News

Malcolm Dunstan & Associates are constantly involved in Roller-Compacted concrete dam construction, and listed below are news stories relating to MD&A and its partners.

20th December 2009
Son La Dam
The RCC placement in Block R2 (the diversion channel) was re-started on Sunday 20 December. It is hoped that the RCC will be completed by the end of June 2010, several months early.

14th December 2009
Middle Vaitarna Dam
The main Full-Scale Trial for Middle Vaitarna dam was started on 14 December.

3rd December 2009
Changuinola 1 Dam
The RCC placement in Stage 1 of the dam to the right of the diversion culverts was started on 3 December.

29th November 2009
Changuinola 1 Dam
The first bulk delivery of cementitious material (circa 7500 tonnes) for Changuinola 1 dam was made to the floating storage (circa 25 000 tonnes – believed to be amongst the largest in the World) at Alimarante on 29 November.

16th November 2009
Siyom Dam
The Stage-1B Trial Mix Programme for the Siyom Dam was initiated during the week beginning 16 November.

9th November 2009
Bunji Dam
The Stage-1 Trial Mix Programme for the Bunji Dam was initiated during the week beginning 9 November

13th September 2009
Upper Padas Dam
The Stage-1 Trial Mix Programme for the Upper Padas Dam (in the Malaysian State of Sabah on the island of Borneo) were initiated during the week beginning 13 September.

31st August 2009
Changuinola 1 Dam
Water was passed through the completed culverts (Two at 9 x 9 m) on 31st August. RCC placement is scheduled to start towards the end of 2009.

30th August 2009
Upper Paunglaung Dam
Dr Dunstan made his first visit to the Upper Paunglaung site to initiate the Trial Mix Programme for the dam and to review the RCC placement in the Separation wall between the spillway half of the Dam and the powerhouse half.

23rd August 2009
Middle Vaitarna Dam
Trial mixes were undertaken on the Middle Vaitarna Dam site at which the RCC is due to commence in the Spring of 2010.

1st August 2009
Son La Dam
The RCC placement in Block L3 was completed on the 1st of August, 1.897M m3 of RCC having been placed in 18.5 months, an average rate of circa 102 000 m3/month. RCC placement will now be stopped for some five months until the end of the flood season. It is still hoped that the RCC will be completed some three to four months early (having started two months late)

12th July 2009
Siyom Dam
Preliminary trial mixes were started for the Siyom RCC dam (height = 185 m, volume = 3 to 4M m3) in Northeast India. MD&A are now working on four RCC dams in India and negotiating Contracts for a further two.

8th July 2009
San Vicente Dam Raise
The Contract for the excavation of the foundation of the Dam Raise was awarded and the Contractor started work on the site.

8th July 2009
Middle Vaitarna Dam
Dr Dunstan made his second visit to the Middle Vaitarna Dam site – the first was some 15 years ago when the Dam was to be a rockfill structure. Middle Vaitarna will supply water for Mumbai and is relatively close to the very successful Ghatghar Project (see June/July 2007)

18th May 2009
Changuinola 1 Dam
Full-Scale Trial 1B was completed between 18 and 31 May. There were a number of opportunities to test the placement of RCC in rain. Cores will be taken from this Trial for testing.

11th May 2009
Teesta IV Dam
The Full-Scale Trial was completed very successfully with all the required aspects of the RCC methodology covered.

19th April 2009
Bunji Dam
A Site Visit was made to the proposed 200-m high Bunji dam. This is the fifth 200-m+ high RCC on which MD&A has worked.

14th April 2009
Teesta IV Dam
The Full-Scale Trial for Teesta IV was started but unfortunately, due to flooding of the site (and other factors), was delayed for a month (see 11 May)

19th February 2009
Son La Dam
Block L2 was completed just after a visit had been made to the dam. 1.5M m3 of RCC has been placed in 13.5 months at an average rate in excess of 110 000 m3/month.

15th December 2008
Yeywa dam
The last RCC was placed in Yeywa 8.5 months ahead of the programmed completion date, 2.472M m3 of RCC having been placed in 34.7 months.

6th November 2008
Yeywa dam
A large flood occurred in early November at the beginning of the dry season after one of the 10-m diameter diversion tunnels had been closed.

5th November 2008
Changuinola I Dam
The first full-height wall pour was completed for the twin 9- x 9-m reinforced concrete diversion culverts.

24th October 2008
Son La Dam
Block C5 was finished a month ahead of programme (the RCC having started two months late), 1.145M m3 of RCC having been placed in 9.5 months.

29th September 2008
Portugues Dam
A visit was made to the Portugues Dam site to assess potential savings that could be made during the dam construction.

11th September 2008
San Vicente Dam Raise
The APWA (American Public Water Association) chose the San Vicente Dam Raise Quarry Project (the first of four Contracts for the Dam Raise) as the Project of the Year.

1st August 2008
Teesta IV Dam
A visit was made to the Teesta IV site to assess the progress of the installation of equipment prior to the full-scale trial and RCC placement in 2009.

18th June 2008
Tollway Dam
A visit was made to the Tollway dam site in Chicago. The dam will allow impounding of an existing quarry and the top of the dam is at Elevation 0.

4th May 2008
Son La Dam
500 000 m3 of RCC have now been placed at Son La in less than four months. It is believed that this is the fastest first 0.5M m3 yet placed in an RCC dam.

24th April 2008
Yeywa Dam
2 000 000 m3 of RCC have now been placed at Yeywa, the last 1 000 000 m3 having taken almost exactly one year. The RCC is expected to be finished before the end of 2008 some nine to ten months ahead of programme.

11th April 2008
Cotter Dam
The ACTEW Corporation has awarded the Contract for construction of the Cotter Project (see 29 November 2007) to the Abigroup/John Holland JV.

1st April 2008
San Vicente Dam Raise
On April 1, 2008 the City of San Diego started lowering San Vicente Reservoir for the dam raise construction. The reservoir will be drained over the next nine months until it reaches about EL. 594. At this rate of withdrawal, it is expected that all reservoir recreational activities will cease by the end of August 2008, then not start again until construction is completed in the Spring of 2013.

14th March 2008
Portugues Dam
The US Army Corps of Engineers have awarded the Contract for the construction of Portugues Dam in Puerto Rico to Dragados USA. MD&A are the Consulting Engineers for Dragados for the RCC aspects of the dam. This extends the relationship between Dragados and MD&A to 15 years with probably about the same number of Projects.

13th March 2008
Son La Dam
A Technical Visit was made to Son La Project following the Asia2008 Conference in Da Nang.

12th February 2008
Platanovryssi Dam
MD&A have been awarded a Contract by the Public Power Corporation of Greece to make a 10-year inspection of Platanovryssi Dam, which MD&A had originally designed. A visit was made to Greece between 11 and 14 February as part of this Contract.

11th January 2008
Son La Dam
The first RCC was placed in the central Section of the dam. Son La is the largest Project under construction in Southeast Asia.

4th January 2008
Changuinola 1 Dam
Access was now possible to the Changuinola 1 site and excavation for the diversion culverts was started.

1st January 2008
Yeywa Dam
During a 30-day period at Yeywa 185 125 m3 of RCC was placed using only three 3-m3 twin-shaft batch mixers, probably the best utilization of a concrete plant at an RCC dam to date.

29th November 2007
Cotter Dam
A visit was made to the Cotter Dam site during the Tendering for the construction of Cotter Dam. MD&A are part of the Abigroup/John Holland JV bidding for the Contract.

7th November 2007
Longtan Dam
A Technical Visit was made to the Longtan Project after the RCC2007 Conference that had been held in Guiyang.

25th October 2007
Changuinola 1 Dam
The Definitive Notice to Proceed (DNTP) was given by AES to CCWJV on 25 October 2007.

16th July 2007
Son La Dam
The second (and main) full-scale trial took place during the second half of July and early August 2007.

1st July 2007
Ghatghar Lower Dam
The stepped spillway at Ghatghar was fully operational during the 2007 monsoon.

27th June 2007
Lower Ghatghar Dam
The Ghatghar Project was completed in June 2007. The Owner, GoMWRD, states that the dams were completed three years earlier than would have been the case if they had been constructed in either traditional concrete or masonry.

27th June 2007
Nam Theun 1 Dam
A visit was made to Laos to inspect progress at Nam Theun 1 dam. Colenco are the Owner's Engineer and MD&A are the Specialist RCC Consulting Engineers.

20th June 2007
Longtan Dam
The RCC for Stage 1 (192 m high) of Longtan was completed on 20 June 2007, thus 4.263M m3 of RCC had been placed in 21.7 months at an average rate of 142 685 m3/month, by far the fastest rate of placement so far achieved in an RCC dam.

17th April 2007
Yeywa Dam
The first 1 000 000 m3 of RCC at Yeywa was placed on 17 April, a very auspicious day as it was Myanmar New Year's Day.

28th February 2007
Upper Padas Dam
A visit was made to Malaysia where Scott Wilson are designing the Upper Padas Hydropower Project. MD&A are acting as RCC Dam Specialists for the 120-m high dam.

1st January 2007
Nam Ngum 3 Dam
A Contract was awarded by MDX to a J.V. of Colenco and Nippon Koei for the Tender Design of the NN3 Project. MD&A are the Specialist Designers for the RCC aspects of the 220-m high dam.

3rd December 2006
Yeywa Dam
A Technical Visit was to Yeywa under construction after the Asia2006 Conference in Bangkok. The main conveyor had been commissioned a few days before the visit.

28th November 2006
Ghatghar Lower Dam
A visit was made to the Lower Dam at Ghatghar to inspect the dam when the reservoir was some 10 m below top water level. There was neglilble seepage in the gallery.

2nd November 2006
Changuinola 1 Dam
An EPC Contract was awarded by AES to CCWJV (Changuinola Civil Works Joint Venture) represented by E.Pihl & Son A.S. for the design and construction of the Changuinola 1 Project. MD&A are the Designers of the 100-m high Changuinola 1 RCC dam in Western Panama that forms a major part of the Contract.

1st November 2006
Tollway Dam (Thornton Project)
MWH were awarded the Contract for the Tender design of the Thornton Project. MD&A are acting as Advisors for the RCC aspects of the Tollway Dam.

28th September 2006
Platanovryssi Dam
A Technical Visit was made to Platanovryssi dam in Northern Greece after the Hydro2006 Conference. Platanovryssi was designed by MD&A for the Public Power Corporation of Greece and is 95 m high ? at the time of construction the highest RCC dam in Europe.

29th June 2006
San Vicente Dam
The Contract for the detail design and construction supervision of the raising of San Vincente dam in South California was awarded to a Joint Venture of MWH and URS with MD&A as their Specialist Advisor for the RCC aspects of the Project

15th June 2006
RCC placement in Stage 2 at Yeywa
The RCC placement in Stage 2 of the dam at Yeywa was completed on 15 June. 268000 m3 of RCC has been placed in just over four months at an average rate of 64500 m3/month using only half of the concrete plant which has a nominal capacity of 480 m3/hour (i.e. only 240 m3/hour)

8th June 2006
RCC Placement at Lower Dam at Ghatghar
The RCC placement at Lower Dam at Ghatghar was completed at 04.00hrs on 8 June. 639000 m3 of RCC has been placed in 12.2 months at an average rate of 52400 m3/month, making the Lower Dam the ninth fastest large RCC dam so far completed.

12th May 2006
Site Visit to the Lower Dam at Ghatgar
A site visit to the Lower Dam at Ghatgar took place on 12 May following a Seminar on RCC dams at Pune at which Dr M.R.H. Dunstan gave the Keynote Address

1st April 2006
Son La
The river at Son La is passing through the two 12x12m culverts and the 90-m wide diversion channel while the excavation in the river bed is progressing smoothly.

18th February 2006
Another World Record
The World record for the placement of RCC in a permanent dam body was broken at Longtan when 18476 m3 was placed in 24 hours on 18 February 2006

8th February 2006
First RCC Placement at Yeywa
The placement of the first RCC in the main body of the dam at Yeywa stated with a ceremony on 8th February 2006

24th January 2006
The Third (and final) full-scale trial completed at Yeywa
The Third (and final) full-scale trial was completed at Yeywa. The trial was used to train the operatives and engineers of CGGC, the newly-appointed Chinese Contractor for the construction of the dam body at Yeywa.

31st December 2005
World Record
The World record for placing in a month was smashed at Longtan where 400654 m3 o RCC (and over 100000 m3 of traditional concrete) was placed in December.

6th December 2005
Son La
The River closure at Son La was completed in a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister of Vietnam

30th November 2005
Dong Nai 3
The River at Dong Nai 3 was diverted through the three diversion culverts

17th November 2005
The Placement of RCC in the Lower Dam at Ghatgar recommenced after the 2005 Monsoon
The Placement of RCC in the Lower Dam at Ghatgar recommenced after the 2005 monsoon. An additional convrete plant had been added of the monsoon raising the overall capacity of the concrete plants to a nominal 400 m3/hour

22nd August 2005
The Second Full Scale Trial at Yeywa
The Second full-scale trial was completed at Yeywa. This was used to further train the DHP operatives and engineers in the procedures of RCC construction and also to investigate various retarders to extend the initial set of the RCC required 18 to 24 hours

23rd June 2005
Preliminary full-scale trial for Son La
A preliminary full-scale trial was completed at the Son La site to prove that the materials available could be successfully used in an RCC dam. Significant steps forward were made in the training and expertise during the trial.

13th June 2005
Consulting services for the detailed design of Dong Nai 3 and 4, Vietnam
Following the signing of a Contract between PECC2 and Colenco/MD&A for Consulting Services for the detail design of Dong Nai 3 and 4, Dr M.R.H. Dunstan made a visit to Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam. Dong Nai 3 and 4 are the sixth and seventh large (> 100 m in height) RCC dams with which MD&A presently has an involvement in Southeast Asia. Four of these are under construction, one has completed tender documents and Dong Nai 3 and 4 are having tender documents prepared. The total volume of the seven dams is 28M m3 and the heights range from 110 to 235m.

24th May 2005
First full-scale trial at Yeywa
The first full-scale trial at the Yeywa site has been successfully completed, investigating various options for joint treatment and various retarders. The trial was undertaken in temperatures that exceeded 40 C on most of the days.

19th May 2005
Consulting Services for Teesta IV Low Dam, India
The first visit to the Teesta IV Low Dam (Low refers to the lower section of the Teesta river rather than to a low-height dam) was undertaken on 19th May following the signing of a Contract for Consulting Services for the design and construction of Teesta IV between NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd.) and MD&A.

4th March 2005
RCC dam Workshop, Mumbai, India
Dr M.R.H. Dunstan was the Keynote Speaker at a Workshop on ?The use of flyash in RCC dams? held in Mumbai, India on the 4th of March, 2005. This was followed by a night visit to the Lower Dam at Ghatghar and a visit to the Upper dams of the same Project on Saturday 5th March.

20th January 2005
Another award for Olivenhain
Olivenhain has been selected by the ASCE as one of the five finalists for the ?International Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement? for 2005. The winner will be announced at the ASCE Awards Dinner on 13 April. Nevertheless Olivenhain has already been awarded the OCEA (Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement) Merit Award.

19th January 2005
Completion of impounding at Olivenhain
The reservoir at Olivenhain reached spillway level on 19 January and the dam continues to perform exceptionally well.

14th December 2004
Start of RCC placement in the Lower Dam at Ghatghar
The placement of RCC in the Lower Dam at Ghatghar started at 17.50hrs on 14 December.

13th December 2004
RCC placement at Longtan
The first large RCC placement at Longtan was completed in December, 102 500 m3 of concrete was placed in just over a week. The placement of 15 880 m3 on 8 December was a World record for RCC placed in a day in a permanent dam.

12th December 2004
River diversion at Yeywa
The Myitwge River ? a tributary of the Ayeyarwady ? was diverted through the diversion tunnels on 12 December, thus completing a further Stage of this important Project.

1st October 2004
Another award for Olivenhain
The State of California Section of ASCE recognized the Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir as the ?2004 California Outstanding Civil Engineering Project?. This is the first project from the San Diego region to ever win such an award. The project has also been nominated for the ASCE?s national award. This is the ninth award given to the Olivenhain Project to date.

1st September 2004
Impounding of Upper Reservoir at Ghatghar
The Upper Reservoir at Ghatghar was impounded during the 2004 monsoon and both dams were found to be impermeable with negligible seepage.

1st April 2004
Another award for Olivenhain
The San Diego Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recognized the Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir as the ?Project of the Year? ? its top award.

1st April 2004
Projects in Southeast Asia
With the award of Longtan, MD&A is now working on five large RCC dams in Southeast Asia. The dams range in height from 130 to 235 m and have a total volume of circa 25M m3. Two of the dams have been under construction for some time, two are just starting construction and the fifth is scheduled to start by the end of 2005.

1st March 2004
Advisory Services for Longtan HPP
MD&A is part of the ICG (International Consulting Group consisting of Black & Vetch and Colenco) that has been awarded the Advisory Services Contract by Longtan Hydropower Development Company. This Contract is for the provision of advice during the construction of the Longtan Hydropower Project in Southern China. Longtan is the largest RCC dam under construction in the World. The first Stage will be 197 m high and will have a volume of circa 6M m3 and the second Stage will be 217 m high and will have a volume of circa 7M m3. The reservoir capacity will be 27 260M m3 and the installed capacity 5400 MW.

1st February 2004
Consulting Services for the detailed design for Ban La HPP
MD&A is part of the SWECO-led Group that has been awarded the Contract for the provision of Consulting Services by EVN for the detailed design of the Ban La Hydropower Project in Vietnam. Ban La will be 135 m high, have a volume of circa 1.3M m3 and an installed capacity of 320 MW.

1st February 2004
Another award for Olivenhain
The San Diego Engineering Council honoured the Olivenhain Municipal Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority and its project team with the ?2004 Outstanding Engineering Project? award for the Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir.

16th January 2004
Completion of Upper Dam at Ghatghar
The Upper Dam at Ghatghar ? the first ?large? RCC dam in India - was completed on 16 January. This is second of the two dams that form the Upper reservoir for the Ghatghar Pumped-Storage Scheme.

1st January 2004
Consulting Services for Stage I of the detailed design for Son La HPP
MD&A is part of the Colenco-led Group that has been awarded the Stage-I Contract for the provision of Consulting Services by EVN for the detailed design of the Son La Hydropower Project in Vietnam. Son La will be 143m high and have a volume of circa 4.85M m3. When completed it will be the largest dam in Vietnam.

1st November 2003
Award for Olivenhain
The ACI Southern California Chapter has awarded the Olivenhain Dam Project its 2003 Charles J. Pankow Jr. Award.

4th October 2003
Dedication ceremony for Olivenhain
The Project was finished on time with a cost saving of over $4M for the Owner and with in-situ properties better than that required. The Ceremony was held only 27 months after the Notice to Proceed with construction which is a very short period given the size of the dam.

7th May 2003
Completion of Saddle Dam at Ghatghar
The Saddle Dam at Ghatghar was completed on 7 May. This is one of the two dams that form the Upper reservoir for the Ghatghar Pumped-Storage Scheme.

5th March 2003
Start of the full-scale trial for Jahgin, the first large RCC dam in Iran
MD&A are the Consulting Engineers for the Contractor, Jyane, for the construction of the dam.

26th February 2003
Dr Malcolm Dunstan main speaker at Workshop on RCC
Dr Malcolm Dunstan was the main speaker at a Workshop on RCC dams organised by the Iranian National Committee of ICOLD. He presented four papers. Other papers were by Dr Fakher (Tehran University), A.C. Morison (Halcrow), Eng. Mehdycary and Dr Omran (Mahab Ghodss), F. Ortega (MD&A/FOSCE) and Eng. Peyrovedin (Jyane Construction Co.) Those pictured right are: Hashen Taj (Acasia International), Tony Morison, Malcolm Dunstan, Mark Reay (Acasia International), Francisco Ortega.

27th December 2002
Break through of the first diversion tunnel at Yeywa dam
Break through of the first diversion tunnel at Yeywa dam (height = 132 m, RCC volume circa 2.65M m3). MD&A are Specialist RCC Consulting Engineers for Colenco for the design and construction supervision of the HE Project for the Department of Hydropower.

8th December 2002
First RCC dam in India
MD&A has been requested to become involved with Ghatghar (the first RCC dam in India) to review the construction methodology and mixture proportions. Within a week of the start of the involvement, the first RCC had been placed in a dam in India (the saddle dam of the Upper reservoir at Ghatghar). The placement progressed remarkably smoothly for the first RCC in the country.

31st October 2002
Olivenhain dam ahead of schedule
Final RCC placed at Olivenhain dam, some three months earlier than originally expected. Thus the VE Proposal by Kiewit, the Contractor, with the help of MD&A, has lead to a solution that was cheaper (a substantial cost saving was made to the Owner - San Diego County Water Authority), faster and with in-situ properties that are at least equal to those of the Conforming design, and probably better.

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