A 20 metre long and 6 metre high section of the dam at Dakrong Hydropower Plant 3, located in Ta Long Commune, Quang Tri Province, has broken after only 15 days of operation.
20 metre section of the dam broken
The investor, Truong Son Hydropower JSC, said early on the morning of October 7, that the breakage was caused by heavy rains upstream, which caused a high volume of water at the dam.
Pham Van Hung, Vice Chairman of Dakrong District People's Committee, said that after the damage, not only did the company fail to report the problem, but they were also uncooperative with authorities, prohibiting them from inspecting the premises.
The most recent estimates indicate that there was about VND20 billion (USD960,000) worth of damage done, including surrounding agricultural land that must be compensated or relocated.
Although parts of the dam have been washed away, inspections have shown that the quality of construction was not up to standard. Exposed iron bars allegedly proved that they had not been properly secured to the dam itself.
Anecdotal evidence evidence of bad construction has also been reported by locals, such as weak concrete that could be dislodged by hand, and which contained soil and other unsafe building materials.
Reports from the area seem to have show that the foundation of the dam was also compromised, with eroded cement exposing concrete bars.
One construction worker on the scene said, "I'm no engineer, but I can tell you that those iron bars at were too small to support that amount of concrete."
The head of Truong Son Hydropower JSC Nguyen Thanh Hai explained by saying, "The section of the dam that was compromised was still under construction."
If such allegations are true it could cause serious problems for EVN, who was responsible for granting permission to the power plant to going the national grid. An investigation of the plant is expected, in which sections of the dam will be scrutinised and the quality of construction assessed.
A local resident of Ta Long Commune commented, "During a storm the water flow on the Dak Rong River can increase by tens times. If the dam broke under these conditions, what could happen when the rainy season comes?"
The VND210 billion hydropower plant was built on August, 2010, and officially tested and passed inspection on September 25.
