• Who we are
  • What we do
  • Projects
  • Career
  • Contact
  • Who we are
  • What we do
  • Projects
  • Career
  • Contact
Back

Who we are

Operating internationally with Swiss roots, WALO is a family-owned business now being led by the fifth generation. For over 100 years, WALO has been committed to the combination of consistency and innovation.


Overview
Back

What we do

WALO is active as an innovative total solutions company in all markets of the construction industry. With its decades of experience and the permanent development of sustainable as well as economical solutions, the family-owned company has established itself as a reliable partner in the construction industry and infrastructure projects in Switzerland and worldwide.


Overview
Back

Projects

We have successfully implemented many challenging projects and are proud to let our references speak for our work.


Overview
Back

Career

Good construction and thus satisfied customers require precise work. All our employees, from unskilled workers to engineers, play a key role in ensuring that we achieve this goal time and time again.


Overview
Back

Contact

With our locations in three countries, we are by your side worldwide.


Contact form

Skjerkevatn & Heddersvika Dams, Norway

WALO constructed two large dams at a hydro power plant in Norway using Dense Asphaltic Concrete. Despite the remote location, the project was completed ahead of schedule over a nine month period. The core liner is between 400-500mm thick and used 4,200 m3 of DAC.

Case Study Description

Background

Dense Asphaltic Concrete is used globally to line upstream dam faces, reservoirs, channels and landfill. For over 50 years it has also been successfully used as a specialist method of constructing an impermeable central core liner to seal large embankment dams.

 

Acting as specialized sub-contractor for client Agder Energi, WALO worked on the construction of two such dams being built at a hydro power plant in Norway. Located in Aseral, 80km north of Kristiansand in central Southern Norway, 843m above sea level, the two dams encircle a reservoir for the production of hydro electricity.

 

WALO has had total responsibility for all the asphalt works involved, including the production of the material. Owing to the extremely remote location, WALO installed an asphalt mixing plant at the site when commencing work at “Skjerkevatn Damer”. This reduced the costs that would have been involved transporting material from a great distance and saved a huge amount of time. It also meant that WALO could maintain total control over the optimum conditions for producing the unique asphaltic design mix required by the project. Despite the fact that the two dams “Skjerkevatn” and “Heddersvika” had to be constructed simultaneously, WALO managed to complete the works ahead of schedule by using one flexible placing group. The project was completed within a nine month construction period, split over two summer seasons.

 

The Challenge

A watertight wall was constructed in the axis of the embankment using DAC, which is placed simultaneously with the embankment earthworks. The asphalt and the materials for the adjacent transition layers are placed into a core finisher – a highly sophisticated, technologically advanced machine, specially developed for this task by WALO’s engineers.

 

The core finisher travels along the embankment axis and applies both the asphaltic concrete core and the two transition layers or ‘filter zones’ to the center of the structure at the same time in just one pass. The asphalt layers are laid in layers of 200 – 250 mm and are heated using infra-red heating appliances, enabling them to be perfectly sealed. The core finisher applies the initial compaction to both the asphalt core and transition layers, with the final compaction being made with vibrating rollers.

 

As the core is installed at the same time as the embankment earthworks, painstaking coordination of all the different activities on site is crucial. Particular attention has to be paid to the exact placing of each layer and the connection to the concrete foundation under the core itself.

 

The new dam at Skjerkevatn is 450 m long and 50 m high, making it the largest dam project undertaken in Norway for many years. The core liner is between 500 and 400 mm thick and used 4.200m3 of DAC. The second dam at Heddersvika has a crest length of 575 m and is 27 m high requiring 3.800 m3 DAC.

walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-03
walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-06
walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-05
walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-02
walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-04
walo-us-project-skjerkevatn-asphalt-core-dam-01
Contact

WALO UK LIMITED
29 Weeping Cross
Stafford, ST17 0DG
Great Britain

Location
Norway
Service
Building time
2014 - 2016
Share page
placeholder_hero_3

Contact us

We appreciate your interest in the WALO Group and will be happy to answer your questions.

Walo Bertschinger AG

Headquarters
Giessenstrasse 5
Postfach, 8953 Dietikon 1

© 2024 Walo Bertschinger. All rights reserved.