Completion of first project on the Nam Theun river, largest tributary of the Mekong river. Located 100 km above the confluence. 210 MW power station and headstocks are above ground. Recchi-CMC, a consortium of Italian construction companies, excavated 5.5 km-long, 45 sq m-section low pressure headrace tunnel between the upper Nam Theun and the lower Nam Hinboun reservoirs where the difference in elevation is 240 m. Tunnel will transfer 110 cu m/sec of water. Three identical 12 m-long self-propelled steel forms with hydraulic winches to enable the equipment to tackle 14 % gradients were supplied by CIFA Spa along with 5 cu m concrete mixers mounted on Astra 4WD dumpers and trailer-mounted concrete pumps. Average 28 m/day of lining completed over five-month period. Visit www.cifa.com for more information. December 1999.CMC signed a EUR180 million construction contract for the Theun Hinboun expansion project. The project is the expansion from 220 to 440 MW of the installed capacity of the existing hydroelectric power plant originally built by Recchi-CMC JV in 1995-1998. The contract has been awarded by Theun Hinboun Power Company Ltd, owner and operator of the existing power plant and co-owned by Electricité du Laos (60%), Statkraft, the Norvegian state-owned utility (20%) and GMS Power of Thailand (20%). CMC is responsible for the design and construction of all civil works included the hydromechanical equipment. Design consultants will be Coyne et Bellier of France and Lombardi of Switzerland. The completion of the works is scheduled after 40 months. Visit www.cmc.coop, www.coyne-et-bellier.fr and www.lombardi.chThe expansion includes a 65 m-high regulating dam, about 20 km upstream of the existing Theun Hinboun weir; a new water intake and a second concrete lined headrace tunnel, 5,500 m long with internal diameter of 6.5 m, running parallel to the existing tunnel; a 1 km steel penstock with diameter ranging from 5.3 to 5.8 m; and a new power station, with one Francis 220 MW turbine. 38/08.Sweco has been contracted to act as the owner's engineer on behalf of Theun Hinboun Power Corporation (THPC) during the implementation of the Theun Hinboun expansion project. The contract, worth over EUR5 million, includes design review, contract management and construction supervision. Expertise to be provided by Sweco includes all traditional hydropower engineering disciplines such as civil and structural engineering, hydrology, geology, geo-technology, dam engineering, mechanical engineering, turbine engineering, electrical engineering including transmission, and distribution. The civil works include construction of a 70 m-high RCC dam, a 6 km-long TBM-driven headrace tunnel, two separate power stations (220 MW and 60 MW) and two separate transmission lines. Click la/11. Visit www.sweco.se 40/08.