The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1930-03-13
Engineers Drill
Along River in
lDamsSite Survey
Study on Columbia is
Part of National In
yestigation of Power,
Shipping Possibilities

Under the direction VI Wi ". ~.
rnkesh. district engineer, diamond
drilling operations are being car
r;ed on at Homly Rapids near Ho-
ver in the Columbia and at Bla-
lick Rapids near Blalock, Ore, to
determine the suitability of these
s;tes for dam building.
This work is part of an investi-
cation of a number of sites be-
tween Kennewick and Portland
which have been suggested during
recent years for dams for power
development, Improvement of nav
ieation, and, at certain places, for
irrigation. The United States En-
eineers, of the War Department,
are handling this survey. A cor
responding study of the Columbia
from Kennewick to the Canadian
border is in progress under the
Seattle District Engineer, Major
]. s. Butler.
ALI of the work under way is
mart Of a nation wide inventory of
the water resources of the United
States. Money was first appropriat-
ed by congress in 1928, and it is
expected that a report of the field
work and studies viii be prepared
for submission to Congress late in
1881.
Navigation, to be successful,
requires freight as well as a cham
nel,n says Colonel Lukesh in dis
cussing the work. "a traffic study
is now in progress. The Columbia
Valley Association is making an
effort to encourage shippers to
submit information. knowledge of
present traffic and future posi-
bilities will he useful in the study
and may indicate what prospect
there Is for navigation to justify
the federal government in spend
ing money on river improvement"
At the present time, navigation
1oetveen Kennewick and Portland
Is negligible. With railroads and
auto truck lines, shippers hesitate
about taking the slower route. The
lack Of business caused river de-
velopment to cease. The Port Of
Portland has begun o study Of the
proper type of boats and their
practicability as money-making
freight carriers. In combination
with Investigations made by Col.
Lukesh into boats used on other
streams, the information gathered
viii enable the engineers to deter
mine the proper size for locks for
passing boats blythe proposed DAMS
Discussing the power situation,
Col. Lukesh declared that power,
to pay the cost of dams to be con-
structed, must be sold at low
enough price to attract new users
and at q high enough price to at
tract investors.
Studies must be made Of the
raw material resources Of the In.
land Empire, so locations for pow
er dams can be selected as near ~
practicable to the earliest likely
developments. Much of the future
growth of the Columbia Valley
population depends on business
that does not exist at the present
time, and estimates and predictions
cannot be safely made for q long
time in the future.
ut Is well known fact that
safer and cheaper dams can be
built upon rock foundations. As the
cheapest dams for the purpose
snUu1d be built, one Of the main
questions that must be answered
early and is being answered by the
results Of the diamond drilling, is
whether the foundation material
o dam sites people have talked
ABOUT for many years is suitable.
At some places it has been found
much better than at others. As
iast as the foundation facts are se-
cured, they are worked into the
appropriate parts of the report on
the Columbia river"
- r. s.