Shipwrecks on a Perilous Coast

Shipwrecks on a Perilous Coast. . , The Columbia River bar is where the Pacific Ocean and Columbia River meet. Approximately 2,000 ships have sunk or run aground around the mouth of the river, known to many as The Graveyard of the Pacific., Navigational Nightmares , Weather and geography work together to make crossing the Columbia River bar treacherous. The river flows into the Pacific Ocean through a narrow channel, as the river surges, It drops silt and sand into a fan-shaped sandbar that extends more than six miles Into the ocean. This ever-shifting sand bar, combined with rapidly changing weather conditions, makes the crossing extremely dangerous., Bar Improvements , The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on the North Jetty in 1884 and the South Jetty in 1885 to improve navigational conditions at the mouth of the Columbia River. The jetties are rock outcroppings that stabilize the river channel. , In the 1930s, construction teams from the Civilian Conservation Corps planted Scotch broom and European beach grass to stabilize the dunes. Today, many areas that were formerly ocean are now forests and grassy wetlands along Clatsop Spit.