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Thu March 28 2024

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Dam completed for Mott’s Vietnam hydro scheme

24 Sep 14 Reservoir impoundment has begun for the Song Bung 4 hydropower project, which is being built in steep and rugged terrain on an isolated site in Vietnam.

Mott MacDonald has acted as owner’s engineer and technical advisor on the US$250 million project since 2009.

“Over the last 12 months it has been a race against time to complete the dam before this year’s rainy season so there is a great sense of achievement to reach this project milestone,” said Mott MacDonald’s project manager Andrew Kirby. A tight timescale constrained by rainy seasons and floods meant that even small delays could have pushed completion back by a whole year.

The 156MW scheme is first major hydropower project in Vietnam to be funded by the Asian Development Bank. It involves construction of a 110m-high roller compacted concrete dam, a 3.2km-long headrace tunnel of 7.2m diameter and a 16m-diameter surge shaft, as well as an intake structure and powerhouse.

Mott MacDonald has provided construction supervision, contract management and specialist technical support to Electricity Vietnam, through its management unit Song Bung 4 Hydropower Management Board.

“The challenges we’ve faced have been met by the development of good, open working relationships between the client, contractors, designer and our site supervision team and a proactive approach to problem solving,” said Kirby.

Construction started in 2010 and the plant is due to be operational by the end of this year. Round-the-clock working on site allowed a concrete placement rate of 75,000m3 per month to be achieved.

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