Underground construction |
underground construction. “Having an experienced team that can master these challenges with flying colours is essential. Taking a proactive role in the energy transition gives us additional motivation and it will be a pleasure for us to work on delivering the Forbach pumped storage power plant,” he said. Work is scheduled to commence in autumn 2023 with construction of caverns, water reservoirs, and tunnels using the mining method. Before the new power plant can go into operation in 2027, the Porr team will undertake the challenging task of blasting and excavating significant cavities and tunnels in the rock, estimated to yield around 450,000m3
of rock
Above: Tunnel boring operations have kicked off at the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydropower Project, located on the Alaknanda River in India
such as a 5km conveyor belt rather than lorries
to transport soil. PRHP said that in 2022 alone these measures avoided the generation of more than 10,000 tons of CO2. Site C has also focused on the circular economy.
The project recycled a variety of materials at two processing centres on site which generated revenue used to fund community investment programmes. PRHP is a partnership between ACCIONA Infrastructure Canada Inc. and Samsung C&T Canada Ltd. The main civil work contract includes the construction of an earth-fill dam, two diversion tunnels, and a roller-compacted–concrete foundation for the generating station and spillways.
Germany
Construction company Porr has secured a major contract for the construction of caverns and a tunnel system as part of the conversion of Germany’s Rudolf Fettweis Plant (RFW) into a pumped storage plant. Conversion plans for this heritage-protected Forbach run-of-river power plant, includes the construction of an underground sub-basin, serving as an indirect power reservoir. “Even with 3D forecast modelling, BIM planning
Below: TBMS are key to underground construction
and exploratory drilling, underground construction work always remains challenging,” said Thorsten Weiner, Technical Division Manager at Porr Tunnelling Germany, acknowledging the inherent challenges of
excavation material. The tunnel system within the project will have a total length of 5200m, and approximately 510m of shafts will be constructed using the raise-boring method. Additionally, the project involves the construction of six side tunnels, access tunnels, supply tunnels, and tunnels for energy transmission.
India Tunnel boring operations have kicked off at the
Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydropower Project on the Alaknanda River in India. Hindustan Construction Co Ltd is the main contractor responsible for a range of construction activities including building dams, creating the head race and tail race tunnels, setting up diversion structures and spillways, constructing vertical shafts, and establishing a powerhouse with a capacity of 444MW. The central focus of the construction effort
involves the use of a specialised Terratec hard rock double shield TBM with a diameter of 9.86m. Equipped with a cutterhead featuring 19-inch disc cutters and 12 spacious bucket openings, the TBM is powered by a robust 4200kW electric main drive and is well-equipped to tackle the expected tough rock conditions, providing a torque of over 22,000 kilonewton-meters. As the TBM progresses, it will leave behind a trail of reinforced concrete lining rings, each measuring 1500mm in width and 350mm in thickness.
Scotland
Cowi has been selected by renewable energy firm Drax to provide advisory services for the £500 million expansion of its Cruachan pumped storage hydro plant located in Argyll, Scotland. Known as Cruachan 2, it involves the construction of a new 600MW capacity facility adjacent to Drax’s existing 440MW plant beneath Ben Cruachan.
Cowi, in partnership with Studio Pietrangeli, will offer consultancy services to support preliminary engineering design work. Its expertise will focus on technical guidance for the geotechnical marine structures and tunnelling aspects of the project. Additionally, Cowi will utilise its rail experience to assist in planning the railway line that will accommodate Cruachan 2’s new access and tailrace tunnels.
References
An integrated framework for improving the efficiency and safety of hydraulic tunnel construction Yuxian Zhang a, Jixun Zhang a, Changsheng Wang b, Xuhua Ren a,* Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 131 (2023) 104836
16 | October 2023 |
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