The navigation lock at the Bonneville Dam will reopen to river traffic at 10 a.m. Sept. 30, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday.
The lock had to be unexpectedly shut down last week after crews reported problems with the downstream gate. The lock was drained, and an inspection found the problem was a cracked concrete sill beneath the gate, which was allowing water to leak out of the lock.
Crews began demolishing the damaged sill on Monday, but there was initially no estimate for how long it would take to rebuild the sill and return the lock to service.
The closure of the lock halted nearly all Columbia River traffic. Barges and tugboats hauling shipments of wheat down the river for export are trapped upriver.
