News Release
| Release Number: | 98-013 |
| Dated: | 2/19/1998 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- Just as blooming flowers and budding leaves mark the coming of spring, so too does spring mark the annual closure of the eight navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closes the eight locks that allow commercial shipping and recreational boating along the 465-mile-long inland water highway from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho, for about two weeks to perform annual maintenance work. This year's closure will be Feb. 28 to March 14.
All locks, Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary on the Columbia River, and Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite on the Snake River, will close at 6 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, 1998, and are scheduled to reopen at 12:01 a.m., Sunday, March 15, 1998.
Annual maintenance of Corps navigation locks on the Columbia-Snake river system is scheduled during March each year, a time agreed on by a group representing northwest commercial shipping interests. By scheduling the required maintenance the Corps lessens the chance of emergency lock closures during the rest of the year. When one lock is closed, the entire river system is affected, so it makes sense - and poses the least impact to locks customers - to close all eight locks at one time.
"We sit down and iron out the timing of the closure with the shipping companies in the fall," said Brian Schmidtke, Portland District navigation lock liaison. "In doing that, the companies can voice their preferences and concerns with us and one another. We mutually agree on the best time for the closure and can all make plans to prepare for it."
Schmidtke admits there is no "best time" to close the river system for all the lock users, but by sitting down with all the customers at one time, the impacts of the two-week closure can be kept to a minimum.
At the locks operated by the Portland District - Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day - the following maintenance work will be done:
The lock at Bonneville will be completely drained for general maintenance work and inspections. Also, a contractor will be studying the downstream gates as part of a detailed stress analysis of the structure. The analysis is similar to a diagnostic check performed on an automobile to ensure all components are operating as designed, as well as to identify any additional required maintenance work.
Work at The Dalles will be general maintenance.
The John Day Lock also will be drained. In addition to general maintenance, workers will inspect and perform maintenance on the structure's tainter valves. Tainter valves control the flow of water into and out of the lock chamber. Engineers also will inspect the bolted gusset plates on the John Day downstream lift gate. The plates were installed about a year ago to alleviate structural cracking problems.
For more information on the locks operated by the Corps' Walla Walla District - McNary, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite - please call the Walla Walla District Public Affairs Office at (509) 527-7020.
The Columbia-Snake river system is a vital link to the international trade and transportation network in the Pacific Northwest. More than 30 million tons of cargo - consisting of agricultural, petroleum, construction and manufactured products - move through the Columbia River locks each year.