By BILL MARDIS Editor Emeritus
Bids will be received and opened Tuesday to extend 10 landlocked boat ramps into the low water of Lake Cumberland.
Craig Shoe, resource manager for the lake, said 16 contractors attended a meeting yesterday with Corps officials to discuss extending the ramps. The contractors received specifications on which the bids will be based, he indicated.
“There was a tremendous amount of interest,” said Shoe. The bids will be evaluated after the proposals are opened Tuesday and “ ... we hope to be letting contracts really soon,” he remarked.
Shoe said last week that potential bidders have been told that “... if you can’t go to work soon, don’t bid.”
Bids are being received on only the 10 ramps that the Corps is authorized to extend. These include marinas and Corps-operated ramps.
Shoe said he doesn’t want to mention specific ramps involved in the project “ ... because we might not be able to do all of them.” He said as soon as contracts are awarded the individual ramps will be made public.
The ramps are out of the water because Lake Cumberland has been lowered 43 feet below the tree line to relieve pressure on Wolf Creek Dam. The giant structure that impounds Lake Cumberland is leaking and has been classified as a “high risk” of failure.
Ramps that the Corps is trying to improve do not include state, county or private boat-launching areas. Pulaski Fiscal Court moved yesterday to extend county-operated ramps and state government has pledged assistance to extend state-operated facilities.
The low level of the lake has left most boat ramps high and dry or only marginally usable at best. A rush is on to make the lake more accessible before the tourist season begins.
