STARBUCK, Wash. – The navigation lock at Little Goose Dam, located at Snake River Mile 70.3 near Starbuck, Washington, requires additional work to address an unexpected issue that recently was identified while installing the downstream lock gate leaves back into their positions, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials in the Walla Walla District announced, today.
The Corps will require an additional nine calendar days at Little Goose to complete repairs on the downstream navigation lock gate, delaying return to service of the lock until 11:59 p.m. on April 11.
Operational testing of the north gate revealed that the new pintle heel was not replaced in the correct position under the previous contract. The north gate will require machining of the gate quoin blocks to correct the deficiency and return the gate to service.
Surveying was performed on the South gate, confirming the south pintle heel was also installed out of position under the previous contract. Corrections have been made, and the gate is being moved into place to verify the alignment.
“We regret the impact to our navigation stakeholders caused by this additional delay in reopening the lock at Little Goose,” said Project Manager Jason Williams. “We are doing all we can to restore safe, reliable lock service as quickly as possible.”
The Corps will continue to keep navigation stakeholders informed of any changes in Little Goose's lock status as soon as information can be confirmed.
The Corps of Engineers conducted an extended navigation lock maintenance outage, December 12, 2016, through March 20, 2017. The coordinated 14-week-long closure affected all eight Corps navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers, during which time critical, non-routine repairs and maintenance, plus routine maintenance and scheduled improvements were completed.
As previously announced, seven of the eight navigation locks in the system have returned to service. Little Goose dam's navigation lock could not be returned to service by March 20 because of on-site work complications which prompted the Corps to award a new contract March 10 for the completion of the remaining work.
For more information about the 2016-2017 Columbia-Snake Rivers Extended Navigation Lock Outage, visit the Corps’ webpage http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/FY17LockOutage.aspx.
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Release no. 17-042