TVA provides updates on dam, campground work

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn.– One agency is making improvements to a vital structure and popular state park.

“We knew that we needed to act upon that. With it being critical to navigation as well, we wanted to move forward with its rehabilitation,” Tennessee Valley Authority senior program manager Bernie Auld said.

Auld provided an update on Pickwick Dam construction. The purpose of the work is to protect the dam from earthquakes.

Construction workers are adding materials, including sand and gravel, around the dam to help support it and prevent it from settling after a possible earthquake.

“I think, like any other engineering project, we learn something new every other day. We’re learning more and more about seismic activity,” Auld said.

Auld explains that the dam is designed to withstand a New Madrid type of earthquake and its after effects, similar to the one recorded in the 1800s.

Another ongoing TVA project is the remodeling of the campgrounds at Pickwick.

They feature new bathrooms, among other things.

“All of our furniture is going to be new, the sites are going to be new, [and] they’re going to be on new gravel. You’re not going to recognize it,” TVA recreation agreements specialist Derek South said.

South, who oversees the repair and construction of the campgrounds, said that the area saw a lot of tree and building damage following last February’s major flooding.

He says the total cost for repair and construction is more than a million dollars.

South adds the park hasn’t seen any major updates since it opened in the 1970s.

“But, coming in spring, it’s going to be pretty astounding. You might not even notice that anything happened,” South said.

The projected completion of work on the dam is later this summer, and the campgrounds will open in March.