WAR DEPARTMENT CORPS OF ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY PORT AND TERMINAL FACILITIES AT THE PORTS OF PORTLAND AND ASTORIA, OREGON AND LONGVIEW AND VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON PREPARED BY THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1945 SUBJECT: 27 March 1945 Report on the ports of Portland and Astoria, Oregon, and TO: The Chief of Engineers, United States Army 1. There is transmitted herewith a report on the port facilities at the ports of Portland and Astoria, Oregon, and Longview and Vancouver, Washington, prepared by this department for the use of the various war transportation agencies needing current data respecting shipping facilities available for handling Lend-Lease and war materials through United States ports. 2. The report follows the outline of the Port Series reports but its scope is confined to the physical features of the port facilities as treated under the chapter headings of port and harbor conditions, fuel and supplies, and port and harbor facilities. The field survey and final compilation of the report was accomplished by personnel of the Statistical Division of this office, under the supervision of Warren E. Graves, chief statistician, who is in immediate charge of these studies. THE PORT OF PORTLAND, OREG. PORT AND HARBOR CONDITIONS GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Columbia River, which constitutes the navigable approach to the ports of Portland, Astoria, Longview, and Vancouver, rises in British Columbia, flows about 1,200 miles in a general southwesterly direction through the State of Washington and between the States of Washington and Oregon, passing through the Cascade Mountains and entering the Pacific Ocean at 46° 15' north latitude. The mouth of the river is 645 miles north of San Francisco Bay and 160 miles south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The principal tributary of the Columbia River, from a navigation standpoint, is the Willamette River which flows northward through the State of Oregon between the Cascade and Coast Range Mountains and enters the Columbia about 100 miles from the sea. Portland is one of the most important ports on the Pacific Coast of the United States, serving not only the productive territory in Oregon, eastern Washington, and Idaho, but also, for certain traffic, states in the Middle West and the eastern part of the country. It is located on both banks of the Willamette River at the head of deep-water navigation, 14 miles from the confluence of that river with the Columbia River and 113 miles distant from the ocean. It is 415 statute miles by water and 183 miles by rail from Seattle, Wash., and 749 statute miles by water and 772 miles by rail from San Francisco. Its distance from Chicago is 2,253 miles. The city covers an area of over 67 square miles, of which 3 square miles are water. The port is served by several railroads and by numerous steamship lines. It's importance as an indus trial and distributing center is increasing and, at the present time, it is one of the largest shipbuilding centers in the country, a large part of the water front being used for such activities. |