McNary, Ice Harbor schedule temporary navigation lock closures Oct. 2

Published Sept. 28, 2012

Mid-Columbia River – Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams on the mid-Columbia River will temporarily close to river traffic on Tuesday, Oct. 2, to perform maintenance activities, Corps’ operations officials announced today.

Ice Harbor Dam’s navigation lock, located at Snake River Mile 10 near Burbank, Wash., will close to river traffic from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 2 to facilitate an inspection of the downstream lock gate wheels.

McNary Dam’s navigation lock, located at Columbia River Mile 292 near Umatilla, Ore., will close from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2 while maintenance workers install instrumentation on the downstream lock gate that will help staff monitor gate performance. The data gathered will be used to plan future maintenance needs.

The Corps coordinates maintenance closures with inland shippers and cruise lines to achieve minimal impact to the various industries that use the locks. Public Notices and other navigation lock information are available on the Walla Walla District website at www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/op/t/navdata/default.html.

The Corps’ Walla Walla and Portland districts maintain about 350 miles of the federal navigation channel from Portland, Ore. to Lewiston, Idaho.  The Columbia-Snake navigation system of eight dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers is vital to the economic health of the Pacific Northwest.  The system accommodates the transportation of about 10 million tons of cargo annually. 10 million tons equals about 2,700 barges, 100,000 railcars or 350,000 semi-trucks.

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Release no. 12-088