Fox News reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it is “too early” to provide an estimate on when the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge will be removed from the Patapsco River to allow marine traffic to flow freely into the Port of Baltimore again.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the military branch has been tasked, along with the Coast Guard, to clean up the area as part of a rebuilding process that he warned Wednesday will “not be quick or easy or cheap.”

“It is too early to provide timeline estimates on channel clearance and reopening,” a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Our priority remains providing support to the U.S. Coast Guard and our state and local partners’ recovery efforts at this time.”

The Army Corps of Engineers says its Baltimore District has activated its emergency operations center, which clears the way for “more than 1,100 engineering, construction, contracting, and operations specialists to provide support to local, state, and federal agencies” responding to Tuesday’s bridge collapse.

The branch says it will provide underwater assessment capabilities, structural engineering support – including “certified bridge safety inspectors and urban search and rescue structural technical specialists” – and removal of debris in the waterway that could pose threats to navigation.