Construction of the 345MW San Roque Dam, 150Km north of Manila in the Philippines, has already utilised well in excess of 1,000 tonnes of formwork and falsework equipment supplied by RMD Kwikform (Philippines). The project is located on the Agno River in the Pangasinan province in the mountainous Cordillera region of Luzon Island and, at 200 metres, is the tallest dam and largest private hydropower project in Asia, costing US$1.19 billion.

Formwork erection for the spillways, walls, underground storage bunkers, power house and access systems started in early 1999 and is expected to be completed in 2002. The main contract, which is being undertaken by Ratheon Ebasco Overseas, is due for completion in 2003.

The solutions designed and supplied by RMD Kwikform called for huge quantities of the company's Super Slim Soldiers, Alform beams, its Rapidshor shoring system and Rapidstage access equipment. This was used to construct climbing formwork for the abutments, single-sided wall formwork for chute walls and double-sided formwork for partition walls. It was also utilised in the construction of the aeration galleries, the drainage gallery and ogee slab and the ogee slab keyway.

According to RMD Kwikform (Philippines) Managing Director, David Elwin, the success of the formwork contract is attributable to a number of factors. He says: “Our proven expertise on massive wall structures in general, and power plants in particular, gave us a head start at the design stage.” He continues: “Our ability to deliver such large quantities of proven and versatile equipment from local stocks meant that we could meet the contractors very tight deadlines.” Other recent South East Asian dam projects include the Balambano Dam on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia and the Houay-Ho power project in Laos.

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