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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016 Aside from money, tsunami tower moving ahead Designed to protect 850 people from a 22-foot tsunami By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — Work on the vertical evac- uation structure near Long Beach Elementary campus is progressing. However, due to previously undocumented issues with the soil condi- tions at the site, the city will have to spend an estimated $1 million that was not built into the now $3.5 million cost of construction. “We’ve really got to ind more money,” Long Beach City Planner Gayle Borchard said. Known as the “Safe Haven Berm Project,” the effort to build the tower began about seven years ago. It is a col- laboration between a Uni- versity of Washington team, the city and the state and fed- eral agencies that are funding much of the project through grants. The goal of the project is to provide a safe, easily-ac- cessible place to shelter peo- ple in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami. Though vertical evacua- tion structures exist in some other tsunami-prone coun- tries, Long Beach’s plans are breaking new ground in the United States. “There’s nothing like this in the United States of Amer- ica right now,” Borchard said. Project gaining momentum Despite the increase in esti- mated ground stabilization costs, the design phase of the project is gaining momentum. “We’ve just been slowly moving, and now we’re quickly moving,” Borchard said. City oficials recently chose one of four proposed designs for the enormous reinforced earth and concrete structure. The site survey, wet- lands and biological surveys, geotechnical investigation and archaeological survey are complete, and technicians are now working on more detailed assessments of building and permitting requirements. Borchard said the city coun- cil and staff originally looked at three proposed designs from PND, Inc. A design nicknamed “The Snail” was quickly dis- missed as impractical. Another design, called “The Orb,” had a proile similar to a modern professional football stadium. City leaders preferred a third design, known as “The Prow,” because it is shaped like the front of a large ship. How- ever, even though it was the most affordable option, it was still too costly. The city asked PND to modify the design, and the engineers came back with “The Simpliied Prow” which will cost about $2.9 million in construction dollars. The city council voted to accept the Simpliied Prow design in June. Plenty of room According to PND docu- ments, the completed structure will have a lat, 8,500-square- is that things will change, because this is a pilot proj- ect,” Borchard said — in other words, it’s not shock- ing there were no surprises, because no one in America has ever done a project like this before. Cost of saving citizens David Plechl/EO Media Group This architectural rendering shows a design for the evacuation berm proposed for a site behind Long Beach Elementary. foot top, and will stand roughly 35 feet above ground, with a base that goes down well below ground level. The berm is designed to withstand serious earthquakes, as well as tsunami waves of up to 22 feet in height with a velocity of 18 mph. The design, which has steps and a ramp running around the circumference, also accounts for the effects of “scouring.” Borchard said the forceful tsunami waves could potentially shave several feet off the ground surface sur- rounding the berm. “The speeds are just phe- nomenal,” Borchard said. Though it’s designed to hold 850 people, Borchard said it can easily hold more people, because that estimate is based on allowing a 10-by-10 “bub- ble” around each person. Engi- neers have assured her that the structure is sound enough to hold as many people as can comfortably it on it. Budget challenges So far, the city has spent about $230,000 of its $448,000 design budget. That money went to design costs, site investigation and permitting. Before construction can start, the city will have to go through an involved permit- ting and approval process with various state and fed- eral authorities. Though it’s developed as a sports ield, the soggy school property where the berm will be built is techni- cally a wetland, Borchard said. That means the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will likely require the city to do mitiga- tion work to offset the effects of construction. The more recent in-depth geotechnical investigation revealed that there is a thin layer of peat near the surface that will need to be excavated. Analysis is still underway, but it is likely that builders will need to take additional steps to be sure the foundation meets current seismic and tsunami standards. “The take-home message “My hope and belief is that it will come from the state of Washington,” Borchard said, when asked where the additional money would come from. She pointed out that the esti- mated budget was devel- oped several years ago, so it was inevitable that real costs would rise somewhat by the time construction actually started. In Borchard’s opinion, the state should be doing all it can to protect schoolchil- dren against a known hazard. “I believe morally, we are obligated to keep those chil- dren safe,” Borchard said. Regardless of the increased cost, Borchard said she believed the proj- ect is making good progress, and is worth the expense, because it provides a lot of potential benefit for the cost. Based on the conservative 850-person capacity esti- mate, the total cost would work out to about $4,000 to $5,000 per person. Borchard pointed out that at that rate, the cost of protecting a cit- izen from a tsunami is less than the cost of many pretty basic hospital procedures. “What a slammin’ deal it is to save 850 lives,” Borchard said. Albacore in abundance this time of year for Ilwaco anglers Into the blue Trip produces bounty of ish By LUKE WHITTAKER EO Media Group ILWACO, Wash. — Tuna season is in full swing, with local fishermen report- ing high numbers and big- ger-than-average albacore. Ilwaco-based Shake N Bake fishing charter pro- vided an inside look this month at what some con- sider the best fishing world- wide during a tuna trip for five first-time albacore fish- ermen. In less than three hours, more than 50 tuna were caught. It was a successful trip in what’s considered one of the most productive fisher- ies on the West Coast, where “plugging the boat,” or fill- ing the hold to the top with tuna, has become routine. “The fish are aggressive and there are a lot of them,” said Aaron Walker, owner of F/V Opportunity. “There’s hardly a fishery that com- pares to this type of action, fight and food quality. This is Tuna Town USA.” Eleven miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River, the Astoria Canyon emerges underneath. The 75-mile long canyon begins at around 330 feet deep, before dropping into an abyss beyond 6,000 feet. The canyon is an epicenter of scientiic research, but also a highway for migrating alba- core tuna. North Paciic albacore begin an expansive annual migration in the spring and early summer in waters off Japan, continuing throughout the late summer into inshore waters off the U.S. Paciic Coast, ending late in the year (late fall and winter) in the western Paciic Ocean, accord- ing to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion’s Southwest Fisheries Sci- ence Center. Oceanic conditions strongly inluence both the timing and geographical extent of the albacore’s migration in a given year. The vast major- ity of albacore are caught in waters with sea-surface tem- peratures that range from 15 to 19.5 degrees C (59 to 67 degrees F). The migrating ish are typically bounded by these thermal gradients as they con- duct their round-trip travel across the Paciic Ocean, according to NOAA. Thirty-ive miles offshore, ingers of warmer southern currents shimmer in hues of blue. It’s within these slightly warmer surface waters that albacore can be found in an abundance. While passing along the Washington and Ore- gon coast, they feed primar- ily on mackerel and northern anchovy. and replaced with lines baited with a live anchovy. “Fresh one!” yelled deck- hand Clark Von Essen, signal- ing the irst hookup of the day. Nearly simultaneously, each of the half-dozen rods slumped and shook violently against the strain of a newly hooked albacore. Diving and making repeated runs, each albacore took a minimum of 10 minutes to reel in. Sev- eral took nearly 20 minutes or more before being gaffed and pulled overboard. Once aboard, the tuna were bled on deck and then stacked in the hold. After a little over three hours of ishing, the ves- sel was “plugged,” a term reserved for when there’s no longer any room in the hold. In total, more than 50 tuna were caught; 42 were kept for the trip home and another eight were caught and released. “We are having some canned, some smoked and some for sushi,” said Jill Cleary following the trip, adding that they looked for- ward to sharing the catch with friends, family and neighbors. FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED Finding the ish Jigs are trolled until a school is located and the irst hookup occurs. A screaming drag from the irst albacore on a reel often serves as the alarm. Once the irst tuna is hooked, the remaining jigs are reeled in Spaghetti Dinner BACK SUPPORTER MATTRESS SPECIALS! Friday July 29 th 4 pm ‘til gone $7 .00 W A NTED 6PM “Karaoke Dave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Cla t sop Post 12 N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 FREE * Delivery Min. $599 Purchase Ca sh ! 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