VIJAYAWADA: Reaching another milestone, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) has successfully completed the crucial gap-3 concrete works on Thursday.
Despite difficult work conditions due to floods and the pandemic, the works of the Polavaram Irrigation Project have been going on in full swing and the water resources department officials along with the executing company are confident of completing the works as per plan.
According to MEIL, the concrete dam, which stands completed, is 153.50 meters in length, 53.320 meters in height and 8.50 meters in breadth. The dam is built as an interconnection between the spillway and the Earth-cum-Rock Fill (ECRF) dam.
In all, 23,000 cubic meters of concrete has been used in building the dam, the agency said. This is one of the three ECRF dams in the Polavaram project. While gap-1 and gap-2 are rockfill dams, gap-3 is the only concrete dam. Even as the Godavari flood is on the rise, the work has been going on swiftly at the project site.
So far, MEIL, which has taken up the execution in 2019, has completed the spillway slab work, spillway of 3.32 lakh cubic metres and fixation of 42 out of the 48 radial gates.
The remaining six gates will be erected soon after the flood recedes. Besides this, the installation of 84 of the 96 hydraulic cylinders and all the 24 power packs has been completed.
With the completion of the approach channel, River Godavari is flowing through the spillway for the first time this season through 10 river sluice gates. About 2.41 lakh cubic metres of spill channel work has been done. About 35 lakh cubic metres of earth has been excavated.
“In a record of sorts, excavation of 70 lakh cubic meters of earth in the approach channel has been completed in just 60 days. Works of crucial lower and upper cofferdams are progressing at jet speed. About 33.73 lakh cubic meters of works related to upstream cofferdam are completed and works of 2,480 meters of length and 42.5 meters of height are completed. Similarly, at the downstream cofferdam, works up to 21 meters of height have been achieved. In all, 3.15 lakh cubic meters of work has been done at the lower cofferdam so far,” the agency explained while revealing the progress of works as of Thursday.
About 11.96 lakh cubic metres of vibro-compaction works at the ECRF gap-2 are done. In gap-I, works of 400 meters length of plastic concrete dam have been completed. The agency further explained that stone column work in gap-1 to strengthen the ground has been completed and the critical deep soil mixing works are apace.