A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 

Kentucky Lock is located in western Kentucky at Mile 22.4 of the Tennessee River. A feasibility report completed in 1992 recommended a new 110' x 1200' lock adjacent and landward of the existing 110' x 600' lock. The project was authorized for construction in WRDA 96. FY 99 funding of $12.6M was used to continue WES model studies, the Lock DM, Transmission Tower DM, subsurface exploration, Railroad DM, and initiate the Hwy DM and Materials DM. Construction on the project was initiated with the construction of an access road on the powerhouse island that was completed in August 1998. Appropriated funds of $15.0M in FY 00 are proposed to be increased to $24.2M through reprogramming efforts within the Corps. A breakdown of this $24.2M is provided below:

$4.0M In-house design and management 

$0.7M Other Corps design 

$0.3M WES Models 

$8.0M A/E Design 

$8.1M Construction and Real Estate Acquisition 

$3.1M Fabrication and early Acquisition of Materials.

B. GENERAL

Significant activities, issues raised, and decisions made during the month on the project include :

· Public Meeting - As part of the upcoming Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, a public meeting has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m., 22 May 2000 at the KY Dam Village State Park Convention Center. A computerized video graphic of the proposed project site prepared by American Consulting Engineers will be presented as will information on tailwater fishing impacts and other project features. 

· West Bank Relocations Contract - This contract between the Corps and the Kentucky Department of Parks is nearing completion. 

· TVA Board of Consultants Meeting - Several members of the in-house design team went to Chattanooga on May 3rd to brief the TVA Board of Consultants on the downstream cofferdam selection and the upstream cofferdam design progress. No significant issues were raised at this meeting. 

· Downstream Cofferdam - Navigation industry representatives were briefed on the downstream cofferdam selection at WES on 11 April. All representatives present at the meeting agreed with the selection of the float-in alternative. 

· Overall financial progress - At the end of April, the KY Lock project was at 94.9% of current scheduled expenditures.

Construction activities: 

· TVA Transmission Towers - During the past month, TVA construction crews completed the driving of H-piles for Tower B foundation on the powerhouse island and 50% of the piles for Tower A were completed. TVA contract crews initiated construction efforts for the foundation of the most downstream tower on the east bank. 

· Walker Cemetery Access Road. Construction of this road is essentially complete. A close-out final inspection was held on 2 May. 

· Upcoming contracts include: 

· West bank water and sewer relocations by 8A contractor. Plan to negotiate this contract in May. 

· West bank telephone. Plan to have this performed this spring by the owner, BellSouth. 

· West bank Highway and Railroad bridge approaches. Plan to advertise this contract as competitively bid, small business set-aside in mid-May. It involves the construction of approximately 1.0M cubic yards of fill placement. 

· Purchase of Lock Wall Armor. The CBD announcement for this purchase was delayed about a week due to the need for a Small Business Administration waiver. CBD announcement should occur any time with advertisement by late May. 

· Construction Field Office. Assuming a favorable estimate of cost, the CBD announcement should occur week of 8 - 12 May. Advertisement is expected early June.

C. PROGRESS FOR THE MONTH:

Environmental

Wetland Mitigation - Mitigation for the loss of about 7 acres of wetlands will be through the re-establishment of wetlands on prior-converted lands at a ratio of approximately 2:1. The proposed Yates mitigation site in nearby Cypress Creek watershed is no longer considered feasible for this project since it is not large enough for both this project and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Other sites are now being investigated. A proposed wetland bank in nearby Calvert City also holds promise as a possible mitigation site.

Mussel Mitigation - Mitigation for the loss of mussel habitat due to the Tennessee River bridges' construction will be accomplished through three activities: 1) a compilation of all existing mollusk data in the Tennessee River from KY Dam to its mouth, 2) the funding of a mussel survey in both Kentucky and Barkley Lakes, and 3) relocation of mussels within the bridges' corridor. Scoping efforts for the data compilation are nearing completion. It is expected that the surveys in KY and BAR lakes will occur this summer.

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement - Efforts are ongoing to initiate this SEIS to cover all of the significant changes and refinement to the project since the 1992 EIS. A Notice of Intent has been sent to be published in the Federal Register to provide notification of this activity. An agency scoping meeting is planned for the afternoon. A public meeting will be held that evening.

WES Meeting - See below for results of 12 April WES meeting.

WES Navigation Model 

Status - All of the proposed condition features have been installed and testing for this second phase is ongoing. New features in the model include the proposed 1200' lock, the piers for the new bridges, and removal of the two mooring cells downstream of the powerhouse island. Tests in recent weeks have focused on re-obtaining velocity data with the new bridge piers installed. These efforts are nearing completion and preliminary indications are that no significant changes to velocities are caused by the bridge piers. The proposed fishing piers under the highway bridge are presently being fabricated in the shop. After installation in the model, tests to refine the configuration of the training dike(s) will resume.

Results of April Meetings: 

11 April 2000- Significant results of this meeting with navigation interests include 

· Training dike - It was agreed that this structure(s) was needed. Preliminary "brick" dikes worked well but "refined smooth concrete" dikes need some work. WES will continue to refine the dike(s) design and assess the resulting impacts to navigation and environment (i.e., velocities over mussel beds). 

· Downstream mooring cells - Industry reps agreed that these will be removed from the project. This will significantly help from environmental standpoint. It was agreed that additional mooring buoys downstream of the I-24 bridge should be pursued for installation during new lock construction. 

· Downstream right bank excavation - It was also agreed that this was not needed, also helping from environmental standpoint. 

· Downstream Cofferdam - Industry reps unanimously selected the float-in alternative. The next planned meeting at WES with an environmental focus will be after the downstream cofferdam is installed in the model, probably early this fall.

12 April 2000 - Significant results of this meeting with an environmental focus include: 

· Velocity data - WES folks did a great job of putting together needed info on short notice; however, it was noticed that significant errors occurred during velocity measurements. This diminished the ability to make conclusions on the project's impacts to mussel habitat. After the meeting, it was determined that this was due to a faulty probe. As discussed above, WES is nearing completion with re-tests that show no significant changes in velocities due to bridge piers. 

· Spillway dikes - A lot of time was available for attendees to run tests on the model. Significant effort was placed on looking at dikes that could reduce the spillway eddy (i.e., boating safety) and increase mixing of spillway and powerhouse flows (i.e., reduce gas supersaturation). WES will plan a testing program for these dikes after completion of navigation testing. 

· Future meeting - It was agreed that another meeting at WES would be prudent this summer after completion of proposed condition testing, including the final training dike configuration and further testing of spillway dikes.

WES Lock Model 

The new upstream topography has been installed and intake tests are completed. Results indicate that no negative hydraulic impacts are resulting from the change in the upstream topography. Efforts are underway to complete the model report.

Lock Design 

In-house. The main focus of in-house resources is to issue both A/E and construction contracts needed for critical path items and also for FY 00 execution goals. Work is also continuing on the support of WES's Lock and Navigation Model work, new lock stability, miter gate design, culvert valve and bulkhead design, lock intake trashrack design, and the east bank permanent embankment.

Electrical/Mechanical Design. The 50% DM submittal was received from Harza in April. Reviews are in progress and a review meeting will be held 25 May to resolve comments.

Site Design -Exhibits to illustrate current designs are being prepared for use in the May public meeting.

GS&P has submitted the 90% complete plans and specifications for the construction field office, maintenance building and hazardous materials building. Corps and TVA review of the construction field office is complete and the 100% submittal is due by 22 May. 100% plans and specifications for the maintenance building and hazardous materials building will not be completed until location issues are resolved later this summer.

Harza Engineers is continuing with their design of the operations building. Comments from operations personnel and TVA will be incorporated prior to the May public meeting.

TVA has been given the green light to proceed with preliminary site layouts for all fishing enhancement activities on the powerhouse island. This includes working with ACE on a new fishing pier, raising the existing fishing coffer cell, a new downstream parking lot, and possibly new fishing walkways. It is understood that the budget for these fishing enhancements and the proposed lock visitor center cannot exceed the estimated cost for the relocation of Taylor Park Campground.

Lower Guidewall - The 100% DM was received from Harza Engineers in April.

Upper Approach Walls - Design efforts for this feature are continuing by Inca Engineers.

Floating Caisson- The 95% submittal for Contract P&S by INCA/Beck/S&W was received in April. Review comments will be provided by 15 May and the 100% P&S will be submitted the first part of June. Plans are to advertise for this structure's fabrication this summer.

Miter Gate Design. Louisville District is nearly complete with the DM for these gates. They will start on Plans and Specs. right away.

As-built Drawings - AIMSI Engineers is nearing completion of phase II of this work. Phase III efforts will be limited to the high priority items from the AIMSI phase III recommendations.

Site Utilities - Scoping efforts for this task order to Harza Engineers are complete and negotiations are scheduled within the week. This work will cover the designs for all the utilities affected by the project that are not currently assigned to a design team including the transfer of utilities from the existing powerhouse island bridge to the new bridge. This task order also includes the development of P&S for providing station power to the TVA maintenance compound on the east bank and a metered connection for West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative. A coordination meeting with construction phasing designers is scheduled for 11 May in Nashville.

Existing Lock DM - A task order to Harza to cover all of the impacts to the existing lock's systems is planned in the next few months.

Early acquisition activities - Lock armor, culvert valves, and culvert bulkheads are planned to be acquired this FY. Contract packages for these items are nearing completion by ED-D.

Disposal/Contractor Laydown Areas

Vulcan Materials Disposal Site - Activities necessary to acquire the real estate rights for this 43-acre site located about ¾ mile from the proposed lock on Hwy 453 are ongoing. Activities during the month include:

· The award for the 100% design task order occurred on 24 April. 

· A decision by Corps and TVA was made to acquire a 15-year construction easement for this site and its access routes. Real estate efforts are continuing in an effort to compete this easement acquisition as soon as possible. 

· Results of the drill crew sampling of existing material on this site indicated sufficient quantities of suitable material were not available for use as cofferdam fill.

Construction Laydown and Scheduling and Taylor Park Disposal Area Task Order - Negotiations for this task order to Bergmann/Gerwick are complete. They are being tasked with developing construction phase drawings to determine laydown requirements and potential conflicts between construction contractors. Also included in the task order is the development of a refined design and construction schedule for the project. A kick-off meeting is scheduled for 10 May.

Cofferdam DM 

Downstream cofferdam - Industry representatives were present at the 11 April meeting at WES unanimously agreed with the decision to select the float-in alternative. They expressed that even though this alternative may not have the shortest down time for them during construction, they would rather have the additional clearance in the approach channel this alternative provides. The scope of work for the P&S task order is under development.

Upstream cofferdam - The 100% DM submission was received from B&V on 2 May. The P&S task order RFP will be issued in the next two weeks. Plans are to expedite this feature's design to allow advertisement of its construction early in FY 01 if funds allow.

East Bank Temporary Cut-off Analysis - In order to meet TVA's requirement of two lines of protection at all times during construction of the lock, a temporary cut-off wall or embankment stabilization measures may be required in the middle lock area. The proposal from Black & Veatch for this work has been received and negotiations will occur in May.

Sheetpile Acquisition - Current plans for sheetpile acquisition for the project include reusing Olmsted sheetpile. Preliminary discussions with the Olmsted project manager indicate KY Lock will only have to pay for transportation of this piling with no material cost. A meeting to discuss logistics of this transfer will be held before Olmsted begins pulling the piling in the October/November time frame. Testing and inspection of each pile will be required prior to transport to Kentucky Lock.

Materials DM 

The second round of testing at the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) for the Materials DM is underway. This testing will concentrate on concrete mixes and materials. The 70% DM submittal is scheduled for July.

Relocations

· RR/Hwy Quarterly Design Meetings - The next quarterly meetings are scheduled for 8-9 May, with the RR only meeting the afternoon of 8 May, the joint meeting the next morning, and the Hwy only meeting the afternoon of 9 May. 

· WB RR/Hwy Approach P&S - The status of this 100% small-business set-aside construction contract is as follows: 

· The CBD announcement was posted on 13 April. 

· The final Contract Drawings and Technical Specifications are expected to be sent to the Corps' Contracting office on 5 May. 

· Execution of the relocations contract between the Corps and Kentucky Department of Parks is necessary before this construction contract can be advertised. A signed copy of this contract from the Dept. of Parks is expected any day. 

· The earliest advertisement date is probably 12 May. 

· West bank telephone - A final contract between the Corps and BellSouth to facilitate this relocation will be mailed to BellSouth within the next few days. 

· West Bank water and sewer - An 8A contractor, RCI, has been selected to perform the work. Negotiations are scheduled to occur on 5 May. · Smith property acquisition - An approximate 1.5-acre tract owned by Smith Contractors is required on the east bank for the RR relocation. The appraisal for this tract was received by TVA the week of 3 April. Required survey efforts by Hanson Engineers are expected within the next two weeks.

Miscellaneous

KY Lock Telephone Directory - A list of all organizations and key personnel involved in the design of this project that contains their address, phone numbers and email addresses is available upon request to Don Getty, (615) 736-2346 [don.b.getty@usace.army.mil].

Future Project Meetings

· 8 - 9 May - RR/HWY Quarterly meeting at BAR 

· 10 May - Laydown Task Order kick-off meeting at BAR 

· 11 May - Joint Site utilities/site development coordination meeting in Nashville 

· 22 May - Agency scoping meeting for Supplemental EIS at BAR 

· 22 May - Public Meeting at KY Dam Village State Park 

· 25 May - Comment Resolution meeting for 50% Elec/Mech DM in Nashville

End of Report