Abstract:
Hydropower development plays a leading role in renewable energy generation, which is of great importance for the socio-economic development of the countries, especially in developing countries in large transition. It will make the biggest contribution in clean energy generation, offering the potential to both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and helping the adoption of renewable energy sources. In this orientation, tunnels are very important for the development of hydropower, as they provide various appurtenant structures in most of the hydropower projects. However, when the tunnels are used in hydropower projects, there might be limitations of cross-sectional areas, economy, safety and techniques. These limitations can be overcome by optimum site specific design and consideration. Proper planning and management on tunnel construction can mitigate the defects and optimize the costs as well as safe construction.
The major aspects for construction of hydropower tunnels, are described in this dissertation, such as: various application of tunnels in hydropower, types of tunnels and conditions of use, planning of tunnel construction and it’s stages, cost estimation and scheduling and contracts, management for avoiding tunnel surprises, the method statement of gate shaft excavation, computer aided designing for tunnel construction, construction techniques in drill and blast tunnels, and safety and remedial measures for tunnel collapses.
Based on the study, it has been found that tunnels can be applied and considered as an alternative in hydropower structures safely and economically. The construction will be easier and faster with the aid of CAD software when designing, creating working drawings and surveying. The most important outcome of this study is that tunnels can avoid severe collapse, if remedial measures can be carried out timely, with saving lives without heavy losses of resources.
