Encardio-Rite

Encardio-rite has expertise in instrumentation of Dams/Hydroelectric projects. It has provided comprehensive instrumentation in more than 200 dams all over the world. Executing the projects on turnkey basis, we have also provided installation and monitoring services in several hydro-electric projects including all types of dams power houses, spillways, penstocks, etc. mostly in India and neighboring Countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Iran, Sri Lanka. Our experience therefore in instrumenting dams is unparalled in the World and cannot be matched by any similar organization elsewhere.

Details of a few projects instrumented by us are given below.

Purulia Pumped Storage Project , Ayodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India

900 MW PSPP project, biggest project of its kind in India, consists of a 95 m high, 310 m long lower rockfill dam and 65 m high, 800 m long upper rockfill dams. The special feature of the pump storage scheme is that it has reversible pump turbine/ generator motor.

Both the dams have been instrumented by Encardio-rite, including Penstock, Tunnels and Underground power house. Contract for the main civil works was entrusted to Taisei Corporation, Japan, who subcontracted the total underground works to the Joint Venture of HCC - Larsen & Toubro.

Extensive instrumentation used in this project included:

Ghatghar Pumped Storage Project, Thane, Maharashtra, India

This is the first hydroelectric project in India with both the upper and lower dams being of RCC (roller compacted concrete) construction. The upper dam is 14.5 m high and the lower dam is 86 m high. The scheme consists of transferring water alternatively between upper reservoir and lower reservoir. The Project has been planned to generate 250 MW electricity in an underground powerhouse.

The job was executed through Patel Engineering Ltd. Consultants were J-Power, Japan & Tata Consulting Engineers and the owners are Government of Maharashtra Water Resource Department.

Special care was taken to protect embedded instruments from possible damages during roller compaction processes. Sophisticated lightning protection units (LPU’s) were used to ensure fullest long term protection of instruments against lightning strikes.

Temperature monitoring of concrete assumed critical importance. A system was deployed to monitor the temperature rise and cooling in the dam body due to the heat generated by the exothermic reaction of cement with water. The temperature of the concrete was regularly monitored every six hours right from the time of dumping of concrete.

The extensive instrumentation used in this project included:

Strain gage rosettes with no strain container
Concrete pressure cells
Pore pressure meter /piezometer
Uplift measurement device
PFA insulated TIC wire for temperature monitoring
Triaxial joint meters
Submersible level transmitter
Seepage measurement device
Normal & inverted plumb line
Portable readout unit
Automatic Data Acquisition System
Seismograph with complete system
Weather station

TALA HEP Chukha Dzongkhag in Western Bhutan

1,020MW is the biggest joint project between India and Bhutan so far and will generate 4865 million kWh/yr.
A run-of-the-river project, the 1020 MW Tala Hydroelectric Project (THPA) is on the Wangchu river downstream of Chukha Hydroelectric Project, Bhutan.

THPA comprises a 92 m high concrete gravity dam, a 22.25 km long head race tunnel, an underground power house complex at Tala village to house 6 units of 170 MW generators and three 440 KV single-circuit transmission lines to reach the Indo- Bhutan border.

The THPA project has been completely instrumented by Encardio-rite on turnkey basis. Work consisted of supply, installation and monitoring of the instrumentation by Encardio- personnel posted at site.
Encardio-rite had earlier also instrumented the Chukha Hydroelectric Project, Bhutan on same river.

Following instruments have been used in THPA:

Nian Dam & Shamil Dam, Iran

Nian and Shamil earth fill dams are of 27.3 and 32.3 m height respectively, to be used as storage dams on Zendan River and Shamil River situated in the rain starved area of Province of Hormozgan. Project site is located at approximately 80 km from Bandar Abbas city in south of Iran. Capacity of reservoir is approximately 115 Mm3.

Didas Construction Co. are the contractors for this project, Moshanir Power Engineering Consultants are the consultants and the client is Hormozgan Water Regional Authority, Iran.

Hundreds of sensors supplied for this includes :

Vibrating wire piezometers for embankment and foundation
Vibrating wire piezometer for foundation
Standpipe piezometer with EPP-10/6 water level sounder
Vibrating wire earth & concrete pressure cell
Twin tube hydraulic piezometer system
Soil extensometer 5 m long
Submersible water level transmitter
Inclinometer cum settlement monitoring system
Pegs for geodetic points
Vibrating wire seepage measurement system
Portable readouts
Data acquisition system
Automatic weather station consisting of wind velocity sensor, rain gage, relative humidity &
temperature gage, data logger with software and mast and mounting accessories

Tehri Hydroelectric Project
Uttarakhand, India

The earth and rockfill dam with a height of 260 m (width 592 m) and a spillway section is the fifth tallest dam in the world. It is one of the world's largest hydroelectric projects.

Extensive instrumentation has been used in the dam, underground power house, tunnels and spillway section etc. Instrumentation provided and installed by Encardio-rite includes:

The instrumentation of the project has been done on a turnkey basis, which included supply, installation and monitoring.

Dhauliganga Hydroelectric Project
Uttarakhand, India

It is a 56 m high, 315 m long concrete face rockfill dam. KDJV (Kajima- Japan, Daewoo-Korea Joint Venture) were the main contractor for this project.

Extensive instrumentation has been used in the dam and spillway section which includes:

The project was done on a turnkey basis, which included supply, installation and monitoring of the instrumentation. A great achievement was to successfully monitor the tilt in inclinometer casing embedded in the rockfill portion of the dam.

Gilgel Gibe III Hydroelectric Project. Ethiopia, Africa

Gibe III, 1870 MW hydroelectric project, is situated on the Omo River, 500 km south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the largest hydroelectric project being developed in Ethiopia for state-owned utility Ethiopian Electric Power Corp (EEPCO) by the Italian firm Salini Constructtori S.A.

The construction of dam, tunnel, distribution and water diversion works are underway and the project is expected to be operational by 2011. The dam is designed as a 240 meter height RCC structure with capacity to store 14.5 billion cubic meter of water.

A number of Encardio-rite hydraulic settlement monitoring systems have been used by Studio Pietrangeli, Italy for measurement of settlement/heave in foundation of the dam. The system comprises of a series of sealed settlement cells connected to a remote level indicator through fluid filled tubings. For further details on Encardio-rite hydraulic settlement monitoring system, please refer to the technical datasheet.

Courtesy: Studio Pietrangeli, Italy