Malfunction at Ballard Locks traps boaters for 3 hours amid holiday rush

Traffic through the Ballard Locks will be slow over the next few days as officials scramble to fix a malfunction at the 102-year-old facility. The malfunction initially trapped a load of boaters for about three hours Thursday afternoon.

The incident happened in the large chamber at about 12:30 p.m. when part of the electrical system failed. There were 15 vessels inside the Locks’ chamber, amid the Fourth of July holiday rush.

“We ask for (boaters’) patience,” said Bill Dowell with the Ballard Locks. “…there’s long lines, nothing that most boaters haven’t seen at the Locks, especially on opening day of boat season.”

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“Ya know, the locks are 102 years old,” he added. “This is the kind of thing that happens with something that is 102 years old.”

Indeed, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, aka the Ballard Locks, began operating on July 4, 1917. Given the age of the facility, Dowell says that it may take a few days to get the locks running normally, and smoothly, again.

“On Monday our maintenance crews will see if they can get parts or get parts made,” Dowell said. “At 102 years old, these are not things we keep on the shelf. They just don’t have them anymore.”

Until then, the facility will take a bit longer to help boats pass between Puget Sound and the fresh waters of the canal and Lake Union.

There are two chambers at the Ballard Locks, a small and large chamber. The malfunction was in the larger of the two.

“The small lock can only take a handful of boats, so you need the large lock to get the amount through there that we need,” Dowell said.

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There has been a partial fix put in place for the large chamber — four of the six valves are working. That means the process to operate it is taking much, much longer. Currently, it could take a few hours to get through the large chamber.

“We are able to take a full contingent of vessels right now,” he said. “It will take a little longer … we are able to use the large lock, but we have to use the entire chamber versus half of it so it takes a little longer.”

While the malfunction is an unexpected mishap, the delays are a preview of what is expected next fall. The Ballard Locks will have extended outages October through December, and again in winter of 2020. Crews will begin replacing the valves at the locks — the same ones that malfunctioned. They are original to the facility and were first installed in 1917.

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