Road Closures over Hells Canyon Dam Start Tuesday
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
HELLS CANYON – (Release from Idaho Power) The road over Hells Canyon Dam will be closed during most of the day on June 13, 14, 27 and 28 while Idaho Power crews use a crane to perform work on the dam. On each of those days, the road will be closed to all vehicles from 8 a.m. to noon and again from 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. The crane will be moved to allow traffic to pass from noon to 1 p.m. each day. All times are Mountain Standard Time. Travelers headed to the U.S. Forest Service visitors center or the boat launch area below the dam will need to plan their trips around the scheduled closures.
On June 13-14, the crane will be used to suspend workers clearing vegetation from the face of the dam. The June 27-28 closure is for the installation of stoplogs necessary for testing of the dam’s sluice gates.
Traffic flaggers will be on hand for the closures. Pedestrians will be allowed to cross when Idaho Power crews determine it is safe to do so.
Located 21 miles downstream of Oxbow Dam, Hells Canyon Dam is the third and last project in the Hells Canyon Project. It began generating electricity in 1967 and has a generating capacity of 391,500 kilowatts, making it the second-largest of Idaho Power’s 17 hydropower facilities.
