A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ official said last week that grouting to stop leaks in Wolf Creek Dam is moving along as scheduled and advertisements likely will be published late in October for a contractor to insert a second concrete diaphragm wall into the earthen part of the structure.
Dave Hendrix, project manager for the $309 million dam rehabilitation, gave the information ahead of an announcement by Congressman Hal Rogers that the Corps will raise the lake up to 10 feet above current levels in advance of next summer’s tourist season. Rogers said the Corps’ decision “comes as structural repairs on Wolf Creek Dam are on track to support incrementally higher water levels.”
Hendrix said potential bidders on the diaphragm will be given 90 days to prepare proposals and a contract probably will be let in March. This is two to three months later than the December-January period previously mentioned by the Corps. It is expected to take up to seven years to complete the project.
The new concrete wall will start immediately upstream of the right most concrete monoliths and run the length of the embankment into the right abutment some 1,650 feet beyond the existing wall. It will be constructed to a depth as much as 75 feet below the majority of the original wall, according to the Corps’ description of the project.
Wolf Creek Dam is 5,736 feet long with a maximum height of 258 feet. The earthen section of the dam is 3,940 feet long and the remaining 1,796 feet are concrete.
The original wall was inserted in the dam between 1975 and 1979 after leaks apparently more serious than now were discovered in 1968. At least two sinkholes developed in the vicinity of the power grid below the dam and muddy water was observed in the tailrace.
Sinkholes would be taken more seriously now. Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Steven Roemhildt, former commander of the Corps’ Nashville District, told the Commonwealth Journal this past summer that if sinkholes were to develop in the dam, the area along the Cumberland River below the dam would be evacuated.
The Corps has insisted all along the current seepage problem, observed early in 2005 and announced in August of that year, is not as serious as the 1968 event. However, a report by an outside group of experts said the dam, if not repaired, could fail within five years.
A roller compacted concrete dam, essentially to replace the earthen section of the existing dam, was considered and evaluated. However, Hendrix said this new type of dam is no longer an option. Engineers have said the concrete diaphragm wall will extend about 100 feet into the bedrock, deep enough to get beneath the porous limestone karst through which water is seeping.
Grouting — pumping liquid concrete into the dam — has been under way since January. Grouting is credited with saving the dam in the late 1960s and is being used again to plug cavities in the limestone rock prior to insertion of another diaphragm wall. Chemicals are added to the grout to make the soupy mixture seek and fill the empty spaces.
As of September 19, all 50 drilled holes in the gallery have been grouted. Hendrix said the critical area where the earthen part of the dam joins the concrete section has been grouted and contractors have moved to what he called Critical Area No. 2 at the end of the original wall farthest from the concrete section. At this point, a total of more than 126,605 gallons of grout have been pumped into the foundation.
“We haven’t found anything we didn’t know was there,” said Hendrix. He said the grouting is effective and the dam is safer every day.
Much more information has been released to the public about the current problem than during the late 1960s and 1970s. The Corps, time and time again, has taken reporters into the gallery in the bowels of the dam and along the earthen embankment to point out the seepage areas and methods of repair.
Emphasizing that safety is a top priority, the Corps in January this year announced that the lake would be lowered some 43 feet — 680 feet above sea level — to relieve pressure on the ailing dam. Late in July, the Corps revealed that the 680 foot level would be maintained throughout 2008. Then came the announcement late last week by Congressman Rogers that the level may be raised up to 10 feet by next summer.
The Corps has been hard pressed to maintain the current level because of an extreme drought in the Cumberland River Basin. Additional water is being released from Laurel River Lake to keep Lake Cumberland high enough so John Sherman Cooper Power Station at Burnside can continue to operate. The power plant uses water from the lake to cool its generators.
As of Saturday, the lake was 679.15 above sea level and steady. Discharge of water from Wolf Creek Dam is being reduced, according to the Corps’ website.
Local News
Corps: Wolf Creek Dam repair going as scheduled
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Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality. -
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
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The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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SCS to host Medal of Honor recipient
The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255. -
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SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.
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