Soyanggang multi-purpose dam

closed

Soyang River Multipurpose Dam, one of top two public works along with Gyeongbu Expressway in the 1960s, brought a game changer in South Korea's dam construction in terms of not only size but also technological competence.It was originally designed as a C.G.D., but Hyundai E&C proposed a rock-fill dam method by using sand and gravels easily accessible. We expected the transportation of materials would considerably cost us and extreme changes in materials due to the shortage of cement and rebar.The preparatory work, diversion conduit work, and coffer dam work were constructed before initiating the main dam construction. The key point in constructing the main dam was the compaction of banking materials since it was the first rock-fill dam in Korea. We performed a banking test on framing materials before banking. According to the test results, we determined a laying thickness to be economic and safe to each voltage equipment and adjusted moisture content. The framing work of the main dam was also built in the following order: foundation excavation work, foundation treatment work, and banking work. It was identical to that of the cofferdam work.Soyang River Multipurpose Dam was the largest construction performed by Hyundai E&C in 1967. It was all the more meaningful since at that time a rock-fill dam was economical only when it was constructed 30m or under.We left many good examples in the first alternative work particularly through the construction of Soyang River Dam. We gained many administrative experiences including workforce management, quality management, and efficient operation of equipment while proceeding a large-scale construction. We were also able to accumulate many technological knowhow through the experience gained from tunnel construction, selection of framing materials, density test, operation of new equipment, foundation work for power plant, facility construction of power generating station, and quality test.

High