$134 million in budget for dam

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February 5, 2010

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Fri Feb 05, 2010, 08:22 PM EST

Somerset — President Barack Obama’s budget for fiscal 2011 now before Congress contains $134 million to continue rehabilitation of Wolf Creek Dam. The money is part of $4.939 billion in gross discretionary funding for the Civil Works program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“That ($134 million) is exactly what we asked for and that’s (the amount) in the president’s budget,” said Bill Peoples, public affairs chief for the Corps’ Nashville District. The budget must be approved and the money appropriated by Congress before funds are available. Total cost of repairing the seepage-plagued dam is $584 million.

Peoples, who has resumed his former position as head of public affairs after a two-year special assignment, said repairs at Wolf Creek Dam are on track and scheduled for completion in December 2012.

Businesses along Lake Cumberland that depend on tourism are hoping the lake, held about 40 feet below normal since January 2007, will be allowed to rise by the 2011 vacation season.

David Hendrix, project manager for the dam repairs, said an evaluation of the lake level won’t occur until the permanent barrier wall has been installed in Critical Areas 1 and 2. This progress point is currently projected between this coming December and March next year.

Hendrix said if a decision is made between December 2010 and March 2011 to raise the lake level, spring rains should allow a higher level to be attained by the 2011 vacation season. Nobody has said how much the lake could be raised ahead of the December 2012 completion date but there has been speculation of a 10-foot rise in summer 2011 if sections of the permanent barrier wall are installed and effective in the two critical areas.

Treviicos Soletanche JV, the general contractor, is currently installing test sections of the concrete barrier wall in Technique Areas 1 and 2. Technique areas are test areas for the planned barrier wall. This is the largest project of its type ever undertaken by Treviicos Soletanche JV and test areas are to confirm what Corps engineers are confident will be a permanent fix for Wolf Creek Dam.

When construction methods are proven safe and effective, the general contractor will be allowed to move into Critical Areas 1 and 2 and proceed with full-scale production. Critical areas in the earthen section of the dam are places where grouting has been ineffective and drilling at one point caused material movement inside the dam.

The material movement triggered a warning downstream but Corps officials initially told the media the warning resulted from instrument malfunction. However, a few weeks after the incident, Lt. Col. Bernard R. Lindstrom, commander of the Corps’ Nashville District, during a visit to Somerset, told a group of local marina operators there was material movement in the earthen embankment and he termed the situation “scary.”

Peoples told the Commonwealth Journal this week there has been no further material movement in the dam other than “ ... normal in an earthen dam.”

The public affairs chief emphasized the work is on track. As of late January, the contractor had completed 16 of the 50-inch diameter piles and three secondary panels of the permanent barrier wall to a depth of 275 feet. The wall extends about 100 feet below the base of the dam to a more stable stratum of limestone.

A previous barrier wall, installed during the 1970s, averaged only 25 feet into the bedrock and did not go deep enough to stop seepage through porous limestone. Uncontrolled seepage continued and in August 2005 the Corps revealed that the dam had been classified as in high risk of failure. A major rehabilitation of the mile-long structure was necessary, the Corps said.

Treviicos Soletanche JV, a joint French-Italian firm, was selected to repair the dam, the lake was lowered and the work began.

Current construction activities include:

• Continue installing piles and panels of the concrete barrier wall in Technique Areas 1 and 2.

• Continue drilling and grouting on the right rim and in Critical Area 1. Critical Area 1 is near the junction of the earthen and concrete sections of the dam.

• Continue construction of the access ramp for work platform widening in the wraparound section of the dam.

• Install three inclinometers to monitor subsurface movement on the downstream embankment near the switchyard. An inclinometer is an instrument for measuring angles of slope (or tilt), elevation or inclination of an object with respect to gravity.

• Conduct a scheduled settlement survey along the crest of the dam.

Subcontractor Hayward Baker Inc. is drilling and grouting along the right rim of Halcomb’s Landing and in Critical Area 1 below large cave features. Engineers have told the Commonwealth Journal that some cavities in the dam measured 40 feet. Howard Baker is preparing to begin a low mobility (thick) grouting program to treat vertical faces of a large cave and a cutoff trench in Critical Area 1.

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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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