NASHVILLE DISTRICT

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awards Center Hill Dam barrier wall construction contract

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 22, 2011) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District announced today the award of a $106 million contract to Bauer Foundation Corporation to install a barrier wall at Center Hill Dam, which was officially awarded late yesterday.

To see the Federal Business Opportunities contract award announcement for this project click here.

"This important construction will provide a barrier to protect the earthen portion of the main dam from seepage problems. The barrier will significantly improve the long-term reliability of the dam and public safety" said Project Manager Linda Adcock.

Most of the construction will be accomplished below ground and requires specialized equipment as well as close monitoring.

The main components of work are:

• Enlarge a work surface along the upstream (lake) side of the main dam earthen embankment

• Construct approximately 200,000 square feet of concrete panels and columns in two phases through the embankment extending downward 120 feet into foundation rock to form a minimum 2-foot thick continuous barrier wall

Highway 96 across the dam is planned to remain open, as well as Long Branch Campground downstream of the dam, throughout the two and one-half year contract. The Center Hill Dam has been identified by the Army Corps of Engineers as a high risk dam due to foundation seepage. A 2008-2010 grouting contract was an important first step to reduce the seepage and to prepare the foundation for construction of the barrier wall.

"We are currently studying the appropriate improvements for the saddle dam, a smaller earthen dam northeast of the main dam" Adcock said.

The saddle dam work will be the third large contract. A final small contract will be required for site restoration.

In December 2010, the first important phase of the rehabilitation, foundation grouting, was completed. IN this three-year construction contract, more than 50 miles of drilling of small holes was completed in order to pump over 1.5 million gallons of grout (which is a concrete mixture) into the rock foundation to make it stronger. Water moving through the foundation has been decreased and the dam is safer now than before the work was done.

The process of selecting a contractor is currently underway for the next contract to construct a concrete barrier wall from the top of the dam 300 feet down through the earthen embankment and into the rock foundation. This is highly specialized work to safely and effectively construct this barrier wall. We antici-pate awarding this construction contract in September 2011 and equipment to begin arriving near the end of the year. The contract will continue until mid 2014.