A very good friend of mine works for the Federal Government. He said that it will take years for this bridge to be rebuilt and ready to go. Now, the Army corps of engineers could come in and make a temporary bridge because of all the traffic in the area. This is going to be a logistical nightmare for a long time as this is a main artery for Baltimore traffic. This bridge saw thousands and thousands of cars and trucks on a daily basis. If this were to have happened during the day, it would be a whole different story.
Which brings up a main point. The first responders are to get a massive THANK YOU!!! Once the ship sent out it's distress call, they jumped into action and sealed off traffic from going over the bridge. While one loss of life is horrible, they saved countless lives. There was a tractor trailer that went over minutes before the ship collided with the bridge.
It is worth noting that thousands of folks are ready to help. Here in our little town of Salisbury, first responders here were on the ready and even though it will never happen, Salisbury Port extended their help in any way possible. Baltimore is one of the biggest importers for Mercedes Benz so the could pull into surrounding smaller ports and then trailer them to their destinations.
Either way, the loss of life is awful and this is going to snarl Baltimore for a long time.