The final work: a dam holding 13 million cubic meters of water
The Cumbidanovu Dam is a project located in Sardinia, in the Orgosolo area (Nuoro), along the Cedrino River.
It is a zero-gravity concrete dam with a reservoir capacity of about 13.3 million cubic meters of water and a continuous flow rate of 50 liters per second.
The project has been included in the Multi-sector Water System of the Sardinia Region: its main function is to supply water for irrigating approximately 2,800 hectares of surrounding agricultural land and, to a lesser extent, for industrial use and electricity generation.
After numerous interruptions due to both bureaucratic and natural causes (the construction site was destroyed in 2013 by Cyclone Cleopatra), in 2024 the construction company ICM from Vicenza won the contract to resume work and complete the project.
The construction site and its challenges: limited space, high performance
The main challenges of this site were the limited space available for installing machinery, given the geological conformation of the surrounding area, and the need to produce concrete directly at the dam site.
This is a scenario that Simem has successfully managed many times, boasting numerous achievements in international hydroelectric development projects: from the Nam Theun Dam in Laos to the Changuinola Dam in Panama and the incredible Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia, whose construction was completed in 2025 after 16 years of work.
Since the late 1990s, Simem has built solid foundations and accumulated valuable experience to master the technologies and applications of this specific sector of the construction world, confirming itself as a reliable and expert partner.
Complete concrete plant: efficient and ready to use
For concrete production, Simem supplied an Eagle 5000 plant complete with a ground-loading system with semi-mobile hoppers.
The mixer is a new-generation Simem twin-shaft model Rhyno.
As for the aggregate group, it consists of six fully enclosed compartments (with an overall height of nearly 13.5 meters).
- External housing for protection against bad weather and high temperatures
- Equipped with an ice weighing scale for concrete temperature control, considering high summer temperatures
- 5 silos for binders complete with dosing screws
- Plug & Mix: a containerized system housing all elements for proper plant operation, such as electrical panels, water and additive pumps, compressor, and distribution board
- Complete system for recycling residual concrete (BetonWash), filtering dirty water (WaterWash), and pH correction, ensuring total recovery of process water
Simem technology serving large infrastructure: dual distribution system
Aggregates are unloaded directly into two semi-mobile receiving hoppers with a capacity of 25 cubic meters each; the material then moves to a 30-degree inclined belt, 25 meters long, equipped with a safety walkway for inspection and maintenance.
The aggregate group is a six-compartment Nexus, with a double outlet per compartment and a total volume of 336 cubic meters, ensuring large storage capacity and excellent weighing precision.
The mixer is a Rhyno 5000 twin-shaft model with a concrete output of 3.3 cubic meters, complete with a concrete temperature sensor and dust filter.
The distinctive feature of this plant, designed by Simem, is the mechanical handling system for discharging concrete: the plant can deliver the produced concrete near the dam abutments or load it into truck mixers.
From the mixer, the concrete moves into a mobile receiving bucket that can shift horizontally along rails. The bucket can load onto an additional 60-meter belt if the material is sent directly to the dam; alternatively, if truck mixers are present, the bucket moves aside to allow direct loading from the discharge cone.
This batching plant was custom-designed at ICM’s request: the plant meets the client’s need for an additional level of automation in various stages, while optimizing the limited available space thanks to high vertical storage with a reduced footprint.
