The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : CPDCL to adopt trenchless technology

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Friday, May 27, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

CPDCL to adopt trenchless technology

Staff Reporter

Move to prevent frequent interruptions in the works pertaining to underground cabling

Machines will scan sub-terrain for other lines such as water, sewerage or telephone cables
Safe depth to be determined where cables may be laid with no damage to existing lines

HYDERABAD: Vexed with frequent interruptions in the works pertaining to underground cabling due to objections from the GHMC and the traffic police, the Central Power Distribution Company is moving to trenchless technology for laying cables across the roads in future.

Services of Horizontal Directional Drilling Machines will be commandeered through tendering, whenever road cutting becomes necessary during forthcoming works, informed a senior official from the Master Plan wing of the CPDCL.

The machines will first scan the sub-terrain for other lines such as water or sewerage pipes or telephone cables. They will determine a safe depth where the power cables may be laid with no damage to existing lines.

Drilling horizontally, the machine will drag the cables through a PVC pipe which it simultaneously inserts into place.

In the conventional trenching method, the laying of cables cannot be completed in single night, causing great trouble for vehicular traffic the next day. Therefore it has become the practice to choose a weekend of Second Saturday and Sunday for cable laying, so that there will be minimal traffic which can safely be diverted. However, the lengthy time lag between the finish of underground cabling works and the GHMC's initiation of road re-laying works is leaving the road users and traffic police fuming alike.

This, coupled with recent instructions from the Traffic Police proscribing road digging in view of the oncoming monsoons, have encouraged the power distribution officials to look for alternative means to finish the existing works.

“We are looking forward to employ horizontal drilling method initially for two kilometres distributed across seven locations in the city. Costs are comparable between both the methods. Agency has been identified and we are waiting for clearance from corporate office,” the official informed.

Current works of underground cabling pertain to the newly constructed substations at Errum Manzil and Begumpet, apart from alternative supply to Maitrivanam area and provision of additional circuits to the AP Secretariat, he said.

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Andhra Pradesh