The Ballard Locks will be closed tomorrow morning while U.S. Navy divers inspect a saltwater drain screen structure. The locks will be closed to all marine traffic at 7 a.m. and will reopen at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 6.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the structure being inspected is just upstream of the locks, and prevents salmon from entering the locks’ saltwater return intake. The divers from Naval Base Kitsap will close all ten 10-foot-by-6-foot doors and inspect the 30-by-60-foot mesh screen structure. This is an annual inspection; they do it before the salmon migration season which begins mid-June. The divers will be out doing monthly inspections until the doors are opened in mid-September.
