News Release
| Release Number: | 97-037 |
| Dated: | 4/11/1997 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-- Willamette Falls Locks will close to river traffic two days this month, the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today. The first closure will be Tuesday, April 15, and the second on Wednesday, April 23. The locks will be closed for the entire day during each closure.
During the April 15 closure, crews will move the hydraulic unit used to control the upriver gate. The Corps is moving the unit in anticipation of the Spring runoff. Since it is impossible to know how or when the runoff will occur, the Corps wants to be prepared. Moving the unit now will make it easier to remove it later should high water levels jeopordize the equipment.
During the second closure, lock operators will drain the upper canal of the lock system early in the morning on April 23 so structural engineers and contractors can inspect gates No. 5 and No. 6. The two gates are scheduled to be overhauled in September. Crews also will take advantage of the one-day closure to perform other general maintenance on the lock system.
According to Brian Schmidtke, the Corps' navigation lock liaison, both gates will be removed during the September outage, which will close the locks for 45 days. At that time, bushings will be replaced at the top and bottom of each gate, cracks will be repaired, slide gate guides will be repaired or replaced, rubber seals will be replaced, and the gates will be sandblasted and repainted. Also, maintenance will be performed on the gate anchorages and hydraulic lines attached to the lock structure.
Gates No. 1 and No. 7 were overhauled in 1993. The remaining three gates will be overhauled within the next several years.
The locks are located 14 miles south of Portland at West Linn, Ore., on the Willamette River and are open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Willamette Falls Locks, built in the early 1870s, is responsible for providing commercial and recreational lockages 365 days per year. The locks have historically handled about 4,500 commercial vessels and 2,900 recreational vessels each year. The Corps has operated the locks since 1915.