Abstract:
Access for heavy equipment, construction material as well man power is the primary
need before the start of construction phase of any hydropower projects. The access need
to be examined with different alternatives to find short time taking, short distance and
cost effective financial viable route location.
The option for access may be roadway, ropeway, airway, mule, head load, railway and
waterway depending on different location and topography of hydropower stations. The
most common type of access for hydropower is road since, it has long life span and can
support the social issue of general transport in the vicinity of the project site. However,
ropeway may be the cheap option for material transport for quicker and relatively
environmental friendly, but it does not provide long turn solution to the local people
for the facility for transportation. When option for roadway and ropeway is not feasible,
airway may be the best option for access on that hydropower project. For quick and
effective transport for choosing the best economical access for hydropower projects,
an economic analysis has been carried out and compared with the best option the
project in Himanchal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
For the feasibility study of option for access to Harsil hydropower Project (200 kW) is
remote area of Uttarakashi district of Uttarakhand, a site visit was carried out. The data
were collected for the purpose of option for fixing the alignment route to reach at weir
site. For Malana II (100 MW) and Sumez (14 MW) hydropower projects executed in
the recent past in Himanchal Pradesh where ropeways were installed for transport of
construction materials. Data on quantity of construction material transported by
ropeway were collected and economic analysis were carried out with different options
of transportation i.e. roadway, ropeway and airway.
Economic analysis showed ropeway was the best option of access in all three case of
hydropower project. So for choice of access for any hydropower project economic
analysis gives the best option for the choice of route and option for access.
