News Release
| Release Number: | 98-015 |
| Dated: | 3/3/1998 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- The Bonneville navigation lock will be open for members of the working press to tour Thursday afternoon, March 5. Guided scheduled tours will begin at 12:30 p.m.
This is an excellent photo opportunity, both for video and print media, of the inside of the navigation lock. These areas are normally underwater and out of the sight of visitors.
If you are interested in touring the lock on Thursday, please call Matt Rabe, Public Affairs Office, at (503) 808-4510 by 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Scheduled tours will begin at 12:30 p.m. Reporters and camera operators should bring a pair of steel-toed safety boots to wear during the tour. Hardhats will be provided.
The lock is currently being drained, an action that does not happen every year, for annual maintenance. 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 is Feb. 28 to March 14.
The closure typically occurs during the first two weeks in March, a time agreed upon in advance by the commercial shipping interests in the region. 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.
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. At Bonneville, more than 10 million tons of commodities pass through the navigation lock annually.