Contracts for ramp extensions to be awarded this week

By BILL MARDIS Editor Emeritus
Commonwealth Journal

February 21, 2007 08:55 am

— Contracts will be awarded this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to extend eight boat ramps into the water of Lake Cumberland.
The Corps opened bids yesterday at the resource manager’s office on Somerset Boat Dock Road. “We got (acceptable proposals) for eight of the 10 sites we were hoping to get,” said Craig Shoe, resource manager for Lake Cumberland.
Ramps in Pulaski County to be included in the contract letting are Lee’s Ford Marina and Resort and Waitsboro Recreation Area. The Corps-operated ramp at Fishing Creek Recreation Area across from Pulaski County Park is far from the water and “ ... nothing can be done” to make it usable, Shoe said.
Other ramps for which contracts will be let this week are Alligator No. 2, Conley Bottom Marina, Fall Creek Recreation Area, Halcomb’s Landing, Jamestown Marina and Grider Hill Marina.
Proposals to extend ramps at Beaver Creek and Cumberland Point exceeded the amount for which the local Corps of Engineers’ office can award contracts, Shoe said.
A total of six contracting firms submitted bids and contracts will be awarded to four companies, Shoe said. The work apparently will be done in haste. The Corps advised contractors in advance that “ ... if you can’t do the work quickly, don’t bid.” Purchase orders have not been issued on the proposed contracts and Shoe said the local office is not authorized at this point to reveal the costs of the ramp-extension projects.
Creating access to Lake Cumberland is being expedited on all fronts before the coming recreational season. The lake has been lowered 43 feet below the tree line because Wolf Creek Dam has been classified as a “high risk” of failure. The lower lake level is scheduled to remain for the remainder of this year and most of the boat ramps are out of the water.
The boat ramp at General Burnside Island State Park, a responsibility of the state, has been extended and is scheduled to be usable by this afternoon.

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