The houseboat, which had balanced precariously on Kentucky River Dam No. 4 since Sunday afternoon, was pulled off Monday by the Frankfort Fire and EMS Technical Rescue Team.
To remove the 36-foot boat, rescue workers anchored a small barge currently being used by Lexington contracting company FMSM, which had been hired for engineering work on Locks 3 and 4, said Stephen Reeder, executive director of the Kentucky River Authority.
The barge had a small forklift that allowed rescuers to be boomed over the boat, where they secured a line around the houseboat, said Battalion Chief Dan Shouse, spokesman for the fire department.
Shouse said proper rigging assured the houseboat came off evenly, with neither the stern nor the bow tipping over the dam. Shouse said the boat is now moored at Benson Creek Marina.
Reeder said the boat owner or operator will be approached to pay for rescue workers' overtime and the contractor's payment for use of the small barge.
He said the four people who were on the boat Sunday afternoon when it became lodged on the dam are lucky they weren't injured or killed. If the river had been higher, Reeder said, the houseboat would have gone over the dam. He emphasized boaters should be aware of the points in the river where they aren't allowed.
One of the four, Stuart Winburn, of Winchester, was charged by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office with operating a boat under the influence.