News Release
| Release Number: | 05-030 |
| Dated: | 2/22/2005 |
| Contact: | Diana J. Fredlund, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that the Willamette Falls Locks will open to river traffic in 2005.
The locks will open for the summer season beginning May 5 and will operate five days a week, Thursday through Monday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The locks will remain open through Sept. 18. The locks received $184,000 in funding for operations and maintenance in the Corps’ fiscal year 2005 appropriations.
“We are working with half of our normal operating budget, which was already very lean,” said Jim Mahar, operations manager at Bonneville Lock and Dam.
“These locks are old and getting older,” he said. “The amount of care and maintenance is increasing every year, creating greater challenges to operate and maintain the facility.”
Some of the funding has been set aside for routine maintenance, and as long as no unexpected, non-routine maintenance comes up, the locks will remain open until September.
“Willamette Falls Locks has great historical significance to the area and we are making every effort to keep them at least preserved, if not operational,” said Mahar.
An inland waterway with very low commercial tonnage passing through in a season, Willamette Falls Locks is used mainly by recreational boaters. There is minimal use by Portland General Electric for maintenance of their Sullivan powerhouse and the West Linn paper mill for maintenance and transportation of equipment.