TuPIN: Looking Five Years Back and Forward

TuPIN: Looking Five Years Back and Forward 

Tunneling Process Innovation in Nepal (TuPIN), a knowledge collaboration initiated on 12 November, 2016 started as coffee meetings with Understanding for Collaboration (UfC) signed on 7 January 2017 among Knowledge Holding International (KHInt), Nepal Tunneling Association (NTA), Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) and, Youth Community for Nepalese Contractors (YCNC) with special advisor Er. Shiv Kumar Basnet, former Project Director, Bheri Babai Diversion Multi-Purpose Project (BBDMP), Government of Nepal.

TuPIN is taken forward with the high importance of energy generation as a primary resource for development, with keen attention on the need and desire to make a significant contribution to hydropower development, best utilization of knowledge and skills of experts with collaborating persons and entities. TuPIN has internalized that innovation is much needed in the process of construction to accelerate the development of hydropower tunnel-based projects in Nepal.

Collaborative and innovative mode of construction of tunnels for hydropower projects is now imperative. Breakthrough innovation in tunneling process focusing on hydropower development in Nepal is the outcome of discussion among the interested officials of collaborating institutions for joining hands to explore, identify and demonstrate the potential hydropower projects to construct based on the Process Innovation in Tunneling to achieve economies of scale for use of TBM. The initiative is expected to open an innovative business model for utilization of high-end equipment for smarter construction of large projects in Nepal and elsewhere. 

TuPIN: Idea, Analogy and Innovation

TuPIN Timeline: Looking Back

The knowledge product of TuPIN as a technical document was made ready for publication and presented in the Nepal Infrastructure Summit - February, 2017 Souvenir (NIS 2017). Later, the work was cited in Nepal Infrastructure 2030, Investment and Financing Needs (CNI, 2019). 

The knowledge gained was also shared at the two major events of the collaborating agency, IPPAN and NTA, presented at the Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018, organized by IPPAN, 6 January, 2018 and at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nepal Tunneling Association (NTA) on 3rd March 2017.

 In March 2019, International Tunneling Association (ITA) published “ITA Tech Guidelines on Rebuilds of Machinery for Mechanized Tunnel Excavation” (ITA 2019) which provides guidelines for reuse of pre-used Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). A pre-used TBM may now be Remanufactured or Refurbished following the provisions of the guideline. The ITA guideline has enhanced the TuPIN concept of using single TBM for multiple projects having varied diameters. 

Though at an early stage, reuse of TBM for multiple projects is already in practice in Nepal. The TBMthat was used to successfully construct Bheri-Babai diversion tunnel (12 Km long, 4.2 m finished diameter) is to be reused for tunneling of Sunkoshi Marin diversion tunnel (13 Km long, 5.5 m finished diameter) after rebuilding to meet the technical requirements. Presently, the TBM is in the process of assembly at site and is expected to start excavation by the end of September 2022.

Perceptions on moving Forward

Preliminary assessment made by the TuPIN expert group indicates that Tunnelling for Multiple Hydropower with single TBM is possible in Nepal, and that there exists sufficient inventory of projects to follow the TuPIN concept. Resolving remaining issues is not seen as a major challenge as developers need to work collaboratively in each river basin. 

TuPIN is now seen as demonstrating Tunneling Process Innovation in Nepal – an example of Collaborative Innovation, the process is expected to replicate rapidly once one set of projects starts construction.

 ITA coming out with the guidelines for reuse of TBM and Sunkoshi Marin diversion tunnel adopting pre-used TBM after rebuilding to meet requirements and specifications are testimonies that support the concept of TuPIN.

The TuPIN expert team believes there are multiple possibilities to explore and identify varieties of business models for value added utilization of highcost construction equipment for TBM . Moreover, numbers of Road and Railway tunnel projects are under planning/studying in various geological regions. Us of single TBM for multiple projects is realistic in the near future in Nepal.

Reference

ITA 2019, ITATech Guidelines on Rebuilds of Machinery for Mechanized Tunnel Excavation, International Tunneling Association, ITATech Report, No5-V2, March 2019. (Source:about.itaaites.org/files/ITATECH-REPORT-2019_Rebuild. pdf). NIS 2017, Tunneling Process Innovation in Nepal (TuPIN), Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017  (NIS-2017), Souvenir, pp 49-52, Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Kathmandu, Nepal.

 CNI 2019, Utilization of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in Nepal, Nepal Infrastructure 2030, Investment and Financing Needs, Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Box 15, PP 75, September 2019.

Note: This article is from Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2022 Souvenir by Shashi Bhattarai, Shiv Kumar Basnet, Sandip Shah, Ram Hari Sharma, Birendra Raj Pandey.