Ballard Locks

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The Hiram M. Chittenden Key , or Ballard Locks , is a key complex at the western end of Salmon Bay, in Seattle, Washington Lake Ship Canal, between Ballard neighborhoods in the north and Magnolia in the south.

The Ballard Locks carry more boat traffic than any other key in the US, and the Locks, along with the fish ladder and around Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Gardens attracts over one million visitors each year, making it one of the best tourist attractions in Seattle. attractions. Key building greatly alters Seattle's topography and surrounding areas, lowers Lake Washington and Lake Union water levels by 8.8 feet (2.7 m), adds miles of new coastal land, overturns streams, and leaves the dock in eastern Salmon Bay which is high and dry. The Locks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the American Society of Civil Engineers of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

Video Ballard Locks

Before construction

In early 1854, there was a discussion to establish a navigable relationship between Lake Washington and Puget Sound for the purpose of transporting logs, milled wood, and fishing vessels. Thirteen years later, the United States Navy supported the canal project, which included plans to build a naval shipyard on Lake Washington. In 1891 the US Army Engineer Corps began to plan the project. Some of the early work began in 1906, and work began seriously five years later under the command of Hiram M. Chittenden. Delays in canal and construction planning resulted in the US Navy building the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, located across Sound from Seattle.

Maps Ballard Locks

Construction

In early 1909, the Washington State Legislature allocated $ 250,000, placed under the control of the Engineer Corps, for the excavation of the canals between Lake Union and Lake Washington. In June 1910, the US Congress granted approval to lock, provided that the remaining channels along the route were paid for locally. Construction was later postponed by legal challenges, especially by factory owners at Ballard who feared property destruction and loss of beaches in Salmon Bay, and by Lake Washington property owners.

Under Major James. B. Cavanaugh, Chittenden's successor as Commander of the District of Seattle, the construction of Ballard, or Government, The key that connected Salmon Bay to Shilshole Bay began in 1911, continuing without further controversy or legal involvement. In July 1912, the Lock gate was closed for the first time, turning Salmon Bay from salt water into fresh water. The first ship passed the Lock on August 3, 1916. On August 25, 1916, the temporary dam in Montlake was breached. Over the next three months, Lake Washington is drained, lowering water levels by 8.8 ft (2.7 m) and drying over 1,000 acres (400 ha) of wetlands, as well as draining the Black River and cutting Cedar Fish running river salmon. The key was officially opened for vessel traffic on May 8, 1917. The total project cost up to that point was $ 3.5 million, with $ 2.5 million coming from the Federal government and the rest from the local government.

To allow for the intended boat traffic, three bridges were removed along the canal route of the ship, on Latona Avenue, Fremont, Stone Way. The Ballard and Fremont Bridge was completed in 1917, followed by the University Bridge in 1919, and the Montlake Bridge in 1925. The University Bridge was repaired in 1932, and in 1934, the Lake Shipbuilding Channel project was declared complete.

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Function

Key and related facilities serve three purposes:

• To keep freshwater levels of Lake Washington and Lake Union at 20-22 feet (6.1-6.7 m) above sea level, or more specifically, 20.6 feet (6.3 m) above Sound Puget is receding.
• To prevent mixing of seawater from Puget Sound with fresh water from the lake (saltwater intrusion).
• To move the boat from the lake's surface to the water level of Puget Sound, and vice versa.

The complex includes two keys, a temperature of 30 ft ÃÆ'-Ã, 150A ft (9.1A m ÃÆ'-Ã, 45.7Ã, m) (small) and 80A ft ÃÆ'-Ã,825Ã, ft (24a m ÃÆ'-Ã,251Ã, m) (large). The complex also includes a 235A ft (72a m) spillway with six 32A ft ÃÆ'-Ã, 12A ft (9.8Ã, m ÃÆ'-Ã, 3.7A m) gates to aid in water-level control. Fish stairs are integrated into the key for migrating anadromous fish, especially salmon.

This area has a visitor center, as well as the Botanic Gardens of Carl S. English Jr.

Operated by the US Army Engineer Corps, the lock officially opened on July 4, 1917, although the first vessel was ratified on 3 August 1916. They were named after US Army Major Hiram M. Chittenden, Seattle District Engineer for Engineer Corps from April 1906 to September 1908. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Ships that cross from freshwater of Lake Washington and Union to Puget Sound enter the key room through the open top gate ( A in the accompanying diagram). The lower gate ( B ) and the draining valve ( D ) are closed. The ship is assisted by a lockwall clerk who makes sure it is tied and ready to be dried.

Furthermore, the upper gate ( A ) and the filling valve ( C ) is closed and the draining valve ( D ) opened allowing water to drain through gravity to Puget Sound.

When water pressure is equal on both sides of the gate, the lower gate ( B ) is opened, allowing the ship to leave the key chamber.

The process is reversed for upstream locking.

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Lock

This complex includes two keys. Using a small key when low vessel traffic saves fresh water during the summer, when the lake receives less inflows. Having two keys also allows one key to be drained for maintenance without blocking all boat traffic. The large locks are dried for about 2-weeks, usually in November, and the small keys are dried for about the same period, usually in March.

The keys can increase the ship size 760 by 80 feet (232 m * 24 m) (7.9 m), from the Puget Sound level at very low tide to the freshwater level of Salmon Bay, at 10-15 min. The keys handle both cruise ships and commercial vessels, ranging from kayaking to fishing boats returning from the Bering Sea to cargo ships. More than 1 million tons of cargo, fuel, building materials, and seafood products pass through the key each year.

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Spillway

South small key is the overflow dam with gate tainter used to set the fresh water level of the canals of ships and lakes. The gate in the dam releases or stores water to keep the lake in the range of 2Ã, ft (0.61 m) between 20 to 22 feet (6.1 to 6.7 â € <â € <) above sea level. Maintaining this lake level is necessary for floating bridges, mooring facilities, and ship permits under the bridge.

"Smolt flumes" on the spillway help young salmon to pass safely downstream. Higher water levels are maintained in summer to accommodate recreation and allow the lake to act as a water reservoir to anticipate drought conditions.

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Salt water constrictors

If excessive salt water is allowed to migrate to Salmon Bay, salt can eventually damage the freshwater ecosystem. To prevent this, a basin is dredged just above the (east) big padlock. Heavier salt water deposits into the basin and flows through the pipe that drains downstream from the key area. In 1975, saltwater channels were modified to divert saltwater from a basin to a fish ladder, where it was added through the diffuser to the tap water of the fish ladder; See below.

To further limit the intrusion of seawater, in 1966, the hinged barrier was installed only in the upper reaches of the big locks. This hollow metal barrier is filled with air to keep it in an upright position, obstructing the heavier salt water. When necessary to accommodate in-draft ships, the barrier is flooded and sinks to the bottom of the room.

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Fish stairs

The fish stairs in the Chittenden key are unusual - materials published by the federal government say "unique" - located where salt and fresh water meet. Typically, fish ladders are entirely in fresh water.

Pacific salmon is anadromous ; they hatch in lakes, rivers, and rivers - or, at this time hatching fish - migrate into the sea, and only at the end of their lives return to fresh water to lay their eggs. When the Engineer Corps first built keys and dams, they changed the natural drainage route of Lake Washington. Locks and dams block all the salmon that flows out of the Cedar River basin. To remedy this problem, the Corps built fish ladders as keys built to allow salmon to pass through locks and dams.

The stairs are designed to use tap water: fresh water flows freely from the bottom of the fish ladder, in the opposite direction which is migrated anadromous fish at the end of their lives. However, the appeal of water from the first ladder is ineffective. Instead, most salmon use a key. This makes them easy targets for predators; Also, many are injured by crashing into walls and lock gates, or by hitting a ship's propeller.

The corps rebuilt the fish ladder in 1976 by increasing the flow of towing water and adding more weirs: most weirs are now one foot higher than the previous one. Old fish stairs only have 10 "steps"; the new one has 21. A diffuser well mixes salt water gradually into the last 10 dams. As part of the redevelopment, the Corps also added a basement with a viewing gallery.

The fish that approached the stairs smelled the pull of water, recognizing the scent of Lake Washington and its tributaries. They enter the stairs, and jump over each of the 21 dams or swim through tunnel openings. They came out of the stairs to the fresh water of Salmon Bay. They continue to follow the waterway to the lake, river, or river where they were born. Once there, the female lay eggs, which are fertilized males. Most salmon die shortly after spawning.

The descendants remain in fresh water until they are ready to migrate into the sea as smolts. In a few years, the surviving adults, climb the fish ladder, and reach their spawn soil to continue the life cycle. Of the millions of young fish born, only a few survive to adulthood. Causes of death include natural predators, commercial and sport fishing, disease, low flow, poor water quality, floods, and concentrated growth along rivers and lakes.

Key visitors can observe the salmon through the windows as they drive along their route. Although the display area is open year-round, the peak viewing time is during the spawning season, from around early July to mid-August. A public artwork, commissioned by the Seattle Art Commission, provides a literary interpretation of the experience through the recording of Seattle poet Judith Roche "Salmon Suite," a sequence of five poems linked to the annual fish migration sequence.

Migrated fish

Among salmon species that migrate routinely through staircases in Chittenden Locks are Chinook salmon (king) ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), Coho (silver) salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Sockeye salmon (red) ( Oncorhynchus nerka ), and steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ).

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Note

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References

• Chapman, David (January 12, 2013). "Stoney Gate Valves: Are Their Days Numbered?" (PDF) . US Army Corps of Engineers.

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External links

• US Army Engineer Corps, Seattle District: Lake Washington Ship Channel and Hiram M. Chittenden Key

Source of the article : Wikipedia