McNary, Snake River locks close this month
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Walla Walla District will close navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers this month for regularly-scheduled annual inspections, preventative maintenance, and repairs.
The navigation locks are located at McNary Dam at Columbia River mile 292 and on the Snake River at Ice Harbor Dam at river mile 10, Lower Monumental Dam at river mile 41, Little Goose Dam located at river mile 70 and Lower Granite Dam located at river mile 107. Expected closures for McNary, Ice Harbor and Little Goose begin Feb. 13, followed by Little Monumental on Feb. 19 and Lower Granite on Feb. 25. All closures begin at 6 a.m.
Locks are expected to reopen at Ice Harbor and Little Goose on March 12, followed by McNary on March 13, then Lower Monumental and Lower Granite on March 19. Reopening times at all the locks begin at 11:59 p.m. The additional days at certain locations are necessary to perform non-routine work, which requires more time to complete than the typical two-week-long routine maintenance outage. The non-routine work includes gate cleaning, structural inspections, and equipment/machinery repair and replacement.
In addition, the USACE may temporarily suspend public vehicle crossings at Lower Monumental, Little Goose and/or Lower Granite due to work activity. Crossings are subject to closure at any time, however, the USACE will notify the public in advance of these closures if possible. Travelers are strongly encouraged to call 888-326-4636 for dam-crossing information in advance of their travel.
