Dam Design and Construction

NHPC chooses Studio Pietrangeli to build Dibang Dam in Arunachal Pradesh

NHPC chooses Studio Pietrangeli to build Dibang Dam in Arunachal Pradesh

Studio Pietrangeli announced that, along with Smec India, it was appointed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to design Dibang Dam in Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Dibang Dam — on the Dibang River in Lower Dibang Valley District in the Himalayan mountains — will be a gravity roller-compacted-concrete structure 278 m high. Studio Pietrangeli said it will be the world’s highest and largest RCC dam once completed.

Studio Pietrangeli and Smec India will be responsible for the design and supervision of construction for the dam.

The contract value was not disclosed, and a timeline for completion of the project was not released.

In September 2023, Hydro Review reported that Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) won the contract from NHPC for electromechanical works for the 2,880 MW Dibang Multipurpose Project, located at Dibang Dam. The powerhouse will contain 12 240 MW turbine-generator units.

Dibang is envisaged as a storage-based hydroelectric project with flood moderation as the key objective. After implementation of the master plan of the Brahmaputra Board for flood moderation of all rivers contributing to the Brahmaputra River, of which Dibang is one component, a sizable area will be protected from flooding and help in mitigating the perennial damage due to floods in Assam.

The Dibang project has been in planning for at least two decades. In 2005, NHPC conducted geological exploratory work at the Dibang multipurpose project site.