Key Underwater Works Project at Hidroituango Nearing Completion, Says EPM

The underwater works at mega-hydroelectric dam Hidroituango are nearing completion, according to public utility Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM).

Officially, EPM recently quantified these works as 86% complete and this has set the stage for the restoration of additional tunnels, two of which were already brought online last year and are now “working optimally,” according to the company.

One tunnel will soon be outfitted with a 100-ton piece of machinery known as a hydromechanical plug that recently arrived from Croatia and will require specialized divers to install some 200 feet underwater. This process is expected to take nearly a month, says EPM.

“We have been working at a very good pace,” said John Maya Salazar, general manager of EPM, in a statement.

The company added that “progress is also being made” on the wider stage two of the project as well as on the plugging of the key right diversion tunnel.

“We have already completed the drilling for the injection of resins that will enable the definitive plugging of this tunnel, approximately in the second half of this year,” said William Giraldo Jiménez, vice president at EPM, in a statement. “The project is progressing satisfactorily, as the year goes on, the work will increase more.”

Photo: Hidroituango hydroelectric dam. (Photo credit: EPM)