HYDERABAD: The Irrigation Department on Sunday created a national record by executing 16,722 cubic metres of concrete work in just 24 hours at Medigadda Barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
A few months ago, 7,212 cubic metres of concrete was used in a single day for KLIS works. Officials have been on overdrive ever since Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao directed them to pull up their socks and expedite the project to provide water to tillers by July, 2019.
Kaleshwaram chief engineer N Venkateshwarlu told Express 6,238 tonnes of cement (1,24,751 bags) was used from Saturday 8 am to Sunday 8 am. The aggregate/metal used was 15,384 cubic metres, besides the 1,070 tonnes of steel. Venkateshwarulu said 4,824 workers including engineers were involved in the job. The machinery used included 20 boom placers, 120 transit millars and eight concrete batching plants.
“The total capacity of a batching plant is 870 cubic metres per hour,” the KLIS chief engineer said. For every three hours, the engineers executed over 2,000 cubic metres of concrete work.
With this, the Medigadda barrage works has attained 96.41 per cent completion. Of the total 54,43,515 cubic metres of work for the Medigadda barrage, the officials have, so far, covered 52,48,354 cubic metres of work.
It may be mentioned here that pouring 5.4 million cubic metres of concrete in a single year for the Three Gorges Project in China was the world record.
Five gates have been erected for the barrage and another five are being readied.Annaram Barrage works have been completed and all 74 gates of Sundilla barrage have been erected, but some work still remains.