Wolf Creek Dam Safety    

      Major Rehabilitation, Ky.

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US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS                                                                     BUILDING STRONG®

                                                                           FACT SHEET

                                                                    (As of September 2012)

AUTHORIZATION: Flood Control Act of 1938 (P.L. 75-761), River and Harbor Act of 1946 (P.L. 79-526)

TYPE OF PROJECT: Dam Safety – Major Rehabilitation

LOCATION: Wolf Creek Dam is located at mile 460.9 on the Cumberland River in south central Kentucky near Jamestown, Ky.

CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST:  Rogers, (KY-05), Whitfield, (KY-01), McConnell, (KY), Paul, (KY)

NON-FEDERAL SPONSOR: Hydropower Users thru SEPA

BACKGROUND:

· Wolf Creek Dam impounds Lake Cumberland, the largest storage reservoir of the Corps of Engineers east of the Mississippi River.  It provides flood damage reduction, hydropower, recreation, navigation, water supply, and water quality benefits for the Cumberland River system and surrounding region.  The project was designed and constructed from 1938 to1952.  The dam is a rolled earth-fill and concrete gravity structure that is 5,736 feet long. 

· Chronic seepage problems originating from 1940’s foundation construction methods are worsening and currently threaten the stability of the dam.   Lake water moving through the openings in the rock beneath the earthen dam threatens to erode these structures.  Primarily due to this threat, Wolf Creek Dam is designated in the Corps’ Dam Safety Action Classification of I, the highest priority for remediation

· The Nashville District obtained Washington level approval in 2005 to begin a major rehabilitation of the foundation.  The remediation plan consists of constructing a concrete diaphragm cutoff wall 275 feet deep immediately upstream of the concrete portion of the dam and extending 4,200 feet along the embankment to the right abutment. 

·  The $373 million cutoff wall contract was awarded in 2008.  The protective concrete embankment wall component was completed in June 2012.

· The total estimated cost of the rehabilitation plan is $594 million. The project is funded through annual appropriations from Congress.

IMPORTANCE: If left untreated, seepage could threaten the stability of the earthen portions of the dam.  Catastrophic failure of Wolf Creek Dam would result in loss of life and massive destruction of property at major population centers, particularly at Nashville, Tenn., and at five other Corps projects downstream of Wolf Creek Dam.  Other impacts would include loss of the Lake Cumberland recreation industry, flood damage reduction capabilities, hydropower production, and water supply.  Estimates of flood damage alone exceed $3 billion.

STATUS:  Cutoff Wall Contract is 84% complete.  The barrier wall component is on schedule for a December 2013 completion, which will initiate rising of Lake Cumberland.

BUDGET ($): Estimated project costs are shown below.

¹The project is federally funded upfront.  Cost sharing reimbursement after construction

is in accordance with the percent of the pool allocated for each specific purpose.

SCHEDULE:

FY 2011Completed Work: Continued progress on Cutoff Wall Construction.

FY 2012 Scheduled Work: Continued Cutoff Wall Construction; Completed protective concrete embankment wall.

FY 2013 President’s Budget: Complete Cutoff Wall Construction.

COMPLETION: Work is estimated to be completed in FY2014.

For more information regarding the Wolf Creek Dam Safety project, contact Don Getty, CELRN-PM, phone: (615) 736-2346, email:  don.b.getty@usace.army.mil.