Project Description

Context of the project

The Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River in southern Kentucky is nearly 2 km long and supports hydroelectric generation, flood control, navigation and recreational activities. Following discovery of regressive erosion in the underlying karsts, a contract was awarded to the Treviicos-Soletanche joint venture to rehabilitate the foundations of the dam.

Description of the project

The project involves repairing the dam to re-establish the watertightness of the dam/rock contact, and in particular:

  • Completion of the previous contract’s grouting at a depth of 100m, using sonic drilling and a water hammer.
  • Construction of a concrete wall, between the two grouting lines, at a depth of 85m (50m through the earth dam body and 35m in rock of varying strength from 50 to 200Mpa).

The wall must be very vertical, with a deviation tolerance of less than 0.15% at 85m, and a minimum thickness of 600mm.

Our solution

To solve the erosion issue, the joint venture built a barrier wall behind a 52,000 sq. metre, 1.8 metre thick, 85 metre deep diaphragm wall. The 91,000 sq. metre barrier wall, which combines secant piles and Hydrofraise® panels, runs through the embankment and extends downwards through 50 metres of clay and 35 metres of rock.

The project, which won a Deep Foundation Institute award, was handed over in 2014 following four and a half years of work.

Type of project:

Dams

Dams

Location:

USA

Subsidiaries of Soletanche Bachy:

Nicholson Construction, Soletanche Bachy International

Project owner:

Prime contractor:

USACE Nashville District

Consortium:

TREVIICOS SOLETANCHE Joint venture

Works period:

10/2008 – 09/2014

Types of techniques:

Icon diaphragm wall

Diaphragm wall

Icon secant piles

Secant piles

Icon grouting

Grouting

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Key figures of the project

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piles

Related techniques

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