Construction |
Concrete supply for Swiss dam
A new arch dam will be built in front of the monumental Spitallamm dam on the Grimsel as part of a major construction project. SBM Mineral Processing installed two plants type LINEMIX®
3500 CM 800-6 H plus a recycling
plant for residual concrete at this challenging site located at 1900m above sea level
THE SPITALLAMM DAM IS one of two dams on Lake Grimsel. The water stored in the dams is essential for electricity production at Kraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO). The Spitallamm dam is now over 90 years old and in need of renovation. Instead of renovating the old dam wall, KWO will build a new one directly in front of it. This new double curvature arch dam, which will cost around CHF 125 million, will allow power plant operator KWO to continue to produce environmentally friendly hydro energy from Lake Grimsel during the six-year construction period. The concrete required for the replacement dam wall is supplied by SBM high-performance plants. Below the old dam wall, two plants type LINEMIX 3500 CM 800-6 H have been installed to ensure output peaks of more than 900m3 hardened concrete per day and production reliability in the short but very intensive construction seasons.
Tough conditions in high mountain regions
At almost 2000m above sea level, logistics is an enormous challenge indeed: transportation over mountain roads, through tunnels and via material ropeways, confined space conditions, wind speeds far exceeding 200 km/h, snow dust avalanches, heavy snow loads and extreme temperatures make working conditions very difficult. Because of the long and snowy winters, building seasons last only from May to October, when more than 70 experts of the Joint Venture Grimsel are working there day after day. In 2019, the large high-alpine construction site was developed and SBM Mineral Processing was given the order. In summer 2020, construction work began, and immediately flexibility was requested. Thanks to the excellent construction site management, almost daily interruptions due to blasting operations as well as the restrictions caused by COVID-19 were mastered very well. SBM completed the installation of the big LINEMIX plants in close co-operation with Swiss service partner Amatech in only three months. After complex tests, the plants and the special concrete mixtures were certified in September, allowing the concrete production for the construction of the new dam wall to start in June 2021. Equipped with insulation cladding the LINEMIX plants
Above: The two SBM LINEMIX concrete mixing plants were erected at the foot of the almost 90-year-old Spitallamm dam
Right: The new double-curved arch structure is being built directly in front of the existing dam. The different recipes from the SBM mixing systems can be processed immediately using a crane bucket
30 | August 2021 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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