that under the safety mandate for wayside detection technology, the Federal Railroad Administration has contributed to the development and deployment of technologies under its wayside detection research program. The full report titled Effectiveness of Wayside Detector Technologies on Train Operation Safety can be found at railroads.dot.gov. 

To compile this report, the FRA analyzed the Association of American Railroads’ Integrated Railway Remote Information Service database to determine derailment trends, associated causes and costs. “The reported analysis shows a strong correlation between the growth in installation of Wheel Impact Load, Truck Performance Detectors and Truck Hunting Detectors, and the reduction in the number of derailments,” the report says. “The trends show that the railroads have improved operational safety through proactive wayside monitoring and detection of vehicle performance. The analysis shows that the major derailment causes that still require detection technology innovation are broken wheel rim and transverse/compound fissure of rail.” This is highly useful information for transportation disaster recovery companies, and more evidence of technology in general serving as a transformative trend in this sector. 

Trend #3: Using naturally occurring microorganisms to break down and degrade oil spills — a process known as bioremediation — is nothing new. But the latest version of this cleanup approach is certainly a trendsetter. 

Known as nano-enhanced bioremediation, “the introduction of nanoparticles to areas contaminated by oil has emerged as a potential method to enhance the efficacy of oil degradation by marine microorganisms,” according to an article in ACS ES&T Engineering titled Nano-enhanced Bioremediation for Oil Spills: A Review and written by Amber J. Pete, Bhuvnesh Bharti and Michael G. Benton.

The authors state that nanoparticles have been primarily utilized as magnetic sorbents, but their use can go beyond that: They can also be used as emulsifiers. What that does is increase the bioavailability of the oil by giving microbes a surface to which they can attach and facilitate proliferation. That means more oil can be naturally degraded by microorganisms. Nanoenhanced bioremediation is effective on a variety of oil compositions and is minimally impacted by weather and offers a sustainable remediation alternative.

Trend #4: Advanced transportation disaster cleanups are being managed to mitigate their impact on employees and local residents.

“For example, in 2012 the National Response Team published an emergency responder health monitoring and surveillance guidance in recognition that workers are getting sick,” says Dr. Riki Ott, Director of The ALERT (A Locally Empowered Response Team) Project. “California and the RRT 9 are implementing Public Health Assessment Units into Area Contingency Plans. The EPA’s revised rules governing dispersant use require increased involvement of Area Committees, including state, local, and regional government officials, in disaster preparation and planning.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

Whether on site at the Francis Scott Key Bridge or working on other transportation-related disasters, the cleanup companies in this sector are being shaped by trends that emphasize prioritization, safety and efficient mitigation of disastrous impacts.