News Release
| Release Number: | 07-019 |
| Dated: | 2/15/2007 |
| Contact: | Jennifer A. Sowell, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close navigation locks at dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in March to conduct annual inspections, repairs and maintenance.
The eight dams between Portland, Ore., and Lewiston, Idaho will close to river traffic at 6 a.m., March 10 for routine maintenance. All locks will re-open at 11:59 p.m., March 24. The affected locks are Portland District’s Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day locks and dams, at Columbia River Miles 145, 191 and 216 respectively, and Walla Walla District’s McNary Lock and Dam at Columbia River Mile 292, and Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite locks and dams, at Snake River Miles 9.7, 41.6, 70.3 and 107.3, respectively.
The Dalles Lock and Dam and Little Goose Lock and Dam will be dewatered during this lock outage to conduct a more extensive inspection of the lock chambers. Locks are normally dewatered for a complete inspection every five years.
In addition to the two-week outage, an additional eight-hour closure is planned for John Day Lock and Dam to re-tension newly installed wire ropes, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 3.
The Corps coordinates these annual closures with inland shippers and cruise lines to achieve minimal impact to the various industries that use the locks.