Dredging proceeding well, Corps says

A Port of Portland pipeline dredge has been working near Puget Island and efforts to fill scour holes have been working well, the US Army Corps of Engineers said this week.

The dredge Oregon moved into the area around the mouth of Welcome Slough on Puget Island last Friday to begin work on the Corps Channel Deepening Project. Through an agreement and permits obtained by Wahkiakum County, it has been disposing of spoils in the scour holes, which are created by eddies forming below Corps pile dikes. The scour holes have been identified as the reason for much of the erosion along North Welcome Slough Road, where homes and the dike are threatened. Scour holes are also causing erosion at Pancake Point along East Sunny Sands; these will be filled in the summer, Corps officials have said.

The holes reach a depth of 90 feet in some places. The Corps plans to fill the holes to a depth of 20 feet, Corps Project Manager Laura Hicks told county officials in an email on Monday. Work could be done by mid-week, she said.

“I’m so happy they’ve done what they’ve done,” commented Commissioner George Trott. “It’s big that they came down and did this for us.”