Ships on the lower Columbia River near Astoria
The Port of Longview commissioners recently agreed to contribute $168,000 toward the construction of three additional “stern” buoys to help prevent shipping bottlenecks in the lower Columbia River.
The contribution will help provide local matching money to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has received a $1.4 million grant to add the buoys at Vancouver, Kalama and Rainier. The Port of Kalama has agreed to pitch in up to $200,000 toward the effort, and the ports of Vancouver and Portland are expected to contribute as well, said Port of Longview spokeswoman Ashley Helenberg.
Stern buoys are made of metal pilings driven deep into the river bed. They can hold massive cargo ships awaiting an open dock, and they will be particularly helpful for Export Grain Terminal in Longview during the busy grain harvest season in fall and winter. A recent corps analysis said the lower Columbia needs more capacity to anchor ships while they are awaiting open docks to load or unload.
Port of Longview officials did not know when the new buoys will be built.