'Beaver Boat Locker' secures watercraft when recreators go into town
INDEPENDENCE, Ore. — Summers in Oregon are in full swing, and a new watercraft storage system might be the push you need to float down the Willamette.
Designed through a partnership between Oregon State and the City of Independence, this watercraft storage locker along the riverbank is simple, but innovative.
Floating the Willamette is a favorite summertime activity of Oregonians everywhere, but what if you want to stop in Independence or Harrisburg and don't have a place to store your kayak?
Oregon State University student Jonathan Cordisco has a solution.
"The idea behind it is people really like enjoying the Willamette River, and sometimes they have challenges in where to store their boat,” explains Cordisco, an engineering student at OSU. “Let's just say they wanna go into town, kind of explore and need a place to lock it up."
The public watercraft locker is located near Independence's downtown in hopes of getting more people who float the river to come visit the city.
"We want people to get off the river and experience our great little community here. And this kayak system is gonna help us do that," says Shawn Irvine, the Indepence Economic Development Director.
The locker is a product of OSU's Prototype Development Lab.
"This is a classic project for my Prototype Development Lab at Oregon State University,” says John Parmiagiani, the Lab’s director. “We go out, interact with some real-world clients, real world projects, get a need that a mechanical engineering student can fill."
And the project is one that Cordisco is glad to finally see realized.
"Finally being able to see it here installed is really cool,” he tells us. “It’s kind of moving from my head to the computer and now, to see it in person, is pretty cool."
And you might be seeing these lockers pop up near your own Willamette River bank soon.
"If it works well, then these are gonna get spread throughout the Willamette River basin,” Irvine says. “You're gonna see them popping up all over the place and we think that's really exciting that we can be the first one to try this out."
The lockers were designed to be only temporary storage for watercraft, rather than permanent.
