Port Westward Seismic Resilience Project

Port Westward, located outside the city of Clatskanie, is one of only five deepwater ports in Oregon and the deepest liquid bulk terminal in the state. The self-scouring Beaver Dock consists of two berths and multi-modal freight transportation capacity. Industrial tenants at Port Westward include Portland General Electric, Global Partners’ Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery (transloading over 3 million barrels of renewable diesel per year), and NXTClean Fuels (in permitting to construct a 50,000 barrel-per-day renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel refinery).

In 2022, Oregon State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1567 to improve seismic resiliency of large capacity fuel storage and distribution facilities in the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone Magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Given its age and timber structure, Beaver Dock will need significant upgrades to meet seismic resiliency standards and ensure continuity of operations.

After modernization, Port Westward will be a seismically resilient marine terminal capable of bulk fuel distribution on the Columbia River, available to support the state’s response and recovery effort after a Cascadia event.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Port will replace remaining sections of the original Berth 1 timber dock and vehicle approach with steel driven piles and new decking, along with railings and pedestrian gangways, to improve seismic resilience of the structure. It will also extend a new pipeline bridge, moving existing product lines away from the dock’s water-facing side, and perform geotechnical upgrades to the subsurface areas of the approach road to the berth. Berth 2 will be seismically retrofitted in future projects. 

BUDGET
The project will cost approximately $30 million. The Port is applying for a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program for construction funding. The Port will leverage a $2.7 million Connect Oregon grant award and $2.2 million in the Port’s Beaver Dock Maintenance Fund (generated from dockage, wharfage, fees, and rent) toward the 20% grant match requirement.

FEEDBACK
Please send written comments on the project to inquiries@portofcolumbiacounty.org.