Land-based logs set for release down Elwha River
Published 12:01 am Friday, October 28, 2011
About 20 old pilings that have been stored on dry land will be released into the Elwha River today.
Barnard Construction, contractor for the $27 million removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, plans to release the logs through the temporary diversion channel at the former Elwha Dam so they can be transported downstream into the lower Elwha River, said Dave Reynolds, Olympic National Park spokesman, on Thursday.
The logs were pilings that had been in place since the dam was constructed in 1914, Reynolds said.
An excavator will be used to pull the logs into the river, he said.
Last week, a log boom that prevented boats from drifting over the Elwha Dam was cut loose to allow the corralled logs to float downriver and become part of the future river habitat for salmon.
Now, trees and debris that fall into the river are moving through the Lake Aldwell reservoir daily, Reynolds said, so the exposed reservoir areas of Lake Aldwell and the remaining Lake Aldwell are closed to the public.
Elwha recreation
Boaters and rafters coming down the Elwha River may enter the extreme upper reaches of the reservoir to take the watercraft out, but camping, extended stays or loitering in the area is prohibited.
The work is part of the dismantling of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams that began last month in the National Park Service’s $325 million federal Elwha River restoration project.
The project, which is expected to be completed in three years, will return the legendary salmon river to its wild state after the two dams, which were built without fish ladders, are removed.
Demolition of the Elwha Dam, which is about five miles from the mouth of the river west of Port Angeles, is expected to be completed in early 2013, while the Glines Canyon Dam, located upstream in Olympic National Park, is scheduled to be fully demolished about a year later.
The Elwha Dam overlook trail can be accessed from a gate just south of the Elwha RV Park on Lower Dam Road off state Highway 112.
National Park Service webcams showing the real-time demolition of both dams as well as the draining of the lakes behind them can be found at http://tinyurl.com/damwebcams.
