Wolf Creek Dam was built on Karst

[Azurerana]

pretzlgirl said:

azurerana said:

WHAT And abort all those wonderful country-western song possiblities?

"Oh, the Wolf Creek Dam, it drowned my guitar,
Washed away the studio, took out my fav'rit bar;
I'm singing in the water 'cause the Corps wouldn't say
How high the Cumberland would get that day..."

I could go on, but y'all'd probably kill me.

Ok, I know I'm asking for it.
But what is the rest of the country western song?

The title is probably "Cryin' Tears over Nashville".
Darned if I know the rest of the song . That's all I could think of in about 3-4 minutes. Tell you what: if the unthinkable happens--I'll finish it. Of course, that means I'd have to pick up that guitar in the living room (I know about 7-8 chords) and dye my hair strawberry blonde with a gold streak and put rhinestones in my eyelids, get some inch long black fake lashes, and wear cherry-red lipstick and a blouse cut down to there, have my teeth capped, have a beauty mark tattooed on my chin, see if I could get the College of the Ozarks to loan me the Beverly Hillbillies' truck and move to Nashville. I could be the new Minnie Pearl!

[L Roebuck]

Deal Azurerana, I can wait and IF the unthinkable does happens then I will expect a completed song. But lets hope the dam does not break.

Here is a Tennessean article that may be useful to the friends, neighbors and Nashville Grotto members who live in the potential flood area.

Wolf Creek Dam break flooding maps now online on Tennessean.com!

Meanwhile, The Tennessean is working to make public on its Web site copies the newspaper has obtained of the maps for Wilson County, most of Sumner County, Davidson County as far west as Lakewood, and a small portion of Trousdale County. The first such map, of southern Gallatin and area southeast of the city, should be available at the link to the right of this story. All the maps will be available in PDF format but are several megabytes in size, and may take time to be downloaded.

Full Article and Flood Maps

[Azurerana]

And, here is some entirely contradictory evidence:
tinyurl.com/2kauhy

Note the last post on Feb 1 by a lady named Barb, who works for the Kentucky equivalent of FEMA.

OTOH, feds are notorious for backpedalling after the media starts in on some issue...

I found out that some of the media info is questionable at best: If you look on the ACE site, it lists Lake Cumberland as the 2nd largest lake in Kentucky--dropping to third behind Lake Barkley after the drawdown. At the same time, I have found info that 'lumps' the cost of the Wolf Creek dam ($15 million) and its first rebuild into one figure, saying the dam cost $80 million initially, which is patently not true.

A lot of KY fluff sites say that Cumberland is the largest reservoir east of the Missississippi--obviously, it isn't even the biggest reservoir in Kentucky! This same info says it is the 9th (or 20th) largest dam in the United States--but it doesn't even show up on a list of the largest 20 dams in the US. I even found one site which claims it is the largest reservoir east of the Rockies--obviously negating Lake Barkley, Kentucky Lake, but also, the main stem reservoirs on the Missouri River in North and South Dakota, which ARE listed in the top 10 US reservoirs.
(Here is a clue: there are no Rocky Mountains in the Dakotas).

Just curious...has anyone been actually there? Is it maybe just a wading pool on a leaky concrete slab?
For some reason, the song "Rubber Duckie" keeps popping into mind.

[L Roebuck]

Wolf Creek Dam Flood Maps Placed In Libraries

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has placed maps, showing the consequences if the Wolf Creek Dam fails, in Mt. Juliet at the Harvey Freeman Memorial Library, in Lebanon at the Wilson County Public Library, in DeKalb County at the Charles Ralph Holland Memorial Library, at the Smith County Public Library, the Clay County Public Library, the Clinton County Public Library in Albany, KY, the Russell County Public Library in Jamestown, the Cumberland County Public Library in Burkesville, KY, and the William B. Harlan Memorial Library in Tompkinsville, KY.

Full Article


New Site for Wolf Creek, Center Hill Dams Meeting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The public meeting Tuesday on the planning, design and management of seepage at Wolf Creek and Center Hill dams will be held at Nashville's Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Central and West Ballroom Convention wing of the hotel, 2025 Metrocenter Blvd.

The meeting Tuesday night is the first of several informational meetings organized by the Corps of Engineers for the public to discuss the aging dams.

Maps of potential flooded areas affected by a Wolf Creek Dam breach are available for viewing at different public libraries. They show the consequences and not the probability of a failure of the dam.

Full Article

[L Roebuck]

Corps of Engineers Answer Questions About Leaky Dam

" The Wolf Creek Dam, weakened and weary, is under round the clock watch by the Army Corps of Engineers."

"The Corps tried to allay fears by answering questions Tuesday night at a community meeting where they offered first ever look at bird's eye blueprints of the flood zones. The maps highlight parts of Tennessee that could be swallowed up by a catastrophic dam break."

Full Article

[L Roebuck]

Here's another article concerning Wolf Creek Dam.

Libraries have flood maps for Wolf Creek Dam break

Wolf Creek Dam, which is beginning a $309 million overhaul to shore it up, holds back the largest reservoir east of the Mississippi. It forms Lake Cumberland in Kentucky.

A worst-case scenario could cause more than $2 billion in flooding and displace people from 10,000 structures in Nashville alone.

Full Article

[L Roebuck]

Caves problematic for Wolf Creek Dam

JAMESTOWN, Ky. (AP) -- A dam on Kentucky’s Lake Cumberland undergoing repairs has been plagued by leaky underground caverns for decades.

Federal officials leading the $300,000,000 project say the limestone caverns—known as karst - present unique problems for engineers.

The plan is to pour concrete into the underground gaps and build a long underground wall to seal of the seeping passages at Wolf Creek Dam. Officials say the dam is in danger of failure if the work isn’t done.

Full Article

[Tony Anders]

Underground caverns challenge repairs at Wolf Creek Dam
Associated Press
Associated Press

JAMESTOWN, Ky. — Officials overseeing a costly repair project on a dam that holds back one of the nation's largest reservoirs will be challenged by the leaky underground limestone the dam was built on, experts said.

The seven-year repair effort on Wolf Creek Dam at Lake Cumberland is the third project to control leaking under the southeastern Kentucky dam's long earth embankment since the 1960s. Geologists and civil engineers said there's no guarantee the work will seal off the movement of water through the cavernous underground geology, known as karst.

"If you're going to have a dam on karst, then you have an additional problem that you might not have on some other foundations that are better than karst," said Brad Iarossi, former chief of Maryland's Dam Safety Division and a past president of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. "You're always going to have a problem of how much seepage and how do you control it."

The U.S. Corps of Engineers said the repairs to the dam are projected to last 50 years, about two decades longer than the time between the current project and the previous fix, which began in the mid-1970s.

The repair comes with economic and environmental costs. Officials have announced plans to keep the level of Lake Cumberland low through this year's summer busy season to relieve pressure on the dam. The lower water levels will mean fewer tourists and more problems for some aquatic life in the lake, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The repairs include filling the porous limestone with a runny concrete, called grout, and building a thick underground wall along the dam's earth embankment to replace a smaller wall built in the 1970s.

Seepage is typical at all dams, but the Corps of Engineers said the leakage at Wolf Creek has become a problem because the water is carrying away the earth at the dam's foundation, threatening its structural integrity.

A failure of the dam's 258-foot high concrete structure would unleash the lake's two trillion gallons of water, flooding cities and towns in the valleys along the Cumberland River all the way to Nashville, Tenn.

Part of the goal of the project is to install a wall deep enough to reach a solid layer of earth below the karst, said Lt. Col. Steven J. Roemhildt, commander of the Corps' Nashville District. But Roemhildt acknowledged that the karst could still present unexpected problems after the project is completed.

"We're dealing with a very complex, hard-to-model karst geology that is located in bedrock. It's very difficult to completely model it," he said.

But Roemhildt said he is confident the major repairs will extend the life of the dam by 50 years.

Nick Crawford, who directs the Center for Cave and Karst Studies at Western Kentucky University, said the challenge for engineers will be to seal off all the underground channels where water is moving.

"I think it's doubtful that they could get all of the water shut off," Crawford said. "If they got every bit of it shut off and it's no longer moving through the karst, then it won't be enlarging the holes and it would be a permanent fix. And maybe they can do that."

The first major repair project at Wolf Creek dam began in 1968 after engineers detected signs of distress and found two sinkholes near the dam. Workers used grout to fill in underground channels, averting a potential failure of the structure, according to the Corps of Engineers. But the grout was a short term fix, so officials inserted a long underground wall along the dam's earth embankment. That project cost $95 million and was finished in 1979, Roemhildt said.

Since then, new seepage has found its way under, around and even through defects in the old wall, he said. The solution is the new, thicker wall that will be 1,650 feet wider and run 75 feet deeper than the old one at some points.

Newer technology will allow engineers to pinpoint the underground leaks, said Thomas Rockaway, director of the Center for Infrastructure Research at the University of Louisville.

"They have to make sure that they go in and get as many of (the leaks) as they can physically identify, and make sure they have a very solid curtain installed," Rockaway said.


www.somerset-kentucky.com/local/local_story_041191554.html

[Azurerana]

Hmmm. "solid curtain". Anyone else see some oxymoron at work here?

[Tony Anders]

Here are a few pictures a friend of mine took this weekend (Feb 10, 2007)
It is the river level now that they have lowered the water level at Wolf Creek Dam







Pictures courtesy of Mike Neil Corbin Firefighter

[Tony Anders]

Meeting On Dam Next Week

www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/5798601.html

People in southern Kentucky will get the chance to voice their concerns over the lowering of Lake Cumberland next week.

The Army Corps of Engineers will answer questions about the Wolf Creek Dam and the plans to repair it.

Many are nervous about the effect lowering the lake will have on tourism and the safety of living along the banks of the Cumberland River.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 22nd in Somerset and everyone is invited to attend.

Courtesy:WYMT Mountain News

[Tony Anders]

azurerana said:

Hmmm. "solid curtain". Anyone else see some oxymoron at work here?

Yea, the next thing they will come up with is a tanker truck full of spray foam insulation or caulking.

[L Roebuck]

muddog said:

Here are a few pictures a friend of mine took this weekend (Feb 10, 2007)
It is the river level now that they have lowered the water level at Wolf Creek Dam
Pictures courtesy of Mike Neil Corbin Firefighter

Be sure to Thank Mike for these photo's! I feel sure the folks who are in the Wolf Creek Dam potential flooded areas greatly appreciate these photo's!

[Tony Anders]

Here is a little more news about the dam I dug up.

www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007302120006
Good picture of the dam on the link above


JAMESTOWN, Ky. (AP) -- Officials overseeing a costly repair project on a dam that holds back one of the nation's largest reservoirs will be challenged by the leaky underground limestone the dam was built on, experts said.
<more about this>
www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007302120006

[L Roebuck]

Wolf Creek Dam Update Meeting
By Ryan Dearbone, WBKO

"Concern continues to grow over whether Wolf Creek Dam will one day collapse.

The dam has had minor leaks for a couple of years now and some experts project the dam to break within a few years, leaving most of South East Kentucky and Tennessee underwater."

" McCloskey said one hurdle that will have to be cleared in order to fix the dam are the large amounts of limestone growing on the foundation. The soluble rock over the years turned into caves of all sizes around the dam.

"These solution features, or caves, present a significant challenge as far as controlling seepage in the foundation of the dam," he continued."

Full Article

[Azurerana]

pretzlgirl said:

Wolf Creek Dam Update Meeting
By Ryan Dearbone, WBKO

"Concern continues to grow over whether Wolf Creek Dam will one day collapse.

" McCloskey said one hurdle that will have to be cleared in order to fix the dam are the large amounts of limestone growing on the foundation. The soluble rock over the years turned into caves of all sizes around the dam.

Full Article

Huh? If large amounts of limestone were *growing* on the foundation, the caves would plug, the water would not get through, and there would be *no problem!*

Send a journalist to do a scientific story...

[L Roebuck]

Worst Fears May Be Realized With Wolf Creek Dam

Lake Cumberland, KY (WVLT) - The Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday they may have to lower Lake Cumberland an additional 30 feet before the end of the year because of the fears of structural failure at the Wolf Creek Dam.

State and local officials say that would put communities in the area without water and force rolling blackouts. Kentucky officials estimate as many as 200,000 homes and businesses including hospitals and nursing homes could be affected.

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher says something needs to be done. “This will be a real problem," Governor Fletcher says. "We need to figure out how to solve it soon."

The Corps does have some plans in the case the water level is lowered including extending water pipes.


Full Article

[Sharon Faulkner]

Thanks for posting the pictures Tony. Here's another story, at least the dam problem is receiving a lot of press coverage. If the dam is in worse shape than previously thought, then the news articles are alerting the public of the potential danger.
----------------------------------------------
Corps announces they may need to lower the water another 30 feet
Feb 14, 2007
WKYT-TV

Problems at Lake Cumberland could get much worse before they get any better. Work by the Army Corps of Engineers on the Wolf Creek Dam could effect much more than tourism.

Local and state officials are trying to figure out ways to meet some big challenges.

The Corps announced that they may need to lower the water another 30 feet. Right now lake levels are at 680 feet and could potentially go as low as 650 feet.

If the level needs to be lower, it will effect water intake for a power plant in Somerset, as well as local water sources.

[Mike Hood]

There's several of us from Ohio and Kentucky who plan to check many of the caves in that area that are normally under the lake-level. This will be one of the very rare occasions when these caves will be accessible!

It should be an extremely muddy-good time! ;D

[Sharon Faulkner]

I bet a lot of cavers are planning that same thing Mike. I read somewhere, maybe Tag-Net, that the water would recede in portions of Sloan's. Wonder how many will want to get in on that?

[Tony Anders]

Wolf Creek dam was awarded to the lowest bidder ,On July 21, 1941 the contract for construction of the dam was awarded to the S.A. Healy Company of White Plains, New York,16 million dollars.

Through 1995 the dam has produced 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which came out to about 197 million dollars.

More about this]www.lakecumberlandscene.com/Wolf_Creek_Dam/wolf_creek_dam.html

[L Roebuck]

Unfortunatley as the Lake Cumberland water level gets lower for the repairs to Wolf Creek Dam it causes other problems.

Wolf Creek Update

Lake Cumberland is already the lowest it’s been in years but could more water be taken out because of repairs to fix a leak at Wolf Creek Dam?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has alerted both water and electric utilities of that possibility later this year and we find out that it could cost millions of dollars to keep the water running and the lights turned on.

Already it looks like this water intake pipe for Somerset’s water system is on dry ground. While the pipe does reach water below the ground if Lake Cumberland is lowered 30 more feet, the lake will be too low to pull water in. Unless Somerset spends $1 million on a new floating intake system, there won’t be a way to provide water to the plant’s 100,000 customers in Pulaski and surrounding counties.

Full Article