Wolf Creek Dam: Instrumentation & Monitoring

Wolf Creek Dam was designed and constructed between 1932 and 1952. The approximate 1 mile long combination concrete gravity and earth fill structure is located on the Cumberland River near Jamestown, KY and stores up to six million ac-ft at the maximum flood pool storage level. In 1967-1968, seepage in the foundation of the embankment section was evidenced by sinkholes and muddy flows identified on the downstream side of the dam and Instruments identified seepage through the dam foundation. A concrete barrier wall was constructed in 1975-1979, however dam monitoring in 2004 indicated that seepage persisted through the foundation. Currently, a new barrier wall is under construction to penetrate deeper into the foundation than the previous barrier. Additional instrumentation was installed to monitor construction and ensure the new barrier wall is effective. The purpose of this paper is to document the history of Wolf Creek Dam, the current barrier wall construction, and the extensive instrumentation monitoring implemented throughout the project life. In addition, the paper will highlight common instrumentation data errors, their implications, and ways to identify and prevent them in future projects