BALLARD LOCKS: 100 Years of Lifting Boats, Passing Fish and Changing the Landscape Marian Valentine, PE Asset Manager, Operations Division Seattle District 23 October 2014 US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG® USACE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . MISSION: Deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters. VISION: Engineering solutions for our Nation’s toughest challenges. BUILDING STRONG® Seattle District . Founded in 1896; began design of the Lake Washington Ship Canal . Six operating projects: Howard Hanson, Mud Mountain, Chief Joseph, Albeni Falls,and Libby . Spans 99,000 square miles in Washington, Idaho and Montana . Provides civil works missions of recreation, hydropower, navigation, regulatory, environmental stewardship, water supply BUILDING STRONG® Operating Projects PUGET SOUND RECOVERY LAKE WASHINGTON LIBBY DAM SHIP CANAL MUD MOUNTAIN DAM HOWARD HANSON DAM CHIEF JOSEPH DAM ALBENI FALLS DAM BUILDING STRONG® Ballard Locks / Hiram M. Chittenden Locks / Lake Washington Ship Canal . 8-mile-long ship canal connecting Lake Washington with Puget Sound; plus Fremont Cut and Montlake Cut . Carl S English Gardens . Large lock chamber . Small lock chamber . Fish ladder . Spillway BUILDING STRONG® Fremont Cut Montlake Cut BUILDING STRONG® How did we get started? . 1854: Thomas Mercer proposed a canal. 1860: Harvey L Pike dug a shallow ditch (now Montlake Cut) to pass logs from Lake WA to Portage Bay. 1867: Navy endorsed canal idea; wanted freshwater moorage . 1883: Judge Thomas Burke widened and deepened the ditch. 1891: Army finally endorsed the canal through Lake Union and began surveys BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® Hiram M Chittenden BUILDING STRONG® . 1895: Territorial governor began digging southern route through Beacon Hill. This route was abandoned by 1904. 1906: Hiram M Chittenden took command of Seattle District and urged completion of canal with large and small lock at current location. 1911: Construction began . 1916: Locks were completed; dedicated in 1917 . 1934: Construction of canal completed . 1969: Fish ladder replaced; control tower built . 2017: CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION BUILDING STRONG® Re-plumbing of Lake WA and Rerouting of Salmon before after BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® Original Project Purpose . Transport logs, milled lumber, and fishing vessels . Pass adult salmon through fish ladder . Control saltwater intrusion via gravity drain BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? . Busiest Lock in the Nation: 45,000 vessels and 14,000 lockages per year ► Out of nearly 200 locks in the Corps, we rank #12 in terms of commercial vessels. ► Vessels include Alaskan fishing fleet, tugs/tows, gravel barges, cruise boats, yacht industry, shipyard business. ► Recreational boats account for 80 percent of traffic. ► Cycle our machinery more than any other lock in the Nation BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? . Passage for adult fish via improved fish ladder with greater attraction flow BUILDING STRONG® We call them all…….. Herschel BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? . Passage for juvenile fish via smolt flumes BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? . Manage saltwater to prevent intrusion into Lake Washington ►Still use original saltwater drain that is now routed to fish ladder for attraction flow ►Saltwater barrier installed in 1960s reduces salt moving into canal ►Array of 20+ salinity sensors along ship canal that report hourly BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? . Control the elevation of Lake Washington within a 2-foot range ►Prior to construction of the Locks, the lake fluctuated more than 5 feet in a year. ►Narrow range allowed for greater development along 80-mile shoreline ►Tight control allows for floating bridges BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® What do we do now? Seattle’s 2nd-most- visited tourist attraction with 1.3 million visitors per year BUILDING STRONG® Planning for the Future: Recently Completed Repairs . Replaced pintle bearings on small lock gates in 2008 ($200K) . Replace pintle bearings on large lock west gates in 2012 ($500K) . Filled in a large erosion hole downstream of the spillway apron in 2012 ($1.7M) . Replaced Roofs in 2013 ($500K) . Replaced spillway tainter gates in 2014 ($2.4M) BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® Planning for the Future: Upcoming Repairs Replace Dewatering Pump Plant BUILDING STRONG® Replace Derrick Crane for Auxiliary Spillway BUILDING STRONG® Replace Filling Culvert Valves BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® Retiring our Log-Boom Buoys BUILDING STRONG® Piers, Spillway and Tides BUILDING STRONG® Future? Climate Change and More King Tides? BUILDING STRONG® 17 December 2012 BUILDING STRONG® What Will Our Second Century Bring? BUILDING STRONG®.