Navigating the Locks and Dams of the Columbia & Snake Rivers
Captain Lou Boone has been with American Cruise Lines for five seasons, cruising our Columbia & Snake Rivers itineraries on board American Pride and American West. Prior to joining American Cruise Lines, he spent six years on active duty in the United States Coast Guard and has a collective 45 years of experience in the maritime industry. He also has his Master of Oceans, unlimited license and has sailed along 100% of the Alaskan coastline. Here is what he had to say about navigating the locks and dams of the Columbia & Snake Rivers.
Can you explain the process of going through the locks?
I liken the process to draining a bathtub with doors. If we are locking down bound, the lock master fills the chamber, then opens the door and lets us enter. Once secured inside, the lockmaster shuts the door and pulls the plug, draining the lock chamber. When the tub is empty, meaning it has reached equilibrium with the pool on the lower side of the dam, the lockmaster opens the door on the downriver side and out we go. There are no pumps. The entire process of filling and emptying is gravity fed.
Locking up stream is just the opposite. Once we are in the chamber, it is filled from the upper river. Once equilibrium has been reached with the upper pool, the doors are opened and out we go.
How many locks do we go through on the Columbia & Snake Rivers?
As we cruise the Columbia & Snake Rivers, we encounter four locks on each river. For commerce purposes, they are all roughly the same size - 675' long by 86' wide and five of the eight have a vertical rise of about 100'. The Dalles Lock rise is only 90' and the Columbia River dam, Bonneville Dam, is a mere 65'. However, the tail waters of the Bonneville Dam are subject to tidal influence, thus changing the vertical range to either more or less than 65'.
The greatest vertical rise of a Columbia River lock is the John Day Lock, which rises 113'. At the time of its construction in 1968, John Day Lock was the largest vertical rise in the world and was equipped with a guillotine door. The American Pride, like all vessels, must pass underneath her guillotine door to enter the chamber from the lower end. Our passengers love it, though I've had to reassure a few that "we got this."
What is the most interesting part of going through the locks?
I must have cruised through these locks a thousand times and am still in awe of the task we have to perform to pass through. While locking through on a calm day is in itself interesting, it is most interesting when the Pacific Northwest weather kicks up upon entering the lock basin. In the early spring and fall, winds increase, making chamber entrances more challenging. There is a thrill to the process of just getting in and out of a wind tunnel chamber. It is evident that our guests seem to admire what we go through to bring them on this cruise.
When did the locks and dams come into being on these rivers?
The first act of taming the Columbia and Snake Rivers began in 1933 as a Works Era Project. The construction of Bonneville Dam was completed in 1937 and created hydroelectric power for the power grid of the Pacific Northwest. The lock chamber also played a role in connecting what was then the "lower Columbia River" to the "middle Columbia River." Prior to the lock’s construction, vessels were unable to pass from one section of the river to the other, as the Cascade Rapids impeded navigation. Over the next five decades, seven additional locks and dams were constructed. In 1979, the Lower Monumental Lock and Dam completed the taming of the Snake River, and little has changed to this day.
What do you hear from guests when going through the locks?
Our guests fall in love with the locks. By my estimate, 90% of all guests are on deck when we pass through locks during waking hours. During our full day of cruising the Snake River, guests experience three out of four locks, which often proves to be the most magical day of their trip. In my many discussions with our guests, they really do love these modern miracles. It’s like an unexpected pot of gold, an unadvertised thrill.
Set sail with us on our itineraries that travel through the locks and dams on the Columbia & Snake Rivers to experience these man-made wonders for yourself.
