News Release
| Release Number: | 03-176 |
| Dated: | 10/14/2003 |
| Contact: | Diana J. Fredlund, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close Willamette Falls Locks on the Willamette River at West Linn, Ore., for six months beginning Nov. 1, 2003. The Corps tentatively plans to reopen the locks May 1, 2004.
Reduced funding for operations as well as decreased lock usage during fiscal year 2004 means that there are not sufficient resources to operate the locks year-round.
The Corps has operated the Willamette Falls Locks since 1915, when it purchased the facility from the Portland Railway Light and Power Company for $375,000. The locks opened on Jan. 1, 1873.
In 1974 the project was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1991, Willamette Falls Locks was designated as a State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the History and Heritage Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The designation is for the locks' status as Oregon's first water resources development project.
More information about Willamette Falls Locks is available on the Portland District's web page at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/wfl.htm .