NR 14-016: Corps offering public tours of Wolf Creek Dam Powerhouse

Published May 30, 2014

JAMESTOWN, Ky. (May 30, 2014) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is offering public tours of the Wolf Creek Dam Powerhouse here Saturday, June 21, July 5, Aug. 16 and Sept. 6, 2014.   The free guided tours of the structure are at noon and are approximately 45 minutes in length.

Tour size is limited and is on a first-come, first-serve basis.  All guests including minors are required to submit a request form at least five business days prior to the tour and receive confirmation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District.

To request a tour registration form and to learn more about the tours’ rules and details, please call the Lake Cumberland Resource Manager’s Office at (606) 679-6337, e-mail lakecumberland@usace.army.mil, visit the Resource

Manager’s Office at 855 Boat Dock Road Somerset, KY 42501, or simply visit the Lake Cumberland website at http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/Locations/Lakes/LakeCumberland/OpenHouseTours.aspx to download the form and register.  Forms can also be obtained at the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery 50 Kendall Road. Jamestown, KY and any Corps operated campground on Lake Cumberland.

Registered tour participants that have received an email confirmation are required to check in at the Powerhouse entrance gate located at the end of Dam Rd., Jamestown, KY 42629 (near Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery) 10 minutes before the tour start time. Tour groups will receive a brief introduction prior to beginning the tour.  Please note an increase in threat conditions may result in an approved tour being modified to only allow limited access or cancelled with little advance notice.

“It is an honor to have the public come out and experience where they receive their electrical power and how their tax dollars are spent,” said Anthony Watters, powerhouse operator.

Wolf Creek Dam is a multi-purpose dam on the Cumberland River in the western part of Russell County, Kentucky. The six hydropower units can supply power up to 375,000 homes. Lake Cumberland ranks ninth in size in the United States. The reservoir holds enough water to cover the entire commonwealth of Kentucky with three inches of water.

The Wolf Creek Project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1946. Construction of the project, designed and supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, began in August 1941. After a three-year delay caused by World War II, the project was completed for full beneficial use in August 1952.

(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps. The public can also visit the Lake Cumberland website at http://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/Locations/Lakes/LakeCumberland.aspx.)
Contact
Bill Peoples
615-736-7161
william.l.peoples@usace.army.mil
or
Lee Roberts
615-736-7161
leon.a.roberts@usace.army.mil

Release no. 14-016