A Case Study of Steep Penstock Welding at Rammam Hydel Project

A project was commissioned in Sep- tember’95 for supplying much needed 50 MW power to Darjeeling area. But construction of the project appeared to be one of the most difficult of its kind. The site of the project was in a very remote place tucked into the picturesque hills of Darjeeling district which loom majestically on the sides overlooking Sikkim and Nepal. In particular major complexity was involved in the installation of steel Penstock lines. There in the welding of virtually vertical pipelines was a challenging job. The entire assignment of design, fabrication and erection of the penstock system (carried out by Texmaco of Calcutta) under the difficult site conditions, such as climate, location, and the time schedule, presented many interesting problems. This article reflects those problems encountered and similar future projects might benefit from this experience.