Educational Trip
The students reached tarbela dam site at around 11.30 am. The public relations office of tarbela dam project welcomed the students. Senior engineer Mr. Amin, (civil works - WAPDA) gave a briefing to the students on the tarbela dam project. 
Mr. Amin started the briefing by giving a historical perspective into the Indus water plan. The students were briefed about the background of the plan as well as the intimate details of the project: the proposed dams (mangla and tarbela being the bigger dams and several other barrages) and link canals (total of 8) to overcome the shortage of water in the eastern rivers due to their division with India. The only large dam on the mighty river Indus is the tarbela dam. The dam project was the largest civil contract given to a consortium of 13 European companies known as the TJV (tarbela joint venture). The construction started in 1968 and it took 6 years to complete the project, however, due to technical issues it started functioning in 1977.
The students were briefed about the construction phases of the dam from an engineering point of view. In the first phase a small diversion was created to restrict the width of the river. A buttress dam was built on the main stream of the river. In the next phase the construction of the main dam was started along with the construction of the tunnels. In the final stage the buttress dam was closed and water was diverted through the tunnels. As the dam construction was complete it was filled with water. Due to water inrush cracks appeared in the dam and it was again drained before doing the remedial works to secure the structure. The overall project cost was 2.85 billion $ and the whole amount was recovered within few initial years of its operation. A total of 120 Villages had to be displaced during the dam construction; tarbela being the largest. The lake formed in the dam has a surface area of 100 sq mile.
In reply to a question related to the power shortage Mr. amin explained the modus operandi of the power generation. He told us that the discharge capacity of the tunnels was around 80,000 cusecs. The tarbela dam is primarily a dam for irrigation purposes and not the power generation. Therefore the water discharge from tarbela is under control of the IRSA's directives. IRSA issues a demand notice to tarbela and mangla dam: the water release is as per demand. The spillways are only used in case the demand is higher than the discharge capacity of the tunnels. The demands are fulfilled through the tunnels so that the water discharged can be used for power generation purposes. If however the water demands is lesser the turbines can not be run at full capacity. The students were later briefed that the water demand for that particular day from IRSA was 50,000 cusecs; therefore the turbines were not working at full capacity. The water discharge rate at any time of the day is further governed by the power demand by WAPDA. If the power demand is greater at night the major portion of IRSA's water demand is fulfilled during night time to maximize the power output of power station.
Mr. Amin was asked about the feasibility of the KALABAGH dam from an engineering point of view. He then gave an interesting insight into the standing of Pakistan all over the world in terms of water storage structures and then reiterated that KALABAGH and BHASHA dams are an imperative for us. He briefed the audience that detailed feasibility studies of KALABAGH have proved that there are no technical flaws in the project plan. Mr. Amin briefed the students that the total count of small and large capacity, dams in Pakistan doesn’t exceed the number of fifty in any case, while the number of dams in USA is 75,000 and 93000 in China!
After the briefing the students were taken to the spill ways and a brief explanation of their functionality was given. After the spillways the students were taken to the main dam. The students were briefed that the water demand for that day was 50,000 cusecs and it was being fulfilled by water discharge through the tunnels therefore the spillways was not in operation. It was further explained that the water inflow is recorded at bisham and during summer season the water from glaciers is stored in the dam. However only 13 to 15% of total water can be stored and rest is spilled away which eventually goes into the Arabian sea!
Afterwards the students were taken to the power station. Due to security measures the cameras and mobiles were not allowed. The students were split into groups which were monitored by the faculty as well as the experts from WAPDA who gave detailed briefing of all the components of the turbines. The power generation process was explained in detail along with the operation of the tunnels.
The overall discipline of the students was really good and everyone tried to maintain the reputation of NUST. The faculty from electrical department was really helpful and made this trip a success. It is hoped that the final year students will be provided with such opportunities often since they have been waiting for whole three years. Furthermore, it would be really appreciated if the college also arranges lunch for the students.
A long awaited educational trip was arranged for De-27 Electrical on Saturday 29 November 2008. Since it was the first ever official class trip, everyone was enthusiastic about it. The students had gathered at college at the given time of 8.30 am and the buses left the college at around 9.15 am. Due to overwhelming fervor almost 85% of class had shown up for the trip. The students were accompanied by three members of the faculty of electrical department namely Mr. Arfakshand Ali Qazalbash, Mr. Asim Ejaz and Mr. Haider Zia. (got the hidden message? if not pls contact umair ehsan! :p)
The students reached tarbela dam site at around 11.30 am. The public relations office of tarbela dam project welcomed the students. Senior engineer Mr. Amin, (civil works - WAPDA) gave a briefing to the students on the tarbela dam project.
Mr. Amin started the briefing by giving a historical perspective into the Indus water plan. The students were briefed about the background of the plan as well as the intimate details of the project: the proposed dams (mangla and tarbela being the bigger dams and several other barrages) and link canals (total of 8) to overcome the shortage of water in the eastern rivers due to their division with India. The only large dam on the mighty river Indus is the tarbela dam. The dam project was the largest civil contract given to a consortium of 13 European companies known as the TJV (tarbela joint venture). The construction started in 1968 and it took 6 years to complete the project, however, due to technical issues it started functioning in 1977. The students were briefed about the construction phases of the dam from an engineering point of view. In the first phase a small diversion was created to restrict the width of the river. A buttress dam was built on the main stream of the river. In the next phase the construction of the main dam was started along with the construction of the tunnels. In the final stage the buttress dam was closed and water was diverted through the tunnels. As the dam construction was complete it was filled with water. Due to water inrush cracks appeared in the dam and it was again drained before doing the remedial works to secure the structure. The overall project cost was 2.85 billion $ and the whole amount was recovered within few initial years of its operation. A total of 120 Villages had to be displaced during the dam construction; tarbela being the largest. The lake formed in the dam has a surface area of 100 sq mile.
The basic purpose of tarbela dam is water storage for irrigation. This dam has the primary and secondary storage dam. The dam has 5 tunnels. Tunnels 4 and 5 have been reserved for irrigation purposes. In tunnel 1 and 3 a total of 10 turbines each of capacity 175 MW have been installed while in tunnel 2 there are 4 turbines of 432 MW output. The total power production capacity of tarbela dam is 3470 MW, if full head is available. The initial live storage capacity of dam was 9.7 million cubic meters which has been reduced to 6.8 million cubic meters now: an overall loss of 30% due to sedimentation. The dam height is 1565ft above sea level. The width of the dam at the top is 40ft while the base width is 2000ft. The dam has maximum discharge flow of 15 lac cusecs.
The briefing was followed by a question and answer session. The first question asked was related to the problems faced during dam construction. Mr. Amin replied that cracks had appeared in the main dam structure due to a technical fault. The dam was then drained and remedial steps were taken to reinforce the dam. The adjacent mountains were also plated and reinforced with iron rods.
The briefing was followed by a question and answer session. The first question asked was related to the problems faced during dam construction. Mr. Amin replied that cracks had appeared in the main dam structure due to a technical fault. The dam was then drained and remedial steps were taken to reinforce the dam. The adjacent mountains were also plated and reinforced with iron rods.
In reply to a question related to the power shortage Mr. amin explained the modus operandi of the power generation. He told us that the discharge capacity of the tunnels was around 80,000 cusecs. The tarbela dam is primarily a dam for irrigation purposes and not the power generation. Therefore the water discharge from tarbela is under control of the IRSA's directives. IRSA issues a demand notice to tarbela and mangla dam: the water release is as per demand. The spillways are only used in case the demand is higher than the discharge capacity of the tunnels. The demands are fulfilled through the tunnels so that the water discharged can be used for power generation purposes. If however the water demands is lesser the turbines can not be run at full capacity. The students were later briefed that the water demand for that particular day from IRSA was 50,000 cusecs; therefore the turbines were not working at full capacity. The water discharge rate at any time of the day is further governed by the power demand by WAPDA. If the power demand is greater at night the major portion of IRSA's water demand is fulfilled during night time to maximize the power output of power station.
Mr. Amin was asked about the feasibility of the KALABAGH dam from an engineering point of view. He then gave an interesting insight into the standing of Pakistan all over the world in terms of water storage structures and then reiterated that KALABAGH and BHASHA dams are an imperative for us. He briefed the audience that detailed feasibility studies of KALABAGH have proved that there are no technical flaws in the project plan. Mr. Amin briefed the students that the total count of small and large capacity, dams in Pakistan doesn’t exceed the number of fifty in any case, while the number of dams in USA is 75,000 and 93000 in China!
After the briefing the students were taken to the spill ways and a brief explanation of their functionality was given. After the spillways the students were taken to the main dam. The students were briefed that the water demand for that day was 50,000 cusecs and it was being fulfilled by water discharge through the tunnels therefore the spillways was not in operation. It was further explained that the water inflow is recorded at bisham and during summer season the water from glaciers is stored in the dam. However only 13 to 15% of total water can be stored and rest is spilled away which eventually goes into the Arabian sea!Afterwards the students were taken to the power station. Due to security measures the cameras and mobiles were not allowed. The students were split into groups which were monitored by the faculty as well as the experts from WAPDA who gave detailed briefing of all the components of the turbines. The power generation process was explained in detail along with the operation of the tunnels.
After this detailed briefing and inspirational engineering insight into the power generation process the student had a stop over at a small hotel on a small lake near GIKI for lunch. The return journey started at around 4.20 pm. The students reached college at around 7 pm after a great experience and fun. All the students were pleased with the college administration and the HOD electrical department for arranging such a great trip and providing them with an excellent experience.
The overall discipline of the students was really good and everyone tried to maintain the reputation of NUST. The faculty from electrical department was really helpful and made this trip a success. It is hoped that the final year students will be provided with such opportunities often since they have been waiting for whole three years. Furthermore, it would be really appreciated if the college also arranges lunch for the students.Written by: Muhammad Uzair Sukhera
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Photo credits: Muhammad Usman Farooq
Data by: Aneeqa Ishaq
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Photo credits: Muhammad Usman Farooq
Data by: Aneeqa Ishaq
1 comment:
Well Done!
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