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Following the devastating collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, the extent of the economic damage is gradually emerging.
And it’s massive.
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The Cost Of Losing A Major Commerce Thoroughfare
In addition to lives lost, the dollar amounts are also “mounting as one of the nation’s most critical ports closes and a major interstate highway connection has been severed.”
That’s according to a Business Insider report.
“Experts told Business Insider that the port alone contributes $15 million in daily economic activity, which will come to a near-standstill ‘until further notice.”
“That’s just the beginning,” Insider added.
The story continued:
“It’s not just the Port of Baltimore that has been compromised,” Anirban Basu, an economist and the founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group, told BI. “It’s also the railroads, the trucking industry, the regional-distribution centers, commuters, and other segments of the economy.”
Basu said those factors will push daily losses into the tens of millions of dollars until the shipping lane reopens.
“The tentacles here are far-reaching,” he added. “And they’re all negative.”
Though it’s far from the largest port in the US, Baltimore is one of the more specialized terminals for autos and agriculture equipment, known as “roll-on/roll-off” cargo, and some bulk commodities, such as coal.
A New Bridge In Baltimore Will Take Some Time
“Daraius Irani, the chief economist for the Regional Economic Studies Institute at Towson University in Maryland, told BI that the port is responsible for about 140,000 jobs, though he doesn’t anticipate those will be at significant risk, so long as operations resume quickly,” Business Insider added. “If it takes 60 days or 90 days, then it might have a longer-term and more deleterious effect,’ he said.”
The Key Bridge opened in 1977 and was crucial to travel in the area. An important link, for citizens and commerce.
It will be some time before the city can build a replacement bridge.
What that could do to the economy remains to be seen. But it doesn’t bode well.
