Wolf Creek Dam protective wall coming along as planned

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May 27, 2009

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Wed May 27, 2009, 10:31 PM EDT

The first 30 panels of a protective concrete embankment wall have been installed in Wolf Creek Dam, according to the latest report on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ website.

The protective concrete embankment wall is the first construction phase of a permanent barrier wall designed to stop uncontrolled seepage in the mile-long structure that impounds Lake Cumberland.

Each panel of the preliminary wall is approximately 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. The panels are being installed by excavating with a hydromill and backfilling with concrete.

Purpose of the protective concrete embankment wall is to stabilize the earthen section of the dam during insertion of a permanent concrete barrier wall. The preliminary wall will extend downward to the top of the limestone bedrock.

David Hendrix, project manager at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District, told the Commonwealth Journal that specifications of the permanent diaphragm wall have a minimum requirement of at least two feet thick. It will be 4,200 feet long and extend 300 feet through the earthen section of the dam into the bedrock. Depth of the wall will vary but will be about 75 feet deeper than a wall inserted during the 1970s in an effort to stop a more serious leak that developed in the late 1960s.

“We’re taking the (new) wall down to the Catheys Formation,” said Hendrix. He explained that this is more competent limestone rock than the Leipers Formation, a karst limestone region beneath the dam that is marked by sinkholes and interspersed with abrupt ridges, irregular, bulging rocks, caverns and underground streams. Seepage through this karst causes the dam to develop serious leaks.

Mike Zoccola, chief of the Civil Design Branch for the Corps’ Nashville District, said the preliminary wall currently being inserted will remain in the dam, adding stability to what engineers say will be a permanent fix for the troubled structure that was declared in high risk of failure early in 2005. A $341.4 million contract has been awarded to Treviicos Soletanche JV, a joint Italian-French company, to repair the dam.

Critical Area No. 1 — where the earthen section joins the concrete section of the dam — will be sealed by spring of 2010, Hendrix indicated. This is the area of most serious seepage that could not be closed by grouting.

Although no one said so specifically, the fact that grouting could not stop seepage at Critical Area No. 1 is likely the reason LTC Bernard R. Lindstrom, commander of the Nashville District, said there is no chance of a rise in the lake level until –– “hopefully, hopefully, hopefully” –– spring of 2010. The lake has been held more than 40 feet below pool stage since January 2007 to ease pressure on the seepage-plagued structure.

Total cost of rehabilitating the dam is estimated at $584 million. The project is scheduled for completion in October 2012.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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