Dam project pushed back


Commonwealth Journal - Somerset — Problems with directional drilling of pilot holes have delayed work at Wolf Creek Dam and pushed back the projected completion of the dam rehabilitation project to December 2012, about two months later than the contract deadline.

David Hendrix, project manager for the $584 million repair project, said the delay also will mean evaluation of the level of Lake Cumberland won’t be done at least until December 2010, about two months later than projected. Engineers said earlier when the permanent wall has been installed in two critical areas of the dam by next October the current lake level could be evaluated.

Tourism interests around Lake Cumberland have been clinging to the October 2010 evaluation of the dam repair progress that might allow the level of Lake Cumberland to be raised, hopefully 10 feet, for the 2011 vacation season.

Despite the projected delay, Hendrix didn’t rule out the possibility of a higher lake level during summer 2011. “Even if we could make the evaluation as late as March (2011) spring rains could allow a change in the lake level,” he said.

Problems with drilling pilot holes, 8 inches in diameter, have caused the delay, Hendrix explained. The pilot holes are guides for 50-inch circular shafts that will be backfilled with concrete to form the permanent barrier wall. Three of the large holes have been completed in Technique Area 1, one of two test areas to determine integrity of the work, Hendrix noted.
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