LYON COUNTY, Tenn. - Contract divers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District began a mussel survey here Oct. 28, in preparation for repairing damage to a mooring cell at Tennessee River Mile 25.5, Right Bank, Kentucky Lake, Lyon County, Ky., just upstream of the Barkley Canal.
“We are working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Tennessee Valley Authority to repair damage to the uppermost mooring cell that was struck and damaged by a barge tow April 10, 2010,” said Mark Vaughan, a Nashville District biologist with Project Planning Branch.
The mussel survey will determine the presence or absence of potential mussel habitat or Mussels in the two six-meter by six-meter work barge spud footprints as well as a small are downstream from the mooring cell being repaired.
A qualitative search of the area between the mooring cells is being performed to determine the presence of freshwater mussels. Freshwater mussels within the spud footprints and downstream from the work area will be removed from the impact footprints and relocated upstream out of the impact area.
“If a federally or state listed mussel species is encountered, it will be replaced to its original location, relocation efforts will cease and the USFWS and KDFWR will be immediately contacted for instructions to determine appropriate relocation measures,” Vaughan explained.
Once environmental concerns are satisfied, the Corps will anchor the repair barge, remove stone within the30-foot diameter mooring cell with a clamshell bucket and place the gravel on a work barge for storage. Damaged sheet metal pilings will be removed and new pilings driven in their place. The mooring cell will be refilled with original stone, then capped and sealed.
The barge company will reimburse costs for the repairs, according to Vaughan.
Barkley Canal connects Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake upstream of the respective dams, allowing commercial and recreational vessels access from the Tennessee River to the Cumberland River and vice-versa.
Mooring cells are located upstream and downstream of locks and at other points where commercial river traffic need to tie off prior to navigating a lock or off-loading cargo.