America Can't Fix Wolf Creek Dam. It Can Only Hold It Off.

Wolf Creek Dam has been quietly dissolving the rock underneath itself for 40 years. Engineers cannot fix it. They can only hold it off. This is the story of how a dam ends up eating its own foundation, and the 594 million dollar wall that is now the only thing between Lake Cumberland and the city of Nashville. Enjoyed this? Subscribe for more buried-machine and heavy-equipment history: 👉 Machinery Vault:    / @machinery-vault   Built on karst limestone in southern Kentucky, Wolf Creek Dam holds back Lake Cumberland, the largest reservoir by volume east of the Mississippi. We went through the Army Corps of Engineers' own grouting histories and failure studies to separate what actually happened from the panic you find online. Inside: the cattails that gave it away in 1967, the engineer who was overruled and proven right, the eight-year barrier wall drilled 275 feet through solid rock with 85 ton machines, and the myth about who is really buried under the lake. ▶ MORE FROM MACHINERY VAULT One Tunnel Is the Only Thing Holding Back Spirit Lake:    • One Tunnel Is the Only Thing Holding Back ...   America's Tallest Dam Nearly Failed. The Dam Was Fine.:    • America's Tallest Dam Nearly Failed. The D...   Nobody Is Buried in Hoover Dam. We Checked the Records:    • Nobody Is Buried in Hoover Dam. We Checked...   📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 The cattails on the dam 01:35 Built on dissolving rock 05:03 The wall that wasn't enough 08:22 The most complex dam repair on Earth 11:39 What's really under Lake Cumberland SOURCES U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District — Wolf Creek Dam: https://www.lrn.usace.army.mil/Locati... Engineering News-Record — Foundation Flaws Make Kentucky's Wolf Creek Dam a High-Risk Priority: https://www.enr.com/articles/5183-fou... Dr. Donald A. Bruce — The History of Grouting at Wolf Creek Dam, Kentucky: https://www.geosystemsbruce.com/v20/b... #wolfcreekdam #lakecumberland #dam #engineering #construction #machinery #disaster #history #kentucky #usace #karst #civilengineering