News Release
| Release Number: | 03-193 |
| Dated: | 11/21/2003 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
More closures planned in February to prepare for month-long March repairs Portland, Ore. - River traffic on the Columbia River will again be temporarily stalled due to preparatory repair work the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must complete at the John Day navigation lock.
The lock will be closed to all river traffic between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1 through Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003. The locks will re-open to commercial river traffic each evening at 6 p.m.
Additional outages are scheduled for February 2004 to complete necessary preparatory work prior to beginning full-scale repairs in March.
Recreational river traffic will be impacted the most, as no recreational crafts will be passed through the locks during each closure. The winter lockage schedule for recreational boats provides for upstream lockages at 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., with downstream lockages at 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The lock must be closed to repair cracks in a bulkhead slot. The bulkhead will be used to dewater a portion of the lock during future repairs. Currently, due to the cracks, water is expected to seep around that bulkhead.
During previous closures, workers placed grout and post-tension anchors in pre-drilled holes along the lock wall. The grouting and anchor testing is being done in preparation for installation of many permanent anchors in the walls and foundation of the lock chamber.
The future repairs - scheduled for February to June of next year - are to install permanent anchors in the walls and foundation, seal cracks and replace damaged concrete.
During the past year, the Corps has closed the John Day lock to repair the upstream lock gate, investigate cracks in the concrete, and begin work on on-going and future repairs.
The closures were coordinated with Columbia River commercial shipping interests, including tow boaters and cruise lines.
Completed in 1968, the John Day Dam spans the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon about 25 miles east of The Dalles, Ore., 215 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. More than 10 million tons of cargo - consisting of agricultural, petroleum, construction and manufactured products - move through the Columbia-Snake river locks each year.