PORT ANGELES — The first of several explosive charges set to clear a temporary channel around the Elwha Dam will be set off today west of Port Angeles.
Meanwhile, the cut into the tallest dam ever to be removed, the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam upriver in Olympic National Park, has allowed water to spill over it for the first time.
Large portions of both dams have disappeared in just two weeks after the Elwha River restoration project began in earnest. The $325 million project to remove the Glines Canyon Dam and the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam is expected to last three years.
The public access trail and lookout to the Elwha Dam off state Highway 112 will be closed for an hour this afternoon while demolition crews set off the first blast, said Dave Reynolds, Olympic National Park spokesman.
The explosions will create a temporary channel for the Elwha River on the west side while the main section of the 98-year-old dam is removed.
Meanwhile, the first notch in the Glines Canyon Dam, built in 1927, reached the waterline late Monday, and Lake Mills began spilling over the western side of the dam’s main face to the canyon bottom 200 feet below.
By Tuesday afternoon, a torrent was cascading over a wide notch in the heavily reinforced upper wall of the dam.
When the notch is complete, the giant jackhammer that broke through the concrete will move to the eastern side of the dam to repeat the process, Reynolds said.
Nov. 1 halt
Work on both dams will be temporarily suspended Nov. 1 to prevent high concentrations of choking silt during fish season.
Montana-based Barnard Construction Co. has a $27 million contract with the National Park Service to remove both dams.
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.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
