Ports along the Columbia River are brainstorming new ways to make it easier for ships to pass through the channel and carry essential cargo to areas that depend on port economies.
First, they need to find sites where they can dump sand that often makes the river too shallow for transport, Sarah Knowles, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said during a virtual open house last week.
The Columbia-Snake River Navigation System moves 50 million tons of cargo worth $24 billion per year, Knowles said.
Maintaining the river’s 43-foot depth and 600-foot width is essential to keeping the system as one of the world’s leaders in wheat, soy and corn exports, she said.
In many places along the riverbed, coarse sand has formed into misshapen hills that make the river shallower than 43 feet.
“This essentially means in some areas a ship cannot navigate without the chance of running aground,” Knowles said.
For years, the way to get rid of this sand has been to dredge it up and pile it somewhere else. However, the Corps is running out of places to put the sand.
Knowles said the Corps is working with area ports — Vancouver, Portland, Kalama, Longview and Woodland — to find new placement sites for the sand that has been blocking ships.
It’s a tall task. Available real estate along the Columbia River is scarce. Any site chosen would have to comply with state and federal environmental regulations.
Agreements with local wildlife and conservation groups have to be drawn, and the sites have to meet water- and air-quality standards. Dikes to prevent erosion have to be constructed.
Above all, Knowles said, finding new places to dump sand is not a permanent solution. Eventually, the Corps will run out of available sites, she said, so it also is working on more permanent channel-maintenance solutions.
The U.S. Army Corps has identified 193 potential placement sites, Knowles said.
