INNOVATIVE IDEAS
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Since its inception in 1964, Studio Pietrangeli has always been involved in special tasks to be accomplished by devising unconventional and innovative solutions.

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Starting with the Legadadi dam in Ethiopia in the 1970, where 2 different types of dam were employed to adapt the structure to the foundations (concrete buttress and rockfill), Mr. Giorgio Pietrangeli and Mr. Paolo Alfredo Pallavicini have always personally followed the progress of their innovative and far-sighted projects, as may be seen in the photograph which shows them during the testing of the bottom outlet of the Legadadi Dam.

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Realisation of the Bumbuna hydropower plant is crucial for the development of Sierra Leone. In the 1980, SP succeeded in cutting construction costs by half while leaving the energy production unvaried through the adoption of special multipurpose hydraulic tunnels. Studio Pietrangeli also had the singular task of designing the Sierra Leone banknote shown in the photo which gives a view of the Bumbuna dam under construction.

Innovative solutions in rock mechanics (see Chapter 5, The Rio Grande Project Argentina in Prof. Evert Hoek’s “Practical Rock Engineering”) or in bituminous facings (6 dams completed) together with various other engineering innovations characterize many of the firm’s projects. More recently, special “fast-track” projects have become a new challenge for SP.


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For instance, starting from satellite photos and Shuttle DTM, the conceptual design of Gibe III HPP was completed in less than 50 days ( and this project is now being considered as an “historical” achievement for RCC dams, see chapter 20 in “Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook” ).
One of the various special “fast-track” techniques comprises surface surveying from helicopters. The photograph shows Mr. Giorgio Pietrangeli during one such survey.
The founder and director of the firm, Mr. Giorgio Pietrangeli, always reminds young engineers that “l’ingegnere è una persona che si ingegna”, (an engineer is a person of resource), meaning that our work demands the full use our technical qualifications, culture and creativity to find solutions to the most difficult problems.