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FreightWaves explores the archives of American Shipper’s nearly 70-year-old collection of shipping and maritime publications to showcase interesting freight stories of long ago.
In this week’s edition from the October 1980 issue, FreightWaves looks at how the Port of Portland had a unique advantage to a quick reopening after the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption earlier that year.
Port of Portland practices ‘do-it-yourself’ dredging
Most ports rely on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or private contractors to keep their navigation channels open. The Port of Portland, Ore., does that, too, but also has its own dredge, the “Oregon,” for maintenance and development work. It saved time when Mount St. Helens blew her top.
When Mount St. Helens volcano blew its top on May 18, it meant a lot of extra work for government and private dredges that were rushed in by the Army Corps of Engineers to reopen the 40-foot navigation channel in the Columbia River between the sea and the Oregon ports of Kalama, Vancouver, and Portland.
For one of the dredges that was engaged in dredging on the shoal that temporarily closed the river to deep-draft navigation, the job was old hat. The Port of Portland dredge Oregon spends about six months a year doing routine maintenance dredging work in the Columbia, keeping the channel open.
Long line of dredges
The Oregon is the latest in a long line of dredges operated by the Port of Portland in something of a unique situation. Other ports have owned and operated their own dredges in the past (New Orleans once had a “fleet” of dredges), but the Port of Portland is now one of the few in the nation that still operates its own.
“We are required by federal statute to assume responsibility for maintaining the channel,” explained Port of Portland spokeswoman Christine Kammer. “We lease the Oregon to the Corps about six months of the year and use the other six months for development work.”
Actually, the history of Portland’s dredging efforts is as old as the port itself. An Oregon statute of 1891 describes the purpose of the Port of Portland as to “improve the Willamette … and Columbia rivers … as that there shall be made and permanently maintained … a ship channel … of not less than 25 feet.
Channel restored
The channel is now 40 feet deep and 600 feet wide, or will be once again by the end of October, when the debris and mud from the Mount St. Helens eruption is completely removed. Portland is still engaged in maintaining the waterway at the greater depth with the Oregon.
The Oregon is a 30-inch pipeline dredge, one of the largest on the West Coast. She follows a long succession of similar pipeline dredges, which are favored in river dredging work.
The first dredge to go to work in the river was in service between 1864 — when Portland merchants joined with the city government to form a corporation for dredging — until 1902, and was never named.
Since 1902, the dredges in service of the Port of Portland have included the Columbia, the Columbia II, the Clackamas, the Willamette, the Tualatin, and, finally, the Oregon.
The Port of Portland bore all the costs of maintenance dredging until 1930, when, with the onset of the 35-foot channel project, the Corps of Engineers began reimbursing the port for dredging costs, a practice that continues today.
Back to normal
Sara Walter, speaking for the Corps in Portland, said Phase 3 of the cleanup project was completed on schedule July 29 with a channel 38 feet deep and 300 feet wide opened on the Oregon side of the river. Phase 4 — a 40-foot-deep, 300-foot-wide channel on the Washington side — is targeted for completion September 30, she said. By October 31, the channel is expected to be restored to its full 600-foot width.
The eruption sent millions of tons of mud, boulders, timber, and other debris coursing down the Toutle River watershed and into the Cowlitz River, which empties into the Columbia at Longview, Wash. The debris piled up in a shoal nine miles long, blocking navigation to Portland and Vancouver by oceangoing vessels. The port at Longview, however, escaped closure.
Walter said 6.8 million cubic yards of debris were removed on the Oregon side of the Columbia. Eventually, a total of 22 million cubic yards will be taken from the river.
The Port of Portland said the financial impact of the eruption on its operation is much less severe than originally estimated. Executive director Lloyd Anderson said the loss of revenues through August 31 would be about $1.4 million because of the slowdown in river traffic. Original predictions by the port had set the figure as high as $7 million.
Anderson praised the Army Corps of Engineers for moving quickly to restore navigation on the Columbia.
FreightWaves Classics articles look at various aspects of the transportation industry’s history. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter!
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