Construction on the dam started in 1976 , with funding from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank . Major redesign work was needed to address adjusted seismic criteria for the dam and tunnelling works , following the heavy 1976 earthquake . Additional costs were made to correct engineering errors , and to finance repairs to tunnel damage in the first year of operation , resulting in substantial over-budgeting . From the US$ 372.7 million calculated costs in 1978 , the Chixoy project ended up costing US$ 944 million
1976 earthquake
1976 Guatemala earthquake
Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam