River route set to re-open

After a three-month shut down, the navigation system on the Snake and Columbia rivers is set to re-open next Wednesday, March 23.

The opening is behind schedule due to some final repairs needed on Lower Monumental Dam on the lower Snake River near Kahlotus. Crews need to align the seals on the new gate on the Lower Monumental lock to ensure it is water-tight. The dam had been set to re-open March 15.

The dams have been closed since Dec. 10 for major repairs to three dams on the river system. In addition to the new gate at Lower Monumental, crews replaced lock gates at the Dalles and John Day dams on the Columbia River.

The Dalles lock will be the last to go online, set for next Wednesday.

The budget for all the gates is about $50 million, and was funded by the federal government’s stimulus package, according to a Corps news release. The new gates are expected to extend the life of the navigation locks by 50 years.

In addition to the lock gate replacements, routine annual maintenance was performed on McNary, Ice Harbor, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams.

The Columbia-Snake system is typically shut down for two to three weeks each March for routine maintenance.

More than 8 million tons of cargo, valued at up to $2 billion, moves by barge during a normal year on the system.