PORT ANGELES — Drill. Blast. Repeat.
That’s how crews will take out chunks of what’s left of the Glines Canyon Dam in July, Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes told Port Angeles business leaders Monday.
Blasting of the 85-year-old edifice — part of the landmark $325 million federal project to restore the Elwha River to its natural state — has been on hold since the latest “fish window” began May 1.
Dam removal will resume this Monday.
“The pulse of water that will be released after each controlled blast is going to be a bit more sudden than what we’ve seen to date with the hydraulic hammering that happened earlier this year,” Maynes told about 60 Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce members at their weekly luncheon at the Port Angeles Red Lion Hotel.
Barnard Construction, the dam-removal contractor, will use 21 shots of explosives to remove the rest of the dam until the project is completed next year.
Each blast will require 30 to 60 holes drilled into the top of the dam.
“That’s what they’re doing: drill, blast, repeat,” Maynes said.
Altair Campground, located less than 2 miles below the dam that once was 210 feet tall, will be closed from Monday through July 31 as a safety precaution.
“We don’t at all expect the campground to flood,” Maynes said.
“But there are some low-lying places right along the river there that are really enticing to small children.
“We don’t want small children to be playing right there on the edge of the water because the first controlled blast will remove a chunk of dam and allow the reservoir to lower again.”
Dam removal began last September and is one year ahead of schedule.
The last remnants of the Elwha Dam just west of Port Angeles and 9 miles down river from Glines Canyon Dam were taken out in March.
“It continues to amaze me how much interest there is in this project, both from the media and from the general public,” Maynes said.
With the exception of the Altair closure, all other park campgrounds should be open by the end of this week, Maynes said.
Park officials reminded visitors that the Glines Canyon and former Elwha Dam sites are still active construction zones and closed to the public.
However, the public can view the changing landscape on the former bed of Lake Aldwell by parking at the old boat ramp at the end of the gated Lake Aldwell Road and hiking across the delta.
The upper delta of Lake Mills can be accessed from a steep, half-mile trail from Whiskey Bend Road.
Whiskey Bend Road is closed this week from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. through Friday to provide safe passage for heavy trucks hauling material from the dam.
Park officials said conditions are constantly changing and are hazardous in some locations. Sightseers are asked to stay as least 20 feet from the edge of riverbanks and use caution when exploring the terrain.
Large tree stumps on a century-old forest floor have been exposed by the meandering river.
Ranger-guided hikes will be offered this summer, Maynes said.
“It’s really quite beautiful,” Maynes said, while displaying slides of alders and willows growing in the reservoir.
A human leg bone was found in Lake Aldwell bed May 15. The discovery prompted the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office to reopen a cold case involving a missing woman, 41-year-old Karen C. Tucker, who had been reported missing Jan. 5, 1991.
Webcams of the dams removal and reservoir drawdown are available through the Olympic National Park website via http://tinyurl.com/pdndams.
The dams were built without fish ladders, choking off 70 miles of salmon run.
Park officials expect salmon populations to rise from 3,000 to nearly 400,000 in the next 20 to 30 years.
Biologist planted 600 coho salmon above the Elwha Dam last fall.
“For the first in 100 years, there are juvenile coho in Indian Creek and Little River, the two tributaries that come into the Elwha just right by the 101 bridge,” Maynes said.
“In another couple years, when they’re ready to go to sea, they will be able to go to sea. They won’t have to go over a dam.”
Meanwhile, Maynes said the snow level in the mountains is lower than normal for this time of year. Hikers can check current trail conditions at the Wilderness Information Center.
Maynes said the park’s major road projects for the year — controlled removal of rocks along U.S. Highway 101 at Lake Crescent and paving of the recently repaired segments of Sol Duc Road — will begin in September to minimize the effect on visitors.
“We’re at the very beginning of the visitors’ season,” Maynes said.
“For us, it seems like things really start kicking off by around Fourth of July.”
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
