News Release
| Release Number: | 01-024 |
| Dated: | 3/5/2001 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-- The Willamette Falls Locks near West Linn, Ore., will be closed for the next two months so crews can perform maintenance on two of the locks chamber gates.
The locks will close at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, and remain closed until repairs are completed in May.
"Since the locks are the only means for recreational boaters and commercial shippers to navigate around Willamette Falls, we will do what we can to minimize this outage," said Debby Chenoweth, operations manager for Bonneville Lock and Dam and Willamette Falls Locks. She said, however, that this type of maintenance is required periodically to ensure the long-term usability of the locks.
Ebony Iron Works, Inc., of Portland was awarded a $742,000 contract for the work. The work will consist of removing and cleaning miter gates No. 2 and No. 4 (miter gates separate the lock chambers). The gates will be removed, cleaned and painted. Rubber seals and hydraulic units will be replaced and minor welding will be performed. Similar work was performed on gates No. 5 and No. 6 four years ago, and gates No. 1 and No. 7 eight years ago.
When the locks reopen in May, boaters will be able to use them from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Willamette Falls Locks was the first water resource project in Oregon. It has been designated a National Historic Site and an Historic Engineering Site. The original lockmaster's office has been converted into a museum, and displays photographs of the historic locks that have been in operation since 1873. Tours of the museum are available by calling (541) 374-8820.
During the summer, hours for visitor areas will be daily from 9:30 a.m. to sunset. Seven picnic sites and visitor restrooms are available. Boaters wanting to receive information about using the navigation locks can call (503) 656-3381.