The current project includes design and construction of a 110-ft. by 1,200-ft. navigational chamber at Kentucky Lock and Dam.
(Kentucky Lock and Dam photo)
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is busy powering ahead on construction at the Kentucky Lock and Dam Project in western Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes to help address some of the longest shipping delays in the country. The lock was first constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) between 1935 and1942.
At an estimated cost of $465,492,000 for the current phase of the project — Congress appropriated the funding for this project through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — work is progressing on significant portions of the lock, with May 2027 as the current contract completion date and total project completion targeted for 2030 and after.
The current project includes design and construction of a 110-ft. by 1,200-ft. navigational chamber at Kentucky Lock and Dam. There is an existing 110-ft. by 600-ft. chamber there since the 1940s when TVA built the lock and dam structure. The new lock addition will help eliminate the massive delays experienced by boats and barges when passing through here.
USACE has been engaged in a project to bring a double capacity chamber to the Kentucky Lock and Dam location since the early 2000s according to Jeremiah Manning, who serves as field engineer and administrative contract officer of Kentucky Lock and Dam. He has worked on the project since December 2016.
Kentucky Lock is located near Gilbertsville, Ky., 22.4 mi. from the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, and 20 mi. east of Paducah. The 184-mi. reservoir created by Kentucky Dam stretches across parts of Tennessee and Kentucky and is the largest in the eastern United States. The lock is the lower gateway to more than 700 mi. of navigable waters in the Tennessee River Basin.
Efficient funding of the downstream cofferdam received in 2016-18 ensured significant advancing of the construction. The project has continued to enjoy efficient funding, which has continued through the excavation project wrapping up this summer. This involves removing the earth and the bedrock down to the foundation for most of the lock.
Contract partners include Johnson Brothers Construction of Texas who did the downstream cofferdam; Heeter Geotechnical Construction of Pennsylvania working on the downstream excavation; and a new downstream lock monoliths contract was awarded on Sept. 30, 2021, to Thalle Construction Company Inc. of North Carolina.
"As a result of some of the IIJA funding that we received, we had enough funds to fully fund the downstream monolith contract. So now we have the downstream monolith also fully bought out so that work will progress the significant portions of the actual structure of the lock itself. That's kind of a big deal," said Manning. "Barring any construction issues or weather issues right now, we're on track for that completion of that incremental piece of the project. We have a substantial amount of work ramping up and under contract now and that's going to keep us very busy here in Kentucky Lock all the way through 2027."
Manning anticipates the next major component of the project will be acquired in 2024-25, with internal decisions happening now on planning, design, cost and schedule. The location in western Kentucky though has been beneficial to best navigate some of the challenging market conditions for cost, materials, labor and working environment.
"We are fortunate with our physical location and regional availability of resources. We were very fortunate to be doing our excavation contract during COVID, which was a low labor contract but heavy on equipment, so it allowed our contractor to continue unimpeded because we weren't beholden to significant supply chain concerns," said Manning.
The project is now approaching 250 to 350 personnel at peak production, with a heavy focus on skilled trades, including crew operating an onsite batch plant for concrete, power crane operators and laborers and carpenters for the mass concrete used — 375,000 cu. yds. of mass concrete forms the primary element.
There is rock blasting and large rock excavation work requiring hauling equipment to haul out that large material out of the pit. There is significant large rebar procured including procuring the lower monolith gates in the downstream monoliths contract. A lot of miscellaneous steel will be fabricated into the project, hydraulic elements for the structure, large pyramids for culvert valves and hydraulic pistons to operate gates and machinery.
Equipment used includes large dump trucks, large earthmoving equipment, specialized drilling and lowering equipment and a customized concrete delivery conveyance system.
Among challenges experienced, Manning cited the labor market as one, and "depending on market conditions, it will be interesting to see whether labor becomes increasingly scarce across the country or if the market takes a downturn and more labor comes back into the construction market to witness a positive shift.
"In a period where inflation is driving the cost of the projects up, we are going to see an increased opportunity for the value of efficient planning and efficient management of scarce resources," said Manning. "There's a greater value to how well and how efficiently you optimize and utilize what you do have or what you are going to get. Some of the different project controls or efficient planning, some of the pool planning or lean construction planning, I'm seeing our contract partners put an increased value on that as we lean into the problem that we have now."
Additionally, the amount of attention a project this large and important to inland waterways attracts is a huge differentiating factor.
"These large civil works projects become projects of national significance. The biggest difference is the implications of the decisions that are made, and the size of the team involved," said Manning. "The people who influence these projects range from our congressional members to our senators in the local area. They all have a stake in the effective progress of these projects."
Routine briefs are provided to generals in Cincinnati and the headquarters in D.C. on the status of the project. Routine VIP visits are common as are media requests to understand and tell the story. There is a lot of local interest too as a lot of families will be a part of this project, either through working there, or supplying materials or support in some way through the supply chain, or as part of the regional navigation industry that will ultimately benefit from these efforts. CEG
Ruksana Hussain
Ruksana Hussain is a Los Angeles, California-based award-winning journalist with 19 years' experience working with local, national and international print and digital media for consumer and trade markets. As a magazine editor and features writer, she covers a broad range of topics including construction and design, diversity and inclusion, data privacy and security, and more. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology in India. Leisurely pursuits include traveling, random researching and attempting word puzzles of any nature.
Read more from Ruksana Hussain here.
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