MRICA-HYDROELECTRIC-PROJECT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION

This Paper describes the key aspects of civil engineering construction undertaken by the Anglo-Swedish joint venture of Balfour Beatty from the UK, and Skanska from Sweden. This joint venture was part of the ov erall consortium, called SABCON, which also included ASEA, responsible for the electrical and mechanical works. There are separate papers co vering the design and partnering aspects of the project. The civil eng ineering works include a main dam with the following dimensions: heigh t 110 m; length 830 m. There are also 5500 m of embankment as extensio ns of the main dam on the two banks. There are two tunnels, 570 m and 520 m long, to divert the river flow past the dam. The tunnels general ly have a diameter of 8.8 m, except that one of them has a 7.5 m dia. steel penstock embedded in it downstream of the dam centre-line, which was needed when it was converted to a power headrace. The other tunne l was blocked with a concrete plug after its use for diversion had end ed. The total project value was approximately 350 Pounds million, of w hich the civil engineering content was over 70%. The foreign funded el ement was around 75% of the total. The logistical problems in mobilizi ng for a project of this scale and in adapting to the climatic conditi ons in central Java were crucial to being able to complete the project to schedule and within the originally established funding levels. The effective working relationship with the designer is identified.