Image: Formwork helps raise huge Austrian dam for pumped storage power plant

The €500 million scheme, led by Austria’s state-owned utility Verbund, will add 480MW of flexible generation capacity to support Europe’s renewable energy transition.

A consortium of contractors including Swietelsky, Porr and Marti Tunnel are delivering the project, using Doka’s systems.

The Wasserfallboden Dam, which is also known as the Limberg Dam, is being raised by nine metres to a height of nearly 129m, expanding its storage capacity by 12.7 million cubic metres to 93. million cubic metres.

The construction site, at 1,700 m above sea level, is a challenging one, with temperatures that can drop below 0C, while winds can reach over 100 km/h.

Using D22 dam formwork and complementary systems, Doka has provided solutions for precise concreting in high-alpine environments (Image courtesy of Doka)

Doka’s systems include its Top 50 large-area formwork for shaping the dam blocks, D22 dam formwork for safe load transfer, and more than 700m of folding platform K to provide working platforms. In addition, 22 tonnes of Ringlock modular scaffolding have been deployed for stair towers and access around the dam and power plant cavern.

Work on the dam is scheduled for completion in 2027. The new facility will increase reservoir storage by 30 GWh, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 6,000 households, and provide balancing capacity to offset intermittent wind and solar generation.

Doka’s systems will be in use for the rest of this year 2025 and in 2026.

(Image courtesy of Doka)