The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District’s Wolf Creek Dam Foundation Remediation Project recently reached a significant 500,000-hour achievement.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District’s
Wolf Creek Dam Foundation Remediation Project reached a significant 500,000-
hour achievement recently.
Treviicos-Soletanche J. V., the contractor for this project, has operated
safely the past 263 days, and has reached 500,000 work-hours without an
accident that would cause a worker to miss time on the job.
David Hendrix, the district’s project manager, calls it an “amazing feat,”
given the buzz of activity that occurs on the work platform every day. He says
work crews constantly are moving around, and machinery and drill rigs are
running continuously. “So the ability to maintain a safe work environment in
these conditions is a great accomplishment,” he says.
The Corps is approximately 62 percent complete on the installation of the new
barrier wall, which is immediately upstream of the right-most concrete
monoliths, and is being installed to stop seepage in the karst geology of the
rock. When complete, the barrier wall will run the full length of the
embankment into the right abutment of Wolf Creek Dam.
This project is the largest and most difficult foundation remediation project
in the world, claims Fabio Santillan, the contractor’s project manager. “As
such, its complexity from the dam safety, quality requirements and logistics
and productivity points of view is unprecedented. This unparalleled combination
of requirements imposes additional challenges to those that are already very
stringently present on this particular branch of the construction industry.
These production rates exceed those originally anticipated at the beginning of
the project,” he explains. “This accomplishment demonstrates that a safe
environment favors good production.”
Lt. Col. James DeLapp, the Nashville District commander, says reaching the 500,000 work-hours without any significant
accident is a life-, cost- and time-saving objective that the Corps and the
contractor both can be proud of reaching. “It shows safety on the job is the
main priority as the Corps continues to move forward as fast and safely as
possible to complete the foundation remediation project,” DeLapp explains.
“Accidents can ultimately cause delays, so working safe is important to us and
the local communities that are eager for the project to reach its
completion.”
Kathy Lust, Nashville District’s resident engineer for the construction
project, says the contractor is to be commended for a commitment to safety and
for partnering with the Corps to put such a great emphasis on safety during all
phases of work. “The construction is taking place in very confined spaces with
lots of moving pieces, so working so many hours and days without accidents
really is notable,” Lust says. “And working together to keep people safe is, in
my opinion, the most important aspect of this achievement.” ND
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