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Corps selects Cottonwood
Island PORTLAND — The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers will begin using Cottonwood Island for upland
disposal of dredged material from the Columbia River this
month, the agency announced. The upstream end of the
island is currently being prepared as a disposal site for
the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project.
Construction operations are scheduled to run 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, from about May 9 through the end
of June. About 500,000 cubic yards of material will be
placed on the 62 most upstream acres of the 650-acre
island. For safety reasons, the public is asked to stay
out of the disposal site. The work will
Northwest Airlines plans SEATTLE — The Port of Seattle has welcomed an announcement from Northwest Airlines for the expansion of their trans-Pacific route network with new daily nonstop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Beijing, China. The start of new international daily non-stop service to Beijing is scheduled to begin March 1, 2009, giving Northwest four nonstop international routes from Sea-Tac including Amsterdam, London Heathrow, and Tokyo. China is the largest trading partner for the State of Washington, with two-way trade in excess of $30 billion annually and growing. Northwest Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the world; together with its partners, the airline provides service to more than 1,000 cities in 160 countries on six continents. In the last 14 months, the Port of Seattle has announced five additional new nonstop routes - AeroMexico to Mexico City, Air France to Paris, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Hainan Airlines to Beijing, and Northwest Airlines new nonstop to London. Sea-Tac Airport now has 14 nonstop flights to Asia and Europe.
US rail freight
traffic WASHINGTON, DC — Sharp gains in loadings of coal and grain were large enough to offset drops in metallic ores, automotive traffic and lumber and produce a small gain in carload freight on the nation’s railroads during the week ended April 26, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports. Carload freight in the week ended April 26 totaled 335,865 cars, up 0.3 percent from last year. Volume was up 4.1 percent in the West but down 4.5 percent in the East. Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 224,365 trailers or containers, down 4.4 percent from a year ago. Trailer volume was off 2.5 percent while container traffic dropped 4.9 percent. Total volume was estimated at 34.7 billion ton-miles, up 1.8 percent from the 17th week of 2007. Six of 19 carload commodities registered gains from a year ago with grain climbing 20.1 and coal up 7.6 percent. Among commodities reporting declines were motor vehicles and equipment, 22.3 percent, lumber and wood products, 19.1 percent, and nonmetallic minerals, 12.8 percent. Cumulative volume for the first 17 weeks of 2008 totaled 5,505,571 carloads, up 1.0 percent from 2007; 3,711,547 trailers or containers, down 3.5 percent; and total volume of an estimated 569.6 billion ton-miles, up 2.2 percent from last year.
Coast Guard accepts
delivery WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Coast Guard conducted preliminary acceptance (delivery) of its first National Security Cutter, BERTHOLF (WMSL 750), May 8, in Pascagoula, Miss. The delivery is a major milestone in BERTHOLF's transition to full operational status in the Coast Guard's fleet and represents preliminary acceptance of the cutter, as documented in the Material Inspection and Receiving Report (DD250). The DD250 formally documents inspection, delivery by the ship builder, and receipt by the government This marks first major multi-mission cutter to be built and delivered to the Coast Guard in more than 20 years. Following recommendations from the cutter's prospective commanding officer, Coast Guard technical authorities, the operational community, and acquisition professionals, the Coast Guard Agency Acquisition Executive, Vice Adm. Vivien Crea, gave the go-ahead for preliminary acceptance of BERTHOLF.
Wi-Fi service now
available PASADENA, CA — Parsons and Washington State Ferries have announced the commencement of Wi-Fi services at the Anacortes ferry terminal. Service will be available to users both in the terminal and automobile holding areas. Parsons also recently revised Wi-Fi rates and plans to provide ferry users with a full range of service options. The new plans offer a single, two-hour session at $3.95; packages of five, ten, or twenty sessions can bring the two-hour session cost down to $1.50; and unlimited one-day or one-month plans provide further value options. Plans and service areas can be viewed at http://www.wsf-wifi.com/. In addition to the new Anacortes terminal service, Wi-Fi service is available aboard ferries on the Seattle/Bremerton, Seattle/Bainbridge, Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth, Edmonds/Kingston, and the Mukilteo/Clinton routes. Full Wi-Fi service is also provided at the terminals and holding areas on these routes. Parsons operates Wi-Fi installations in 30 airports across the United States and Canada. Parsons also manages the world's largest railroad Wi-Fi system, providing service on VIA Rail Canada for more than 460 trains per week across a 14,000-kilometer network.
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