6 rafters rescued from ‘drowning machine’ on Willamette River
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Six people floating down the Willamette River on inner tubes were saved from a hazardous low-head dam packed with logs east of I-5 in Lane County on May 18.
Rescuers were called to the low-head dam located just upstream of the Whilamut Passage Bridge after five of the rafters went over the dam into a strainer and one person clung to a log jammed above the falls. None of the rafters were wearing life jackets.
“[The dam] has formed an enormous log jam,” the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said. “… Had they gone under the log jam, they likely would not have survived.”
A view of the water rescue on May 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy of the Lane County Sheriff’s Office). A photo of the low-head dam in the Eugene-Springfield area from an Oregon State Watershed Board boating obstruction report. (Photo courtesy of the Oregon State Watershed Board).
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First responders with the Lane County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol, the county’s search and rescue team and Eugene-Springfield Fire responded to the scene at approximately 3:15 p.m. All of the rafters were safely pulled from the river.
Low-head dams are known as “drowning machines,” the National Weather Service warns. Low-head dams are structures built across rivers to redirect water flow. These dams can cause deadly, tumbling currents that can trap swimmers underwater. The American Society of Civil Engineers warns that more than 1,400 people have died at low-head dams in the U.S.
“A low head dam is designed and built such that water flows continuously over the crest from bank to bank,” the American Society of Civil Engineers website states. “If water levels rise downstream, a submerged hydraulic jump can form which produces an upstream directed current that traps any recreationist who might go over the dam.”
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The Lane County Sheriff’s Office encourages swimmers, rafters, paddlers and boaters to check the Oregon State Watershed Board’s boating obstructions web page before entering a local river or stream. People are also encouraged to wear life jackets while enjoying recreational water sports.
“For those floating the Willamette River in the Eugene-Springfield area, be very cautious passing low-head dam,” the sheriff’s office said. “[Get] out well before the obstruction to go around it.”
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