CLOSED FOR MAINTENENCE-Electricians at Dale Hollow Dam are working on a Sustainability Program Initiative project to replace the contracted local utility power source to the resource managers office, maintenance shops, and transient quarters with direct power produced by the dam. The project also calls for the installation of energy saving LED lights throughout the dam area saving money and energy–a part of the project which will call for the road across the dam to be closed starting next week. (USACE photo by Mark Rankin)

CELINA-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District electricians here at Dale Hollow Dam on the Obey River are plugging into the dam’s power source as part of a sustainability program initiative and the road across the structure will be closed for nearly two months during part of the process, according to a pair of news releases from the agency.

“The idea is to replace the contracted local utility power source to the Dale Hollow Natural Resource Manager’s Office, maintenance shops, and transient quarters with direct power from the power plant,” a news release written by Corps Nashville District public affairs officer Mark Rankin said last month.

In the same release, Rankin explained Dale Hollow power plant senior electrician Stanley Carter said the bulk of the work includes extending new cable in the power house from the station service board to the transformer and installing four-inch metal conduit through the dam’s cable tunnel.

“They are also replacing 15 existing 400-watt sodium metal halide lighting systems, eight 1000-watt high pressure sodium metal halide bulbs in the boat house area, and three main street lights on the overlook with new hi efficient LED energy saving commercial lighting systems,” Carter told Rankin.

A Corps release published in last week’s HORIZON said the closing of the road across the dam beginning Monday, April 8 and extending through May 29 will provide “safety for employees performing maintenance work and general equipment upgrades to streetlights on the road, which will be enhanced with new LED lighting and signage.”

“LED lighting offers an unprecedented opportunity for the district to save energy, maintenance and is a natural fit for cutting-edge renovation,” Carter told Rankin in his release.  “Qualified commercial products use at least 75 percent less energy, last six-to-10 times longer than incandescent lighting and should save the Corps thousands of dollars over time.”

The release announcing the road closure explained the road will have a barricade at the intersection of Walker Ridge road and Will Terry road near the south end of the dam and a barricade set up at the Dale Hollow Dam Road/cut through road intersection at the north end of the dam.

It also said not only will the road be closed to traffic, but also to pedestrians and bicycles.

Rankin’s release continued explaining the importance of the upgrades.

“Dale Hollow Lake is a vacation destination and quiet getaway that borders the Tennessee-Kentucky state line and each year the lake provides flood risk reduction on the Obey River and at municipal, industrial and agricultural areas along the Cumberland, lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,” his release said.  “The dam generates clean, safe and efficient hydroelectric power and offers recreational opportunities to millions of visitors each year.”

Rankin said Amy Tyree, a Nashville District engineering technician in the hydropower branch, oversees the district’s sustainability program initiative and explains that through maintenance, repairs, time, effort and planning, the district is making improvements that promote environmental friendly technologies.

“When it comes to new building maintenance and construction what we are doing is incorporating energy saving conservation measures to every effort that the Corps is doing and those are positive results,” Rankin quoted Tyree saying.

The release said Dale Hollow Lake and Dam is one of the Nashville District’s most visited multi-purpose projects that make up the Corps of Engineers’ system for development of the water resources of the Cumberland River Basin. Power produced at Dale Hollow is sufficient to supply the needs of an average city of 45,000 people.

Both news releases and other news concerning the Corps Nashville District can be found on their website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil.

Concerns or questions about the road closure can be addressed to the Dale Hollow Resource Manager’s Office at (931) 243-3136.

For more news, updates and information follow the Nashville District on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps or Dale Hollow Lake at http://www.facebook.com/dalehollowlake.