8 APRIL 2010 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION
WORLD NEWS
In brief
ABOITIZPOWER,
through subsidiary
Hedcor Inc, has signed a
Compromise Agreement
with the Davao City
Water District (DCWD)
that paves the way for the
development of a 10-15MW
hydroelectric power plant
along the Tamugan River
in Mindanao, Philippines.
The agreement, which was
signed by Hedcor president
& COO Rene Ronquillo and
DCWD chairman Eduardo
Bangayan, resolves conflict-
ing claims on the water of the
Tamugan River. The plant,
once completed, will add
further to AboitizPower’s
renewable generating capac-
ity which recently saw the
start of operations of Sibulan
Hydro, another greenfield
hydroelectric power plant in
Mindanao. The island is cur-
rently suffering from rotating
brownouts due to low water
levels at Lake Lanao, located
in Northern Mindanao, and
the main source of power
for the Mindanao grid, and
a lack of generation capacity
capable of filling the void.
HIMAL POWER LIMITED,
an SN Power majority owned
company, has handed over
a 635kW mini hydro power
plant in the Dolakha district,
Nepal, to the Khimti Rural
Electric Cooperative (KREC).
The project was transferred
over on 24 March. The plant
will supply electricity to 4,00
households and a further
3800 households will be
connected. A further mini
hydro power plant is also
being constructed, taking the
total capacity of the coopera-
tive to 1035kW. The Khimti
Rural Electric Cooperative
is the first fully independent,
democratically operated and
locally managed rural electric
cooperative in Nepal.
C
ONS TR UC TION WORK IS
now set to begin on the Fish
Passage Improvement Project
at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, a
$5.25M cooperative agreement that
is part of the largest Department of
the Interior economic stimulus project
in the US.
US Secretary of the Interior Ken
Salazar and Bureau of Reclamation
Commissioner Mike Connor broke
ground on 23 March at the Red Bluff
Diversion Dam on Diamond Avenue,
marking the beginning of construc-
tion of the project that is part of the
$109M going to Red Bluff under the
President’s American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The Red Bluff Diversion Dam’s
gates are lowered to form Lake Red
Bluff, which enables the gravity diver-
sion of water from the Sacramento
River into the Tehama-Colusa and
Corning Canals to irrigate 150,000
acres of high-value cropland, more
than half of which are planted in per-
manent orchards. However, when
lowered to provide irrigation water, the
gates block threatened and endan-
gered salmon, steelhead and green
sturgeon, and other fish species, from
reaching their spawning grounds.
USBR’s partner, the Tehama-Colusa
Canal Authority (TCCA), received the
$5.25M in ARRA funds to construct
an interim screened pumping plant to
deliver irrigation water while the gates
are raised, thus providing unimpeded
fish passage. A construction contract
for the bridge and siphon was award-
ed in December for $21.45M and a
supply contract for pumps and motors
was awarded in January for $6.96M.
An additional $76.2M in ARRA funds
will be provided at a later date to con-
struct a permanent pumping plant.
The project will be completed in
multi-phases by USBR, TCCA, and
California. The total project cost is
estimated at $230M and is being paid
for partially by the $109M in ARRA
money. Construction of the project is
expected to begin in summer 2010
and be completed in 2012.
Construction to start on
Red Bluff fish passage
Lenihan Dam project recognized
for excellence in partnering
N
ORTH AMERICAN CONSTRUC-
TION firm Flatiron has been hon-
ored for its work on the Lenihan
Dam outlet modifications project in
Los Gatos, California, with the project
one of six to be honored with the
2009 Associated General Contractors
of America’s prestigious Marvin M.
Black Excellence in Partnering Special
Recognition Award.
The partnering efforts were recog-
nized on18 March at the 2010 AGC
91st Annual Convention in Orlando.
“These awards acknowledge and
encourage the fact that great builders
must also be clear communicators
and strong coordinators,” said Doug
Pruitt, the president of the Associated
General Contractors of America.
“Finesse, patience and planning are
as essential as concrete and steel for
converting plans into reality.”
Pruitt said Flatiron was selected
for the award because of its success
building partnerships with government
agencies and community groups to
build support for their work replacing
the dam’s crumbling outlet structure.
Partnering with Flatiron were Santa
Clara Valley Water District, tunnel-
ling subcontractor Drill Tech Drilling
and Shoring Inc., designer Jacobs
Associates Engineers/Consultants
and construction manager Hatch
Mott MacDonald.
“It is a great honor to be rec-
ognized for this award on such a
complex project. The client made a
key decision to provide Flatiron full
access to their technical designers
during the entire pre-construction
and construction phases,” said
Richard Grabinski, Flatiron district
manager. “Partnering was so suc-
cessful because Flatiron was able
to effectively plan and communicate
with these important stakeholders.
There now exists a seismically safe
water supply system where before
there was just a mountain.”
Flatiron worked to replace the
deteriorating outlet structure for the
50-year-old Lenihan Dam, a 1000ft
(304.8m) long earthen barrier hold-
ing water stored at the Lexington
Reservoir located at the foot of the
Santa Cruz Mountains. Surrounded by
pristine wilderness, the trail system
around the Lexington Reservoir is
one of the most scenic in Northern
California. The 2.5 mile-long reser-
voir is the second-largest reservoir
under the Santa Clara Valley Water
District’s authority, with a capacity
of 19,044 acre-feet and a surface
area of 412 acres. During the past
few decades, the dam’s old outlet
structure had deteriorated and a
new outlet structure was required.
Construction included a new 2000ft
(609.6m), horseshoe-shaped tunnel
14ft (4.3m) wide by 13ft (4m) tall to
house a 54-inch-diameter outlet pipe.
A 37ft (11.3m) vertical shaft was also
constructed down the backside of the
dam that intersects with the tunnel.
The Lenihan Dam project included
a significant amount of underground
and confined space work with the
tunnel excavation and the abandon-
ment of the existing outlet pipe. With
the partnership, this project was
completed safely, under budget and
ahead of schedule.
Full supply at
Nam Theun 2
T
HE NAM THEUN 2 HYDROELEC-
TRIC project in Laos has taken
a decisive step towards comple-
tion by beginning commercial export
of electricity to Thailand.
The project’s four export produc-
tion turbines began supplying the
Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand (EGAT) with 1000MW of
electricity at commercial tariff on 15
March. This supply to the Thai grid
comes as power demand in Thailand
approaches its seasonal peak.
Electricity is also now available to the
Lao state utility, Electricité du Laos.
Nam Theun 2 has been designed
as a multipurpose project that aims
to contribute to local and regional
development, reduce poverty, and
provide a renewable and clean
energy source. Project operator,
the Nam Theun 2 Power Company
(NTPC), is co- owned by Electricité
de France (with a 35% sharehold-
ing), the Lao government (25%),
the Electricity Generating Public
Company of Thailand (25%), and
Italian-Thai Development (15%)