|
The RAINIER conducted surveys at eight different project areas in the 2008 field
season. The ship was at sea for 192 days last year.
OPR-N395-RA-08, Colvos Passage, WAColvos Passage serves as an alternate route for medium-sized vessels departing Tacoma, and Quartermaster Harbor is occasionally used as an anchorage for these vessels. Manchester fuel pier serves as a main fueling station for Navy, USCG, and NOAA vessels. East Passage is the primary route for vessels transiting to and from the ports of Olympia and Tacoma. Although the passage is deep, there are several areas where the traffic lanes come into close proximity to land. Based upon the volume of traffic, age of sounding data, and seismic activity, it is recommended that this area be categorized as Emerging Critical Area. |
|
OPR-O112-RA-08, Approaches to Sitka, AKThe USCG 17th District Aids to Navigation Branch identified the route south from Sitka “along a protected passage to Necker Bay and Crawfish Inlet, is seeing increased use by commercial fishing vessels, commercial charter vessels, and recreational boaters.” As tour companies respond to the growing number of visitors looking for the “real Alaska”, this area will see increased passenger vessel traffic in the near future, making the approaches to Sitka a critical survey area. |
|
OPR-O190-RA-08, Prince of Wales, AKThe purpose of this project is to provide contemporary surveys on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. The proximity of this traffic to the towns of Craig and Klawock make this region navigationally significant. The last comprehensive surveys of this area were in the 1920’s using lead line sounding techniques. Complete multibeam surveys are required to detect all the dangerous rocks and shoals in the area. |
|
OPR-P184-RA-08, Pavlof Islands, AKThe purpose of this project was to provide contemporary surveys to update National Ocean Service (NOS) nautical charts and reduce the critical survey area backlog. Many charted features in the project area originate from observations made prior to 1930. The Southwestern Alaska Pilots indicated that this area has been seeing increase freighter and passenger traffic in recent years, making this survey a priority. |
|
OPR-P136-RA-08, Kodiak, AKThis project was requested by the Kodiak USCG Facilities Design and Engineering Center. The survey covered the front of three piers for comparison to 1999 survey data to allow USCG to assess the extent of silting, if any, the shoal resurvey was also included for navigation safety. |
|
OPR-P357-RA-FA-08, Kachemak Bay, AKThis was the first year of a two year project in which the Office of Coast Survey dedicated two weeks of the NOAA Ship Rainier’s and the NOAA Ship Fairweather’s allocated sea-days to conduct a regional study of Kachemak Bay. While conducting normal survey operations the two ships worked closely with a variety of government offices, using mulitbeam echosounder data to assist in habitat mapping and research. |
|
OPR-S-N922-RA-08, Grays Harbor, WAThe Entrance to Grays Harbor was last surveyed in 1955. This area is highly dynamic, subject to fierce winter storms and extreme ebb and flow from Grays Harbor. The area has undergone significant change in the last 50+ years. Grays Harbor, leading up to the east extent of this area was surveyed in 2005 by the NRT, however they did not continue into open water. Various types of vessels, including commercial and recreational fishing vessels, tug and barges, and trans-ocean wood product ships routinely transit the area throughout the year. The entrance to Grays Harbor and upper reaches are transited by grain barges (raw material) and product (bio diesel) barges; vessel size is typically up to 500-600’ long, weighing over 3200 tons, with drafts up to 40 feet deep. Top of Page |
|
OPR-N338-RA-08, Approaches to Warrenton, ORThe Lower Columbia River is subject to extreme conditions, from winter storms that pound the west entrance to high spring run-off which flood and cause silting in the eastern portion. Deep draft vessels routinely transit the Lower Columbia River enroute to various ports upriver, such as Portland, Vancouver, and Longview. In addition, two separate sites along the Lower Columbia are pursuing an LNG terminal, which may the potential for up to 10 LNG-vessel port calls each month. Although the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintains the navigational channels on the Columbia River, many changes have occurred outside the navigational channels since the last surveys were conducted in the 1950’s. Charted sounding data outside the USACE maintained channels is unreliable, as proven by NRT reconnaissance in 2004. Top of Page |
• Return to Rainier's Home Page
• Return to Marine Operations Home Page
