Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.

8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

Contents
1. Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Scope ................................................................................................................................................................... 2
3. Quality .................................................................................................................................................................. 2
4. Erection machine/equipment & rails set up .......................................................................................................... 2
Fixed Gantry ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Winch Machine and Max Puller ................................................................................................................................ 2
Rails, Trolley and Hydraulic Jacks ........................................................................................................................... 3
5. Local Transportation ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Transportation Outside Tunnel ................................................................................................................................. 3
Transportation Inside Tunnel.................................................................................................................................... 3
6. Order of Installation Work .................................................................................................................................... 4
Work Front 2: Installation from Bend B3 to Reducer R1. ......................................................................................... 4
Work Front 1: Installation from Bell Mouth to Butterfly Valve. .................................................................................. 5
Work Front 4: Installation of Bend B5 to Adit Portal (Penstock No. 32-21) .............................................................. 5
Work Front 3: Installation from Penstock no. 32-5 to 32-20 ..................................................................................... 6
Work Front 5: Installation from Reducer R2 to Adapter A6 ...................................................................................... 6
Work Front 6: Installation of Bifurcation & Branch Pipes .......................................................................................... 6
a. Miscellaneous Works ........................................................................................................................................... 6
b. Final Surface Protection....................................................................................................................................... 6
c. Remarks .............................................................................................................................................................. 7

Page 1 of 7
Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

1. Purpose
The purpose of the penstock pipes is to make water discharge through it and strike the turbine blades with
certain pressure and velocity. The size of the penstock pipes will be as per the design requirement such
that it provides the rated output i.e. the power generation.

2. Scope
The installation work includes storage and transportation at the site, erection and welding of the penstock
pipes in accordance with the approved drawings. The scope of installation of penstock pipes is from the
connection point of the concrete line downstream of surge tank till the Main Inlet Valve at the entrance of
Turbine Inlet Pipe. The steel penstock pipes include bell mouth, bends, adapters, reducers, bifurcation and
branch pipes connecting to each turbine units. The scope also includes erection of all necessary
arrangements, machine, and equipment necessary for installation of the penstock pipes.

3. Quality
The quality will be controlled and carried out as per the Quality Plan (QP) made for the entire process of
erection. The quality supervisor will lead quality related matters and provide timely feedbacks to the
technical team.

4. Erection machine/equipment & rails set up

Fixed Gantry
One fixed gantry will be installed at each of adit portals for the purpose of unloading of penstock shell from
truck & loading on trolley (ref. drawing SAU EX 01 0 02 page 1 of 5). Two chain blocks of 5-ton capacity
(each) will be installed on two ends of gantry for the purpose of lifting and lowering the penstock and bend
pipes. The platform area required for its installation would be about 10m x 6m. Lot-2 Contractor shall be
responsible for civil works required for installation of fixed gantry is; to make ground surface flat & compact
matching elevation with invert level of adit tunnel (no additional excavation required) and to construct
concrete foundation for gantry structure.
Winch Machine and Max Puller
Electric winch machine will be used for pulling & lowering of penstock shell inside tunnel. Winch machine
5-ton capacity (1no.), 3-ton capacity (1no.) & Max Puller of 3-ton capacity (2 nos.) will be installed at
intended location as shown in ref. drawing SAU EX 01 0 02 (page 1 0f 5). The space required for the
installation of these winches would be as follows.
5 ton – 3.5m (l) x 2.5m (w) x 2m (h)
3 ton – 2.5m (l) x 2.5m (w) x 2m (h)
For the efficient operation, pulley will be installed at various locations as shown in ref. drawing SAU EX 01
0 02 (page 2 of 5). Lot-2 Contractor shall be responsible for civil work required for installation of winch
machine is; to make the foundation area flat & install anchor pads/foundation bolts for fixing machine and
pulley which requires no additional excavation.

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Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

Rails, Trolley and Hydraulic Jacks

Rails will be installed throughout tunnel for purpose of guiding penstock trolley which will skid over it to
transport pipes to intended localities. Approx. 1160 m of R60 rail shall be required to be laid in 2 lines (Ref.
drawing- SAU EX 01 0 02 page 5 of 5). at width span of 1m by matching center with centerline of
penstock tunnel (Ref. drawing- SAU EX 01 0 02 page 5 of 5). Cross rail system will be made at the cross
area of valve chamber access & penstock line for the ease of transporting the pipes. Lot-2 Contractor shall
be responsible for civil work required for installation of rails is; to install anchor pads (approx. 600 nos.) of
size 230 mm x 100 mm and bolts (approx. 1200 nos.) on both sides of rail line at 2000mm c/c along length
(with elevation exactly matching the civil invert level as specified in drawing) and fix rails on those anchor
pads as per instruction of Lot-4 contractor. A trolley will be made as per the size and site requirement for
easy installation of penstock pipes as shown in reference drawing. The invert level of tunnel should have
flat surface and smooth slope. The pipes will be adjusted to their exact locations with the help of hydraulic
jacks and V-levers. The capacity of hydraulic jack and V-lever used will be of 10 ton and 6 ton respectively.

5. Local Transportation
Transportation Outside Tunnel
a. The Lot-2 contractor will be responsible for the construction, upgrading and maintenance of the
permanent and temporary access road to the required localities as specified herein for the
purpose of installation of steel penstock.
b. At first, the penstock shells will be transported from fabrication yards at factory premise to site on
trucks and will be temporarily stored in the allotted storage yard of Lot 4 Contractor.
c. For transport of pipes from temporary storage yards to respective access tunnel & adit portals,
truck will be used.
d. For loading and unloading purpose at storage yard Mobile Crane having 16 ton capacity will be
used & at tunnel inlet portals, fixed gantry will be used.
Transportation Inside Tunnel
a. Firstly, Lot 2 contractor will deliver and erect the anchors for the skid-rails & will erect skid-rails
supplied by Lot 4 contractor according to instructions provided by the Lot-4 contractor.
b. Two lines of rails will be installed throughout the adit tunnels & at horizontal/inclined part of
penstock tunnels at a width span of 1m with centerline matching to penstock shells with elevation
exactly matching that of invert level as specified in TM drawings.
c. Trolley will be made as per the size and site requirement for easy installation of penstock pipes.
d. The penstock shell will be loaded in trolley at portal areas of tunnels by installed fixed gantry. Then
trolley will skid over laid rails to the required location.
e. For dragging of penstock shells inside tunnel winches with steel rope & pulley arrangement will be
laid at required locations. The necessary equipment will be supplied by Lot-4 Contractor and its
installation will be done by Lot-2 Contractor as per the instruction provided by Lot-4 Contractor.
f. For dragging & lifting arrangements anchor pads for hooks & pulleys will be installed by Lot 2
Contractor at various location of penstock tunnel as per instruction from Lot-4 Contractor.
g. For lifting of penstock shells & butterfly valve at cross section area of penstock pipe line & valve
chamber access, the anchoring bars & lifting lugs will be installed by Lot-2 contractor according to
the specification supplied by the Lot-4 Contractor.

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Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

6. Order of Installation Work

Any or all of the following routes of penstock shall be fully prepared and made easy accessible and
handed over to Lot 4 before starting penstock installation on that segment of penstock layout. The
order and methodology of installation of Penstock Pipes on different routes (work fronts) will be as
follows:
Work Front 2: Installation from Bend B3 to Reducer R1.
a. At first, the miters of Bend B3 (starting from lower miter) will be transported to Adit portal-1 from
temporary storage yard and will be unloaded by fixed gantry (FG1) on trolley which will be skid
over laid rails to the required location.
b. The trolley from Adit portal-1 will be dragged up to butterfly valve chamber by Winch of capacity 3
ton installed as per reference drawing. As pipes reaches cross area of valve chamber access &
penstock line, then the pipes will be lifted by chain blocks & will be rotated and unloaded on
another trolley for dragging over the rail laid on penstock tunnel line.
c. After shifting the of penstock, it will be lifted, dragged and lowered by the arrangement of winch
machine (5 ton capacity) and maxpuller (3 ton capacity-2 nos.) by the procedure as explained in
reference drawing- SAU EX 01 0 02 (page 4 of 5 ).
d. The maxpuller will be used to lower the pipes at the inclined portion of the bend B2 over laid rails
.Winch machine will also be used to drag the pipe incase the pipe is unable to skid downward by
its self-weight.
e. After the pipe reaches nearby vertical portion, the hook of wire rope of 5 ton winch machine will be
changed from center of pipe to the upper edge of pipe.
f. Then, the maxpuller rope will be removed from the pipe ends and pipe will solely lowered by 5 ton
winch machine with the help of pulley arrangements as specified in reference drawing.
g. After the bend pieces are brought to their exact location, these are checked for the centerlines and
position i.e. the X, Y, Z coordinates with the help of Total Stations (Electronic Distance meter).
Arrangements will be made to lift the bends with the help of hydraulic jacks from the four edges of
the trolley. V-levers will also be used in order to pull the bends to their respective positions.
h. While doing so, simple tack welding will be done for good alignment.
i. After the final alignment gets completed, the shell will be completely fixed by supports. The
supports will be given at the center and the two ends of the bend. The detail of supports cannot be
given at present, because it depends upon site conditions. It may be angles, channels,
scaffoldings etc. But the supports will be as per required and fixed in satisfaction of the Engineer.
j. As the pipe/shell is well fastened with the supports, we finally check the levels & alignment along
with the Engineer.
k. Hooks, wedges etc. on lower bend necessary to pull/align adjacent miter of bend will be welded.
l. All the miters of the bend will be transported and aligned in the same manner as discussed above.
m. Then, the final welding (single ‘V’ type) will be started between pieces of bends and DPT will be
carried out with correction if required.
n. There will be safety ladders, scaffoldings and welder’s platform constructed as per the
requirements inside the penstock pipes for making welding work safe and easy.
o. As the size of tunnel is not favorable for the outside welding due to space limitations, we will be
performing welding from inside only. For this, backing rings are incorporated on one end of the

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Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

penstock shells. So after of the welding of one girth joint, NDT (DPT, MT & UT) will be done as per
the quality plan.
p. After confirmation of erection of bend B3 by Engineer, it will be handed over to Lot-2 contractor for
concreting work on space around the bend.
q. Then, in same manner pipe shell no. 32-4 will be transported to exact location, to be joined to
bend B3. The pipe will be lifted with the hydraulic jacks and pulled with V-levers to match the X, Y,
Z coordinates and align it with the adjacent erected shell. Then tack welding will be done at one
end of the pipe. Similarly another end of the pipe will be lifted and check for its alignment and fixed
by supports.
r. After completion of erection of 2 double shell penstock pipes (10m length), Lot-2 contractor will do
concreting work on completed parts.
s. Same procedure will be followed for other remaining shells from shell no. 32-2 to Reducer R1.
Work Front 1: Installation from Bell Mouth to Butterfly Valve.
a. For transportation of the penstock shell and bell mouth parts, same access route from adit to
valve chamber will be used. Winch of 5 ton capacity will now be demobilize outside the tunnel
and only 3 ton capacity winch machine will be used for transporting the pipe to their respective
areas.
b. Pulley will be installed near the bell mouth section operated by winch of 3-ton capacity to
transport the pipes starting from bell mouth to shell no. 18/A0.
c. First, the bell mouth parts will be transported up to butterfly valve chamber. As pipes reaches
cross area of valve chamber access & penstock line, then the pipes will be lifted by electric
hoist & will be rotated and unloaded on another trolley for dragging over the rail laid on
penstock tunnel line.
d. Now the bell mouth and pipes are dragged to their respective locations as specified in the
drawings with the help of Winch and will be installed in same manner as on work front 1. After
confirmation of alignment, welding and NDT, Lot-2 contractor shall carry out concreting work.
e. For installation work at horizontal area from shell no.1 to shell no.17, firstly with the help of
trolley, the penstock shell will be transported to exact location and the pipe will be lifted with
the help of hydraulic jacks to set the pipe in designed location. And with the help of supports it
will be well fastened before final welding work is done.
f. Same procedure will be followed for quality check of the installed pipes and the concreting
work will be done by Lot-2 contractor in each 10 m of lengths.
g. Then penstock shell A0 and A1 will be transported to their position in the same manner using
trolley. Then, on Adapter A0 and A1, flanges will be tack welded and will be temporarily fixed.
h. Then butterfly valve will be transported through access route and will be installed in position
by using chain blocks on lifting lugs arrangements. (Lot 2 contractor shall construct foundation
for butterfly valve with anchors fixed in designed location as instruction provided by Lot 4
contractor.)
i. After setting butterfly valve in its position and bolting the flanges, both the flanges will be fully
welded with the penstock shells A0 & A1.
Work Front 4: Installation of Bend B5 to Adit Portal (Penstock No. 32-21)
a. The installation procedure for this section will be similar as the installation of Work front 1.
(Bend B3 to Reducer R1).
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Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

Work Front 3: Installation from Penstock no. 32-5 to 32-20

a. The installation procedure for this section will be same as the installation of Work front 2.
Work Front 5: Installation from Reducer R2 to Adapter A6
a. The required penstock shells will be transported to the penstock access portal nearby
powerhouse. For this purpose fixed gantry (FG3) will be installed for unloading/loading
purpose at the portal.
b. And for transportation of these shells inside tunnel, winch machine (W3) 3-ton capacity will be
used for dragging the trolley.
c. The installation, quality check & handover procedure will be same as for the installation work
at horizontal portion of penstock. Two numbers of penstock double shell (around 10 m) will be
installed at one time & it will be handed over to Lot 2 Contractor for concreting.
Work Front 6: Installation of Bifurcation & Branch Pipes
a. All parts of bifurcation & branch pipes will be transported and laid onto their designed location
using mobile crane (16 Ton) and will be aligned in the exact position with the help of jack,
chain block and chain puller.
b. Firstly, Centers and end faces of the branch pipes will be aligned with the help of Total
Station. Then other pieces of bifurcation, bends and straight pipes will be temporarily fixed by
tack welding the pieces together.
c. After every parts gets fixed & aligned, it will be finally checked with the Engineer. Then, final
welding will be carried out.
d. Then the flanges supplied by other contractor will be welded at the end of branch pipes.
e. After completion of welding work, NDT will be carried out followed by repairing work if required
& it will be handed over to Lot 2 Contractor for concreting.

a. Miscellaneous Works
a. After the completion of the welding works on a joint, we would initiate to remove the temporary
supports after the concrete reaches its specified designed strength and take it to the next
immediate shells.
b. The above process will be repeated for about 10 meters length, after which the front will be
provided to the Lot-2 Contractor for concreting works.
c. Support spiders will be removed only after the completion of pressure grouting works.
d. After completion of grouting work by Lot-2 contractor, holes will be plug welded and ground
cleaned.

b. Final Surface Protection

a. After completion of girth welding on penstock shells, the welding burrs, spatters etc will be
cleaned and smoothen by grinding.
b. On the adjoining sides of newly girth welded areas, where only single coat have applied during
fabrication, the surface cleaning and painting will be done as per the procedure specified in
quality plan.

Page 6 of 7
Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited
 Sanjen (Upper) Hydroelectric Project - 14.8 MW
Erection Methodology for Penstock Pipe

c. On the areas where the paint has been damaged during handling, transportation and
installation work, it will be first cleaned and touch up painting will be applied as per the
procedure specified in quality plan.
d. After the confirmation of surface protection works from the Engineer, the whole of the works of
that segment of penstock will be handed to the Employer as Completion of Erection of that
segment.

c. Remarks
a. At the bend portions of penstock layout, the size of tunnel diameter shall be increased to
facilitate bend installation work with necessary anchorage for concreting as shown in
reference drawing for penstock support work.
b. Sufficient fresh air circulation shall be maintained inside tunnel by Lot-2 contractor to prevent
any dangerous or harmful accumulation of dusts, fumes, mists, vapors or gases. While
conducting welding works at multiple fronts, there is maximum possibility of accumulation of
smokes inside tunnel if not properly managed.
c. During installation of penstock shells, seepage water from shotcrete line of tunnel shall not
hamper welding works to be carried out by Lot 4 inside the tunnel. Lot-2 contractor shall
manage such waters if encountered before or after.
d. Seepage water from shotcrete line of tunnel shall be managed and drained properly by Lot-2
contractor so that the mobility of work force and machines and installation works inside the
tunnel do not get affected.
e. As required by site condition, 16 ton Mobile Crane or 12 ton Hydra Crane can be used in place
of fixed gantry proposed in the procedure.
f. Installation tools like Max Pullers, Turn Buckles, V- levers, Chain Blocks etc. can be used as
per the requirement in different location with or for replacement of Winch machine.

Page 7 of 7
Submitted By: Nepal Hydro & Electric Limited