Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA

LET’S TALK INFRASTRUCTURE

PNWA continues to work closely with our federal agency partners and our region’s Congressional delegation while the Administration and Congress negotiate a potential infrastructure package. While our vision of what that package will eventually look like remains cloudy, we’re happy to report that when we swap out our crystal ball for binoculars, there is a lot of great on-the-ground infrastructure work already happening right now in the Pacific Northwest.

Right here on the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contract dredges have been hard at work since April maintaining the deep-draft navigation channel. Work has been proceeding smoothly, and oceangoing ships have had no draft restrictions imposed due to shoaling along the channel.

Further downriver, the Corps and its contractors have also been moving forward with the rehabilitation of the Mouth of the Columbia River South Jetty. Placement of massive 40-ton stones on the 6.6-mile jetty that helps ensure our navigation channel is protected and the entrance to our river system is open for business for decades to come.

Upriver, we were pleased with the successful spring maintenance outage at the navigation locks on the Columbia and lower Snake rivers this past spring. These planned outages allow the Corps to conduct routine maintenance, but also to inspect the locks and their associated machinery for problems that need bigger fixes.

This spring’s inspections did exactly that at The Dalles Lock & Dam, revealing cracks and other damage to the downstream miter gate, caused mostly by misalignment of the gate. The Corps quickly added two weeks to the outage at The Dalles to make interim repairs, and has already developed a plan for longer-term repair work during next spring’s outage to ensure the lock’s reliability. The Corps is also working with PNWA and our members on plans and funding needs for future significant repair and replacement work on navigation lock components at McNary Dam near Umatilla, Ore.

PNWA also celebrates some great commercial shipping improvements planned and implemented at our coastal member ports. The Port of Coos Bay, for example, has entered a memorandum of understanding with NorthPoint Development to develop a multi-modal container facility that will move an estimated more than one million 40-foot containers a year, using the Coos Bay Rail Line between the port and Eugene, Ore. The facility is expected to support about 500 short-term construction jobs and up to 250 permanent full-time family wage jobs.

On a smaller scale, but no less impactful to its large and economically important fishing fleet, the Port of Newport recently opened a new pier to its Dock 5, which is home to 80 vessels that haul in Dungeness crab, pink shrimp, black cod, halibut, tuna, and more. The new pier is the conduit for potable water, fuel lines, power, and more to the boats, as well as a floating fuel facility.

While not related to navigation infrastructure, we are also heartened to see members of our region’s Congressional delegation turning away from the contentious lower Snake River dam breaching arguments to focus on salmon infrastructure solutions where they’ll do the most good – in Puget Sound itself. For example, Senator Maria Cantwell (D, WA) secured new dedicated funding for culvert restoration to restore fish passage under roads and other structures and provide critical access to upstream habitat. Representatives Derek Kilmer (D, WA-6) and Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10) also successfully pushed for more funding for the Puget SOS Act, which will improve environmental recovery efforts in the Sound.

We look forward to seeing a completed infrastructure package that continues and expands upon all this great work. We also look forward to seeing you – hopefully in

person – at our Oct. 19-21 Annual Convention in Vancouver,

Wash., where Corps representatives will present an overview of planned 2022 navigation maintenance and repair work throughout the Pacific Northwest.