NEW PRODUCTS and INNOVATIONS
Palomino package for hydropower progress
Jan 2011
Herrenknecht Formwork News Release
- A complete package of all-round tunnel construction technology has been applied to the excavation of underground works for the Palomino hydropower project in the Caribbean Dominican Republic.
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Remote Palomino project job site
- After winning the construction contract to build the 12.4km long headrace tunnel for the new hydro scheme, Brazilian contractor Odebrecht decided to tackle the challenge of complex hard rock formations under an overburden of up to 525m with an integrated solution provided by the Herrenknecht Group. Centred on a Herrenknecht 4.5m diameter double shield TBM, the package includes high-precision segment mould technology supplied by Herrenknecht Formwork to produce the tunnel’s 3,960mm i.d., segmental lining, comprising three segments in each 1.3m long ring; navigation and laser technology supplied by Herrenknecht Group company VMT; rail-bound muck-haulage and supply transport systems by MSD; and job site support service by UTS GmbH.
- The ISO9001 certified tunnelling works started in August 2009. With several weekly top performances of more than 250m, some 87% or 10,807m of the tunnel had been excavated by mid-December 2010. The TBM is scheduled to complete the tunnel by the beginning of April 2011.
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Segment casting factory
- With lining fabrication running parallel with positive TBM advance rates, segment production needed to be faster than scheduled. In spite of the isolated job site in the mountains, continuous supply of the 37,907 segments was guaranteed at any time. A smooth production of high quality segments was provided by the comprehensive package supplied by Herrenknecht Formwork to the casting factory. This included 10 sets of segment moulds for stationary production, and handling equipment along with four sets of battery moulds for concreting the 21,752 tunnel invert construction rail sleepers required.
- On 17 December, after 413 working days, 87 days earlier than the scheduled 500 days, the production factory cast the last segment. With three-and-a-half concreting cycles per day, the average production was about 140 segments per day with a top daily performance of 169 segments.
- The new hydro scheme in the south west of the island is a significant part of the Dominican Republic's drive to reduce its energy dependence on oil. The 80MW scheme is programmed to come on stream at the end of 2011.
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