SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has requested that the Lewis and Clark River Bridge, mile 1.0, remain in the closed-to-navigation position, and need not open to vessel traffic Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The bascule span will be available to open on Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., when given 3 hours advanced notice. The bridge will operate as normal on Sundays. The deviation is necessary to facilitate ( printed page 50769) bridge maintenance activities to include repairing and preserving the bascule drawbridge structural steel. The Lewis and Clark Bridge provides a vertical clearance of 17.3 feet above mean high water when in the closed-to-navigation position. The normal operating schedule of the Oregon State highway bridge can be found in 33 CFR 117.899(c). This deviation period is from 7 a.m. on August 20, 2015 to 5 p.m. on October 30, 2015. The deviation allows the bascule span of the Lewis and Clark River Bridge to remain in the closed-to-navigation position Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday throughout the deviation period. In addition, the span will be in the closed-to-navigation position on Thursdays, but available to open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. when given 3 hours advanced notice. The bridge will operate as normal on Sundays in accordance with 33 CFR 117.899(c). Waterway usage on the Lewis and Clark River is primarily small recreational boaters and fishing vessels transiting to and from Astoria Marine Construction Company.

The bascule span of the bridge will have a containment system installed which will reduce the vertical clearance by 5 feet from 17.3 feet above mean high water to 12.3 feet above mean high water. Vessels able to pass through the bridge in the closed-to-navigation position may do so at any time. The bridge will be able to open for any emergency if a three-hour notice is given from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; on Sundays the bridge will be able to open in accordance with 33 CFR 117.899(c), and there is no immediate alternate route for vessels to pass. The Coast Guard will also inform the users of the waterways through our Local and Broadcast Notices to Mariners of the change in operating schedule for the bridge so that vessels can arrange their transits to minimize any impact caused by the temporary deviation.

In accordance with 33 CFR 117.35(e), the drawbridge must return to its regular operating schedule immediately at the end of the effective period of this temporary deviation. This deviation from the operating regulations is authorized under 33 CFR 117.35.

80 FR 50768