BUILDING A NEW DAM ON THE OHIO RIVER

BIG JOB
Shells Size comparison

ONE

145 127
57 Olmsted

Lock and Dam 53

45

24

OLMSTED Metropolis LOCKS AND Mound City DAM PROJECT 60

Cairo Wickliffe
Miss issip pi R iver

Joppa Ohio Rive r

Lock and Dam 52 Smithland

60
r Rive ssee e n Ten 24

Paducah

Mi ssis sip pi Riv er

57

45 121
Louisville KENTUCKY
5 miles

MAP AREA

160 ft. Shell lifters

100 ft. Shell lifters

The Olmsted Dam on the western end of the Ohio River is being built as precast pieces on land that are then moved to the river for completion in one of the largest construction projects under way in the United States. The Army Corps of Engineers plan is to build its rst dam on a major river without rst building temporary coffer dams to create dry areas on the riverbed for construction workers. Instead, the corps and its contractors are manufacturing 3,500-ton to 5,000ton concrete shells on land, then lifting, moving and lowering them in place, connecting them together like pieces of Lego toys.
Using concrete mixed at the site, reinforcement rods and supporting structures, workers build a series of concrete shells on land. Each will become a piece of the dam. The biggest shells are 125 feet by 102 feet and about 30 feet high.

Super gantry crane

140 ft.

1 MAKING A SHELL, THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE PROJECT

Sixty four, 36 diameter steel wheels are used to move the cranes

6-foot tall man Cradle

Catamaran barge

2 MOVING A SHELL

Super gantry crane facts and gures

COST: $9.5 million (for crane alone, does not include assembly, foundations or lifting equipment). LIFTING CAPACITY: 5,100 tons TRAVEL SPEED: Loaded, the gantry crane travels at 10 feet per minute.

Shell lifters

Once a shell is complete, a steel lifting frame is attached. A special crane built just for the Olmsted project rides on rails to move the shell to the top of a skidway, just above the Ohio River. Shell lifters

Catamaran barge facts and gures

Lifting frame Super gantry crane

COST: $19 million (barge alone, does not include assembly or lifting equipment.) PROPULSION: Two 4,500-horsepower push boats LIFTING CAPACITY: 4,500 tons
6-foot tall man

Concrete shell Cradle

SPEED: Will not exceed 6 feet per second.

CATAMARAN BARGE
The shell is placed on a wedge-shaped steel cradle with wheels and another piece of equipment slowly lowers the shell down the riverbank, where the catamaran barge waits to pick it up.

Shell lifters

Side view

LOCKS 1
Skidway

Skidway Cradle

Super gantry crane

As more water is blocked by the wickets of the dam in this area of the river, the water level rises, allowing vessels to pass throughthe locks.

THE TRIP TO THE PLACEMENT SITE

Equipment on the barge lifts the shell off the cradle and holds the shell in place, while towboats push the barge out to the dam site. Shell lifters

m da n ed io at t G sec

5
ab le da

LOCKS 3
Catamaran barge

DAM
Ohio River

ig av m se ct n io

Supports

Front view

4 ONLINE
To see videos of the Olmsted Dam Project go to: courier-journal.com/olmsteddam

Shell

Aerial photo by Google Earth

PLACING A SHELL
Before placing the shell, the bottom of the river is graded and covered with stone, and foundation piles are driven into the river bottom. Using the most precise global positioning equipment, the shells are lowered into the water in sequence, either on top of each other or next to each other, with a margin of error of less than one inch. Shell lifters

CONTROLLING THE FLOW

Gates and wickets will be used to control the water levels. Heres how they work:

When the river is low

Wickets are raised and gates closed, creating a pool for barge transport and safe passage through the locks.

When the river is high

The wickets are lowered, allowing barges to navigate over the dam and avoid the locks.

Front view
Gates

Locks Wickets

Locks Navigable pass area Wickets

Once each shell is in place, its void is lled with concrete, displacing water.

Supports Shell

SOURCE: Army Corps of Engineeers

STEVE REED/THE COURIER-JOURNAL