At 10:00 a.m. local time in Zambia on September 14, 2018, in the loud celebrating sound of firecrackers, the final concrete placement for the main structure of an open channel was smoothly finished, marking the full completion of the 4556.833m-long water diversion channel of the 3×5MW Lusivasi Hydropower Station, a project undertaken by CMEC in Zambia.

 

According to the original design, the full length of the channel was 4662.616m. After some optimization, it was then shortened to 4556.833m, in which the concrete retaining wall section, the section of transition from retaining wall to channel lining, and the section of 1:1.5 thin-concrete lining of channel slope are 323.4m, 60m, and 4173.433m in length, respectively. Thirteen buried culverts built of reinforced concrete and three buried drain pipe culverts made of corrugated pipes are laid along the channel. Also constructed for the channel are two 10m-long 1m-wide cross-channel pedestrian bridges for maintenance and one 11.22m-long 5.6m-wide cross-channel highway bridge built of cast-in-place freely supported beams.

 

Construction of the channel was commenced in May 2017 and completed on September 14, 2018, taking only 16 months although it involves excavation of 354,000 m3 of earth and stones, placement of 9, 915 m3 of concrete, fabrication/installation of 79.5 tons of steel bars, installation of 64 tons of concrete crack-prevention wire meshes and 678 meters of buried pipe culverts, paving of 13,000 m2 of geo-membranes, installation of 1,120 meters of rubber water-stop belts, and installation of 6,080 one-way drain valves and drain pipes.

 

Characterized by huge quantities of works and high difficulty in construction, the main part of the water-diversion open channel is crucial to the 3×5MW Lusivasi Hydropower Station, and the construction period covers a rainy season as long as six months from November 2017 to April 2018. With the joint efforts of the project department, site management department, Hunan Water Conservancy and Hydropower Design and Research Institute, and Hubei Dayu Water Resources and Hydropower Construction Co., Ltd, in accordance with the guiding principle of “seeking high quality, providing excellent service, putting people first, protecting the environment, making continuous improvement, striving for the best,” and based on careful organization and reasonable planning, the construction team conquered numerous challenges and completed the diversion channel project on schedule with high quality, safety and efficiency by adopting a large number of new technologies, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent commissioning and operation of the 3×5MW Lusivasi Hydropower Station.