Friday, July 20: Here’s the latest on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers current drawdown of the Ouachita River and the work on the Columbia Lock and Dam structure. Thanks to Shirley Smith with the Vicksburg Corps Community Services office for this information.
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“The Corps closed Columbia lock and dam due to structural issues that became aware during inspections/investigations. But progress is being made on repairs. I anticipate that an emergency contract will be awarded sometime next week. Once the contractor begins work, we estimate a 90 to 120 day construction period. However, we will have a more accurate schedule once the contract is awarded.
At this time, there is no plan to lower the pool any further.
Yesterday ( July 18 ) we began dropping sand in the upstream entry hole. This seems to be stabilizing the boil. We will continue that operation thru today and re-examine tomorrow. We have completed all of our drilling in the lock chamber wall. The surveys taken Monday showed no significant changes on the lock floor since last week.
Our Contracting office is now working to award the contract. The work will consist of driving sheep piles, adding relief wells, and filling the voids underneath the structure with concrete grout. We anticipate that the award will be made sometime next week, depending on receiving Federal funding.
Once the contract is awarded, we will have more specifics about the scope of work and construction period.”
Click here to see our
latest adventure on the river:
https://lakedarbonnelife.com/2018/07/19/two-days-on-the-ouachita/
lake darbonne life 
Looks like all the Corps and public ramps that are closed now will stay closed. The river won’t come up unless it rains a lot and they’ll draw it right back down. The exception is the public landing at Joe Bob’s on Bayou D’Arbonne.
Posted by darbone1 | July 21, 2018, 12:3612:35 amWhat about a list of open boat ramps?
Posted by Tracy West | July 20, 2018, 12:368:43 pm