Work on concrete barrier needed to shore up the leaky Wolf Creek Dam will begin this fall. The Corps of Engineers awarded a 340-million dollar contract today to two European firms.

Upstream from Nashville on the Cumberland River, the dam abuts a manmade embankment where water has been seeping through the limestone, weakening the entire dam. Project manager David Hendrix says the contractors will build a concrete wall 275-feet deep, through those earthen embankments.

“They’re drilling large diameter holes, filling them with concrete, then you go over and drill the next large diameter hole, and overlap a certain amount so that the concentric piles will be inner connected.”

The wall will extend nearly three-quarters of a mile and include some panels eight feet wide and several feet thick.

Hendrix says the embankment will gradually strengthen as the rods and panels are installed. He says the new wall is the most critical piece of the dam repair project.