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 and construction commenced in July 1998.                         

B.            GENERAL 

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

Construction activities:

·        Upstream Cofferdam –  Planned grouting operations were completed in October and grout takes were significantly lower than anticipated.  Judy Construction continued the placement of casing in September for the jet grouting program.  The jet grouting contractor, Solatache, mobilized to the site in October.  The jet grouting is being performed in a two part modification to mitigate the deep vertical crevice discovered during the planned grouting program.  The follow-up modification to cover the remainder of the jet grouting work was negotiated the week of 28 October.  A redesign effort for the cofferdam is nearing completion by the cofferdam’s designers, Black & Veatch.  The redesign is necessary to accommodate the radically different top of rock surface encountered during construction in comparison to that surface assumed in the original design.  The redesign is also dealing with the two vertical crevices that were discovered during the grouting program.  This $11.3M contract is about 20% complete and is scheduled for completion in January 2004. 

·        Bridge Substructures –  C.J. Mahan continued with significant construction activities on this $36.6M contract in October.   Relevant activities during October include:

·        Concrete placement for the pier caps on RR piers R1 and R2.   

·        Continued overwater exploratory drilling operations for the drilled shafts.

·        Continued production drilling for the drilled shafts.  Concrete was placed for the fishing pier technique shaft on the east side of the channel, shaft F7A, and for two shafts at RR pier R14.   Kerf cutting and/or production drilling has or is occurring for piers R6, R14, and H7.  The drilling subcontractors, Goettle and Case, continue a two-10 hour/day shift operation.

·        Pile driving for the RR abutment on the west bank was initiated.

·        Excavation for the foundation of pier R15 was initiated and pile driving for the cofferdam of pier H8 continued.

·        West bank boat basin excavation was essentially completed and riprap placement along its banks will be initiated in early October.

·        West Bank Hwy/RR Embankment –Murray Paving continued soil placement for this embankment construction throughout September and is essentially complete.  Topsoil placement is about 70% complete and final seeding operations are about 40% comple.  A modification to construct the fishing jetties was issued to Murray Paving, Inc. on 27 September.  This $7M contract is now about 90% complete.

·        Benton Wetlands – Earthwork on the wetland construction was completed in September.  A grass seeding operation is planned in October.  Tree planting will occur this fall during the dormant period.  The earth dikes worked successfully in their first test – they retained the runoff from the rainfall received during the remnants of tropical storm Isidore.

·        Instrumentation Program –  This contract was awarded on 30 September 2002 to Geocomp, Inc.  The first delivery order should be issued during the second week of October.  The initial phase of instruments should be installed by January 2003.    

·        Funding Status

o       FY 02 –  The project expended over 99% of the $19.7M received in FY 02.

o       FY 03 – A breakdown of the project’s funding amounts in the yet-to-be-completed appropriations process is provided below. 

§         $27.4M      President’s Budget Request     

§         $30M      House E&W Committee Report

§         $31M      Senate E&W Committee Report

§         ?            Conference Committee Report (hopefully in Oct)

§         ?            Final E&W Appropriations Bill 

C.            PROGRESS FOR THE MONTH: 

Environmental/Recreation 

·        Tailwater Fishing Mitigation (West Bank Jetties) – This modification was issued to Murray Paving in September.  Construction should commence in early October with rock placement starting before the end of October.  It is uncertain whether full or partial paving of the parking lot will occur this fall or next spring. 

WES Navigation Model

Status – A draft final report is currently under review. 

WES Lock Model

A draft report documenting the conditions due to the new short approach wall is under development. 

Lock Design

In-house.  The main focus of in-house resources is to manage A/E contracts and continue in-house design efforts.  In-house work is continuing on:

-         P&S:

o       Recess fillers, mooring bits and their recesses, and handrail.

o       Electrical distribution system

o       Grounding system

o       Communications tower

o       Lock lighting

o       Hydraulic systems and operating machinery

o       Middle wall fill containment structures for the upstream end

 - Engineers are working to draft concrete material and mix specifications. 

Miter Gate Design.   LRL designers are wrapping up revisions to the design from the computation checks and should be finished early this fall. 

Upstream Monolith Design –  Black & Veatch is nearing completion on this DM level design effort.  Efforts to take this design to P&S level will be initiated this fall. 

Downstream Lock Design -    LRH made their 90% submission on this design effort in June and a review meeting was held on 14 August.  LRH will continue to take this design to P&S level in FY 03. 

New Operations Building & Maintenance Complex –  MWH’s made their 90% submittal on this in August.  Its review suspense date has been delayed to 4 November due to the heavy review load currently being experienced. 

Disposal/Contractor Laydown Areas  

Vulcan Materials Disposal Site –  The re-appraisal process for the disposal site is complete.  TVA will be making an offer to Vulcan Materials in October.           

Cofferdam Design

Downstream cofferdam -   Bergmann/Gerwick made their 90% submission in September. A review meeting is scheduled for 22 October in Rochester. 

Materials DM

WES is continuing testing on concrete mixes and aggregates.   

Relocations 

·        RR/Hwy Design ·        Superstructure Design –  ACE submitted their 50% P&S package for review in July and and Hanson’s 50% P&S package was submitted in August.  A 50% review meeting is scheduled for 8-9 October.  The earliest completion date is not until Summer of 2003.   

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@lrn02.usace.army.mil]. 

Future Project Meetings

   ·        8-9 October – Hwy and RR 50% Superstructure review meetings at BAR/R

·        22 October – 70% D/S Cofferdam review meeting in Rochester, NY

·        Early November – Materials and concrete thermal controls meeting at Pickwick Lock

·        13 November – Mooring arrangement design coordination meeting with Navigation Industry Reps at Lake City, KY

·        20 November – U/S Cofferdam re-design presentation and D/S cofferdam status review to TVA Board of Consultants in Chattanooga