Construction site restarts
We went up the Chay River to the highlands of Si Ma Cai on the day the construction site restarted after a long interruption due to floods. This year's erratic weather has caused many flood peaks to appear in the upper reaches of the Chay River.
At the construction site, the contractor is mobilizing high-capacity pumps to urgently pump water into the discharge canal pit and other locations in the factory; another team is urgently digging and leveling the ground for the construction of the 110kV transformer station.
Engineer Le Ba Thi - Si Ma Cai Hydropower Project Management Board said: Although having experience in hydropower construction across the country, it can be said that Si Ma Cai Hydropower is one of the projects that has encountered the most difficulties.
First of all, the terrain and geology in the upper reaches of the Chay River are very complex, requiring calculations and additional construction options to ensure dam safety when put into operation.
In addition, over the past two years, hydropower plants have been greatly affected by floods due to the influence of storm circulation. This year, in particular, floods still occurred until the end of October, causing longer-than-expected interruptions. Contractors were forced to temporarily stop construction activities during floods to ensure absolute safety for workers, laborers, vehicles and equipment.
After each flood, the dike is broken, the water channel system, discharge channel, and turbine chamber are buried in mud and soil, requiring a lot of effort to dig and rebuild, not to mention the floods wash away all the materials, sand and gravel gathered at the construction site, causing no small amount of damage.
Although it has only been a week since the restart, the teams have quickly stabilized their organization and resumed construction. Engineer Le Ba Thi added: Currently, the investor has directed the construction teams to urgently mobilize more human resources and equipment to the construction site, taking advantage of favorable weather to carry out many construction phases.
Ensure progress and labor safety
The Si Ma Cai hydropower project has a capacity of 18 MW, including 2 units, and was started by Si Ma Cai Joint Stock Company in early January 2023.
According to the report of the Project Management Board, up to now, about 90% of the construction items have been completed, of which many important items have been completed such as pouring concrete for the right bank dam, spillway, dam crest traffic system, canal leading to the factory, and water intake gate.
For the factory category, the contractor has completed pouring concrete for the upstream and downstream walls of the factory to an elevation of 193.5 m; completed pouring concrete for the bottom slab of the turbine chamber at an elevation of 161 m to 165 m. Drilling and spraying for waterproofing in front of the water intake, the factory foundation and the diversion retaining wall on the factory side have also been completed.
For the project of the canal leading to the factory, the contractor has completed excavation of the downstream discharge canal and has handed over the site to the contractor to construct the concrete diversion wall downstream.
To speed up the progress, the contractor used the waterproofing spraying method on the floating platform to spray waterproofing membranes on the entire factory foundation pit and water intake. The contractor also increased large-scale machinery and equipment, accelerated the construction of the post-flood dike; ensured enough materials, equipment, and workers working in 3 shifts continuously to soon complete the remaining concrete volume.
In parallel, the 110kV transmission line system to connect the plant's electricity to the national dispatch system is also being urgently deployed. Up to now, 80% of the column foundation locations have been cleared.
To complete this item in sync with the factory as soon as possible, the investor requested the contractor to organize at least 7 continuous construction teams, speed up and prioritize gathering materials, sand and rock to the column foundation position before digging the foundation.
Despite the great pressure on progress, ensuring labor safety is still the top priority. In the face of recent labor accidents at a number of hydropower projects, the Simacai Hydropower Project Management Board has required contractors to strictly implement labor safety regulations at construction sites, not only in operating machinery and equipment but also in organizing construction, supervising and preventing natural disaster risks.
Engineer Pham Trung Tuyen - Director of Si Ma Cai Joint Stock Company said: We always aim to not let any unfortunate incidents happen on the construction site. Ensuring the life and health of workers is the only way to create a quality, safe and sustainable project. We determine that labor safety is not only a responsibility to workers but also a decisive factor for the success of the project.
According to the schedule, the investor strives to complete the installation of the first batch of equipment in December 2025. Complete the construction and installation of the 110kV transmission line before March 2026, generating electricity from two units in the first quarter of 2026. The factory's operating team is also being sent for training, ready to take over when the project is completed.
The Si Ma Cai hydropower project is the last hydropower plant to form a cascade system on the Chay River mainstream. When completed, the plant will not only contribute to providing a stable power source for the country but also promote local socio -economic development.
Source: https://baolaocai.vn/dam-bao-an-toan-lao-dong-tren-cong-truong-thuy-dien-si-ma-cai-post887819.html
Comment (0)