The US Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Orion Government Services a $26.727 million contract for Phase II major maintenance of the North Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River.
The firm-fixed-price contract covers work in Ilwaco, Washington, with completion estimated for October 31, 2028. The Corps’ Portland District is the contracting activity.
The award was included in the federal contracts announcement issued on Friday, September 11. Orion Government Services is based in Houston, Texas.
The Corps solicited bids online and received two offers. Fiscal 2026 civil construction funding totaling $26,727,470 was obligated when the contract was awarded.
The contract number is W9127N-26-C-A033. The announcement identifies the scope as Phase II major maintenance but does not specify construction methods, material quantities, mobilization timing or the individual tasks covered by the award.
The project follows earlier repair and rehabilitation work at the river entrance. Critical repairs were completed on the North Jetty in 2015, while work reported in 2019 was described as part of the Corps’ broader plan to repair the Mouth of the Columbia River jetty system.
A July 2025 report said six years of rehabilitation work on the system was nearing completion after the placement of 32,000 boulders and expenditure of $172 million. The current contract announcement does not state how its Phase II scope relates to that program.
The Mouth of the Columbia River jetty system comprises the North Jetty and South Jetty, along with Jetty A. The three rubble-mound structures were built between 1885 and 1939 and extend for a combined 9.7 miles.
The jetties help stabilize the entrance from the Pacific Ocean, reduce navigation-channel maintenance requirements and support safer vessel movements. They were constructed on large tidal shoals and are regularly exposed to waves of 10 to 20 feet, according to the Corps. Winter storms can produce waves exceeding 30 feet.
Over time, wave action and the loss of shoaling sand beneath them have weakened the structures. The Corps has said that, if a critical section gave way in a major storm, sand could be deposited in the federal channel used for navigation, potentially halting commercial shipping.
Following a breach, restoring the entrance would require repairs to the jetty in an emergency, along with dredging to return the navigation channel to its authorized depth.
