The chip ship Milky Way II crosses the Coos Bay bar on the way to pick up a load of chips at the Roseburg Forest Products dock Thursday morning. -World Photo by Lou Sennick

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has extended the comment period for the proposed project to repair Coos Bay’s North Jetty. People now have until Thursday, May 8, to comment.

The change came about because the agency added information to its draft study detailing North Spit road closure information.

The Army Corps plans to close the parking area on the North Spit at entrance to the Foredune (New Carissa) Road  beginning Aug. 21. The entire Foredune Road then would close from Sept. 16 until completion of the project, or March 15, 2009, whichever is sooner, a press release said. The beach would remain open, as would the road at the end of the TransPacific Parkway accessible at low tide. However, no one will be allowed at the jetty during construction.

The project to repair deteriorating jetty areas will entail heavy trucks bringing in as much as 24,000 tons of rock and even that’s a rough estimate, said John Craig, the local Army Corps project manager. Construction crews used 14,000 tons of rock for the 2002 repairs to the jetty that also barred access to that area of the North Spit during the project.

Engineers still are working on the project specifications. The biggest rocks will weigh 25 tons.

“That’s big. That’s hauling one rock in a big dump truck,” he said.

Once on the North Spit, the rocks will be loaded into six-wheel articulated dump trucks to move the loads down the Foredune Road. The road is narrow with few pull-off spots, making it unsafe to have other vehicles out there, Craig said.

Engineers expect the project to take six to eight weeks minimum, and perhaps longer, depending on the location of the rock quarry. Craig said rock will be trucked into the area, as it was in 2002, when the rock came from a quarry in Cottage Grove. In years past, rock was brought in by barge, but that likely wouldn’t be as cost effective.

Craig said his agency will hold a public meeting about the proposed jetty repair project and road closure in late July or early August. Pre-bid information has been released, but the actual work can’t begin until Sept. 16 due to the closures in that area for the breeding western snowy plovers.

The road closures should not affect people’s access to horseback-riding trails on the North Spit. However, groups that in the past used the parking area at the Foredune Road will have to park elsewhere.

“It won’t have big impact on us,” said Donna Bishop, chairwoman of the South Coast Chapter of the Oregon Equestrian Trails.

Horseback riders also won’t be able to access the main trailhead in that area, but Bishop said there are other entry points and her group will be evaluating those, along with alternative parking.

A contractor will be hired to repair and strengthen three spots on the jetty. Damage was caused by this past winter’s big storms and engineers fear that a section of the jetty could fail this winter due to the pounding waves. Should that happen, sand could flow into the shipping channel and pose a hazard to boat and ship traffic.

People with questions or comments can call the Army Corps’ Wendy Briner at (503) 808-4781; or mail to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer District, Portland; Attn: CENWP-PM-E, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR  97208-2946, by May 8.