The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project is a water transfer, hydropower and irrigation project in the south-eastern part of the central highland region of Sri Lanka.
In addition to generating electricity for the whole of Sri Lanka, the aim is to develop the lower reaches of the Uma Oya river towards Hambantota.
Every year an average of 145 million cubic metres of the Uma Oya river will be redirected to the Kirindi river system and used for irrigation. The site, on the edge of the central plateau, will use the water to generate electricity. Located underground and with an installed power capacity of 120 MW, the power station will be supplied with water by a 15.3 km long penstock tunnel. Furthermore, the project requires a connecting tunnel and additional infrastructure works.
In the Sri Lankan highlands, the geological basis is metamorphous rock, mostly gneiss, which is lightly folded. The ground-water table is close to the ground surface, and this led to high levels of water ingress during tunnelling. It was minimised by special high-pressure injections. The rock around the tunnel was injected with cement and sealed. These measures also allowed the ground-water table to recover.
Additionally, preliminary explorations with the Amberg Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) system were also carried out to locate the water-bearing zones before the tunnel boring machine started its work.
Amberg advised the main contractor and successfully optimised the layout of the facility. The company was also responsible for the on-site construction management between 2013 and 2017.
For more detailed information about this project:
For around 60 years, the renowned Swiss Amberg Group has been a leader in engineering and surveying services for railway, metro, underground and specialised civil engineering.
The family-owned company is an innovative knowledge, engineering and technology provider in the field of logistics and infrastructure for smart cities, hubs and networks. We provide outstanding solutions for our customers through innovatively combining above-ground and underground space utilisation.
Amberg Engineering
Engineering services for the construction of underground infrastructure
Planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of railway, road, utility and metro tunnels, as well as caverns
Amberg Technologies
Systems and solutions for railway and tunnel surveying
Acquisition, evaluation and refinement of measurement data in infrastructure construction
Amberg Infra 7D
Digital services in the infrastructure environment
Geo-monitoring, mobile mapping, digital construction, geomatics and inspection services
Amberg Loglay
Smart city and construction logistics solutions
Sophisticated logistics solutions for efficient and future-orientated construction projects
Amberg Infocon
High-quality design and BIM services
Design, BIM, consulting, PMC and IT solutions for architecture, engineering and construction
VersuchsStollen Hagerbach
The underground future lab
Extensive underground research infrastructure for testing and development, testing laboratory for building materials, training centre and event facilities
QAECY
Intelligent information
Analysing documents and data with artificial intelligence to create a unified view of reality
Your underground experts
Engineering at its best
Infrastructure experts
Systems and solutions
Digital infrastructure experts
Solutions and services
Smart cities and construction logistics experts
Solutions for construction sites
Design and construction experts
Services
VersuchsStollen Hagerbach - The underground future lab
Recently named a research infrastructure of national importance, we have been providing the space and expertise to turn visions into innovations for over 50 years.
Your analysis and testing requirements
Our facilities and services
AI agent as a service for the construction industry
Solution and services