News Release
| Release Number: | 06-006 |
| Dated: | 1/10/2006 |
| Contact: | Jennifer A. Sowell, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close navigation locks at dams on the Columbia River in March to conduct annual inspections, repairs and maintenance.
Bonneville Lock and Dam, The Dalles Dam and John Day Dam, at Columbia River Miles 145, 191 and 216 respectively, will close to river traffic at 6 a.m., March 11, 2006 for the routine maintenance. All three locks will re-open at 11:59 p.m., March 25.
The Corps coordinates the annual closures with inland shippers and cruise lines to achieve minimal impact to the various industries that use the locks.
Since repairs were made to the lock at John Day Dam last year, the Corps is planning to dewater it during this coming lock outage to conduct a more thorough inspection.
Dewatering permits the Corps to perform a more extensive inspection of the lock chamber. Locks are normally dewatered for a complete inspection every five years. The John Day lock was partially dewatered for maintenance in March 2005, Bonneville was dewatered for inspection in March 2004 and The Dalles was dewatered in March 2001.