Works are are on track to install the heavy gates for the Polavaram project
POLAVARAM, India, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — MEIL is planning to install the gates with a hydraulic system for the Polavaram project. There are only two projects in the world that have these hydraulics system gates. These are the heaviest gates of its kind in the world. To make this happen by the year end, the process of placing the Girders on the spillway has begun on Monday. After a traditional pooja was performed, the Girders were placed on the 45 and 46 blocks of the spillway. After placing the Girders on the spillway, the hydraulic gates will be installed. With this process, the floods will not affect the progress of project work. The existing reservoirs in the state have the electro-mechanical gates. The operating cost is very high as the iron ropes are to be changed frequently. To overcome this, MEIL is planning to install cost-effective and advanced hydraulic gates for the Polavaram project.
A significant milestone has been achieved in the Polavaram Project’s history. The process of placing the world’s biggest Girders on the spillway has commenced on Monday. The Water Resources Department officials are making arrangements for this event since the past few days. The superintendent engineer (SE) Mr Nagireddy supervised the conditions and gave the green signal to place the Girders today. The Girders were placed on the 45 and 46 blocks of spillway. After performing a traditional pooja at the site by water resources officials, MEIL engineers and workers, the work has begun to set the Girders on the spillway. This is one of the vital turning points in completing the project before the deadline.
Polavaram Project, a long time dream of the residents of the Andhra Pradesh people, is soon becoming a reality. Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) is putting all of its efforts to complete the project as early as possible, as the critical spillway works have now reached the final stage. The preparations have been completed for the erection of Girders. The major part of the Spillway works will be completed if Girders are erected. Construction of 52 blocks of Spillway is now nearing to completion. By the time MEIL took up this project, works related to Blocks/Piers were in different stages and now they are completed up to 52 meters of height. Compared to laying concrete on flat land, concreting the narrow Piers at heights is a complex process. Moreover for a multipurpose project like Polavaram, is much more complicated as it requires to follow stringent construction rules. With its proven mettle, MEIL is completing this work smoothly.
Everything is ready for Girders installation
Erection of Girders is a critical work in the Spillway area for which all the preparations have been completed. These Girders will be installed on the Spillway Piers during the first week of July. “The total length of the Spillway is 1.054 Kms on which 196 Girders would be erected on the Piers. Each Girder weighs about 62 Tonnes and at present 110 Girders are ready to be erected. All these Girders installation completed within two months.,” said General Manager, MEIL, Mr. A Satish Babu.
Works for casting the rest of the Girders is going on. Nearly 25 Cu.M of concrete, 10 tonnes steel is used to cast each Girder. It will take at least one month time for erection of all these Girders on the Piers in the Spillway under the supervision of determined Engineers. If these works are completed, it would mean that all the main works of the project are completed except the erection of the gates. MEIL is also taking measures to continue other works simultaneously even while carrying out the works related to the erection of Girders. A massive crane of capacity 200 Tonnes is used for the erection process of Girders. If the erection of Girders and road work is completed, then there would be no hindrances for the continuation of the works related to Gap 3 and the Earth cum Rockfill Dam, Moreover MEIL is also taking efforts to continue the works even during the flood season.
“MEIL is using heavy machinery like Asia’s first Telebelt-200, which can execute 200 Cu.M work in one hour. Boom placers are also being deployed to execute concrete works upto 62 metres height. MEIL is also using hydraulic rig that can dig upto 50 metres depth,” said General Manager, MEIL, Mr. Satish Babu.
The pace of the project lost its momentum in the recent past due to Corona pandemic, as labourers migrated to their native places. Later MEIL took the initiative of bringing back the labourers by offering them incentives and taking special permissions from the state government.
By the end of June, MEIL had already completed 1.11 lakh Cu.M of concrete work in Spill channel. It could also complete 1.41 lakh Cu.M in Spillway, 3.10 lakh Cu.M of concrete work in Hydro-electric project, along with 10.64 lakh Cu.M of earthwork, 1.14 lakh Cu.M of stone crushing and 10.86 lakh Cu.M of Vibro-compaction works. With all this, MEIL is confidently moving ahead with a firm determination to complete all the project works within the expected time frame.
