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I think he is talking about something like side scan sonar. something that can see the river bottom....

Yes, the newest side scan 3D technology,

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Good luck finding a scan of the Tina Bar area with that technology.

I know it doesn't exist, but since the technology has advanced greatly, my question was,, would it be worthwhile to scan it today with the new tech??

Georger says:
 You will probably have critics jump up saying its a total waste of time after all these years, but you don't know until you look.  Believe me: there are worse things in life to waste time and money on. 

I agree with Georger.  It's worth doing a survey of the bar area.  Improvements in side scan sonar and GPS technology have made a high quality survey work both effective and affordable.  I have a quite a bit of experience with sonar surveying and body recovery and if I were in your guys neck of the woods, I would be all over it.

Georger is again correct when he says "Time is your main enemy".  The problem with finding something that has been on the bottom of the Columbia for a lengthy amount of time is river bottoms are not static environments.  Currents, dredging, flooding and obstacles are just of few of the things that keep the river bottom evolving.  The huge volumes of water which freighters displace, plus the thrust from their propellers is another factor.

That being said, you don't know what you'll find, unless you look.  The survey can be done economically and yield decent results.  I wish I was in that neck of the woods because my boat is set up perfectly for such an operation.

I think the first thing to be done would be contacting the Army Corps of engineers and find out how many times the area has been dredged. it looks like they just did the area needed to be searched.

By The Columbian
Published: June 26, 2014, 10:00 AM

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin dredging the lower Columbia River next month, the agency said Wednesday. The process is expected to continue until December.

Commercial and recreational fishermen with equipment in the area should check the U.S. Coast Guard's Local Notice to Mariners for specifics on dredging locations. The notice is located online at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.

The annual river maintenance is intended to keep the federal navigation channel safe for commercial shipping, according to the Army Corps. The agency expects to remove more than 5 million cubic yards of sediment from the Columbia River, and more than 3 million cubic yards of sediment from the river's mouth.

Dredging at the mouth of the river should be finished by October, according to the Army Corps, and the rest of the river by December.

2013:
Dredging work at the Columbia's mouth should be finished by October, according to the Corps. Work on the rest of the river, as far upstream as river mile 137, east of Camas and Washougal, is expected to wrap up by December.

I think the best bet would be trying to pitch the idea to a producer for a television show. you would be looking for a parachute pack, possibly two. the odds of those being pushed around the dredging are low in my opinion. it would be nice data to have, but I'm not sold on results of finding something. Jerry Thomas might be a good source to contact for guidance in contacting the media.

This still all rolls back to the simple solution of the plane crossing the Columbia, and the money found downstream.

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I think he is talking about something like side scan sonar. something that can see the river bottom....

Yes, the newest side scan 3D technology,

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Good luck finding a scan of the Tina Bar area with that technology.

I know it doesn't exist, but since the technology has advanced greatly, my question was,, would it be worthwhile to scan it today with the new tech??

Georger says:
 You will probably have critics jump up saying its a total waste of time after all these years, but you don't know until you look.  Believe me: there are worse things in life to waste time and money on. 

I agree with Georger.  It's worth doing a survey of the bar area.  Improvements in side scan sonar and GPS technology have made a high quality survey work both effective and affordable.  I have a quite a bit of experience with sonar surveying and body recovery and if I were in your guys neck of the woods, I would be all over it.

Georger is again correct when he says "Time is your main enemy".  The problem with finding something that has been on the bottom of the Columbia for a lengthy amount of time is river bottoms are not static environments.  Currents, dredging, flooding and obstacles are just of few of the things that keep the river bottom evolving.  The huge volumes of water which freighters displace, plus the thrust from their propellers is another factor.

That being said, you don't know what you'll find, unless you look.  The survey can be done economically and yield decent results.  I wish I was in that neck of the woods because my boat is set up perfectly for such an operation.

What do think the cost would be??

This side scan data might already exist. here is a document with photo's and data of scanning the lower Willamette River..

I can't get the link to transfer. I downloaded the file. you should be able to find the link by typing "LOWER WILLAMETTE RIVER SIDESCAN SONAR DATA REPORT"

I think the cost of a professional hydrographic survey would be prohibitive.  I also believe the chance of finding an intact body is very remote.  A survey could be done cheaply with a boat mounted side scan unit like the Humminbird 1197, but you would have to run tight lanes on your search grids.  I suspect you will find many targets during the search also, considering the population centers upstream.  I'm not sure what kind of visibility there is in the Columbia, but in my experience, visibility is very low in rivers and verifying targets in these conditions is tough for divers (we call them "braille dives").  You'll see a lot of crap while side scanning, and the only way to find out what most of those items are is to dive them.

Maybe check with LE in the area.  Many sheriff's dept's and fire & rescue dept's have side scan units designed for looking for bodies.  That's exactly what you need.   Maybe one of them would be interested in surveying the area for training purposes.