News Release
| Release Number: | 97-055 |
| Dated: | 6/2/1997 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- When you're responsible for keeping the region's waterways safely navigable, finding time to interact with the publics you serve can be tough. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, however, has found the time to be as accessible to the public as possible during the Portland Rose Festival. As part of the official Rose Festival fleet, the hopper dredge Essayons will arrive at the seawall in downtown Portland on Wednesday afternoon. As soon as the festival is over, however, it's back to work on the river.
"Each year it's a juggling act to balance our work on the river with our need to connect with the people we serve," said Dave Beach of the Corps' Channels and Harbors Projects. "Our dredge crews relish opportunities to meet with the public to help them understand the critical role the Corps plays in maintaining our region's waterways. Fortunately, the Portland Rose Festival has been gracious enough to provide us the opportunity to join the Portland Rose Festival Fleet, giving us thousands of visitors we ordinarily might not reach," he said.
Beginning Thursday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the dredge's crews will offer tours of the ship from top to bottom. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the dredge will be open for tours from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Guests aboard the dredge should wear low-heel shoes, as there are a number of steel grates and ladders on the ship.) Providing tours will not be the only work aboard the ship, however.
"We're going to be doing some of our dock-side work while at the seawall to increase the efficiency of our downtime," Beach said. Last year, the Essayons was fitted with special deflecting devices on its dragheads to prevent crabs from being "vacuumed" up with sand and other material during dredging activity. This year, while at the sea wall, its dragarms will be fitted with another device to monitor the effectiveness of the deflectors. In addition to developing and using the crab deflectors, the Corps makes every effort to schedule dredging around anadromous fish runs or other resource concerns, Beach said. Before dredging work begins, biological assessments are prepared by Corps experts to outline proposed dredging work and disposal areas. The assessments are submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service for review and approval. These steps are taken to ensure the utmost protection of the environment.
During the dredging season, the Corps' other hopper dredge, the Yaquina, as well as the sandbypasser Sandwick, join the Essayons in maintaining the region's waterways and harbors. Four survey vessels equipped with hydrographic survey equipment help the Corps determine where dredging is most needed.
Additional shoaling created by the February Flood of 1996 and flooding earlier this year have made dredging efforts in the region even more critical. Corps dredges meet a portion of the region's needs. Private dredging companies -- contracted by the Corps -- do the rest. By law, the Corps is required to set aside a portion of its dredging work for private dredging companies. This year, the 1997 Water and Energy Appropriations Bill requires the Corps to set aside 8.5 million cubic yards, nationwide, for private dredges.
The Corps expects to work only 180 days this year. The balance of days are reserved for maintenance work, open houses and events, such as the Rose Festival.
Note to editors: to schedule a special tour of the Essayons, or to learn more about any one of the Corps' ships, call Heidi Helwig at (503) 326-6005. (After June 6, dial (503) 808-4510.)