KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) – The cost of repairing a 65-year-old dam in northeast Tennessee has risen by nearly 50 percent from what the Tennessee Valley Authority had originally estimated it would cost.

Chattanooga Times Free Press reports the TVA now estimates it will cost $450 million and take another five years to fix seepage problems at the Boone Dam near Kingsport.

About two years ago TVA estimated the repairs would cost between $200 million and $300 million and could be completed as soon as 2020. TVA President Bill Johnson told analysts in a recent conference call that as the project progressed, the authority gathered data to make a "more robust estimate."

Johnson says the seepage problem doesn't indicate widespread problems across TVA's 49 dams.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, www.timesfreepress.com

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