The port on the Clark-Cowlitz county border already has received 554,000 cubic yards of sand at Martin’s Bar industiral site and another 600,000 cubic yards is going to Austin Point as part of the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project. The total adds up to the equivalent volume of roughly 72,125 dump trucks.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the project, which involves dredging the shipping channel to deepen it upriver the Pacific Ocean to Portland and Vancouver to allow in larger ships.

All that sand has temporarily displaced one Woodland business and closed a popular fishing area in Woodland until the end of June, but the port isn’t looking at the situation as a nuisance. Instead, officials intend to use half the sand for site improvements and sell the other half, with revenue going to pay for future projects.

“It’s a precious resource we now have that we can sell,” said Erica Rainford, port executive director.

Dredging began for the overall project in 2005 and will cover 103 river miles, according to Laura Hicks, project manager for the corps. There are 22 upland disposal sites, including the two owned by the Port of Woodland. Those two sites are part of a 20-year deal between the port and the corps, where the corps can use the properties for future dredging disposal and the port can continue to sell the resulting sand.

Temporary move

West Coast Training Inc., a heavy equipment training business, had operated on the Austin Point property since 1995 but has had to move until the project is completed. Jeff Woolever, administrator for West Coast Training, said relocating to a nearby location has actually had its advantages.

The school moved all its heavy equipment to a port-owned and unoccupied location a few miles away. Woolever said the new site had been used as a dumping ground for asphalt when Interstate 5 was constructed. West Coast Training students are now removing that asphalt as part of their training, which Woolever describes as a “win-win” for the port and the school. The port gets improvements to the site and West Coast Training students get real world experience. “We normally have to simulate construction conditions, so, for them, it’s almost a treat to be able to do something that’s got a real purpose,” Woolever said.

Woolever said the costs of moving and rebuilding infrastructure when the business returns to its original location will be negotiated with the port. The 20-year agreement on the land between the port and the corps will not affect West Coast Training operations.

Port commissioners will eventually vote on how to use or sell the sand, but no decisions have been made. The deepening of the channel, Rainford said, will expand the region’s access to more customers because larger vessels will be able to use it. The project has also included the ports of Vancouver, Kalama, Longview and Portland.

Paul Craig covers the Port of Woodland for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4520 or via e-mail at paul.craig@columbian.com.