NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) While a seven-year, $309 million repair project continues on the seeping Wolf Creek dam in southern Kentucky, another dam upstream of Nashville could soon require repairs on a similar scale.
Center Hill Dam in Dekalb County east of Nashville needs $240 million in repairs to correct seeping in the limestone foundation, according to a new report from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps have kept water in the lake low since 2005 to keep pressure off the dam and further reduction in lake levels would be necessary to start the repair work, which is estimated to take seven to 10 years to finish.
“It’s a serious seepage problem we’re having, and we’re taking steps to fix that,” said Bill Peoples, spokesman of the Nashville Corps office.
Dam failure could result in the flooding of Caney Fork River, a popular trout stream, and the Cumberland River Valley, including low-lying parts of Nashville. The Corps is monitoring the dam for sinkholes or other signs of emergency failure, Peoples said.
The report analyzes several environmental effects of lower lake levels, which could kill fish downstream.
Ernie Paquette, a fishing guide who appears on the TV show “Tennessee’s Wild Side,” said he is concerned about the effect on wildlife, but the safety of the dam was more important.
“It would be a bad thing to wipe out the fishery, but if the dam fails, guess what? The fishery is wiped out anyway,” Paquette said.
The concrete and earth embankment dam was completed in 1951 and has a hydroelectric plant immediately downstream. Since construction, leaking problems have required monitoring and grouting.
The report estimates that damages in the event of a worst-case failure could exceed a billion dollars and several hundred casualties. A final report is due in March after public meetings are held in the fall.
This latest report describes concerns similar to those at the massive Wolf Creek Dam in southeastern Kentucky that holds back Lake Cumberland, the largest reservoir east of the Mississippi River. The ongoing project there is meant to shore up the foundation of the dam, which sits on the porous limestone karst that is common across central Kentucky and Tennessee.
Wolf Creek’s failure, while considered unlikely, could flood towns and cities down the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee, including parts of downtown Nashville.
The lowering of Lake Cumberland has left boat ramps high and dry, creating problems for boaters and marinas.
