First Filling of Storage at the Bureiskaya Hydropower Plant

Abstract

The storage of the Bureya hydropower plant (HPP) was filled starting from April 25, 2003. The storage dam of the Bureiskaya HPP met the head with an unfinished profile because the first two units were to produce electric power at low heads starting from July 2003, while the dam is to be finished in 2008. A photograph of the dam of the Bureiskaya HPP taken from the tailrace during passage of rainfall flood is presented in Fig. 1. Figure 2 presents contours of a typical rollway and power dam at different stages of its preparedness, typical headrace (HL) and tailrace (TL) levels, and division of the dam into sections and piers. Before creating the head it was necessary to make each section monolithic and provide impermeability of the head front. This required pattern grouting of the bedrock foundation, grouting of dam joints, and curing of cracks dangerous from the standpoint of seepage. The foundation was grouted virtually without complication. Regions with cracked rock occurred only in the rollway (sections 28 – 30), and the amount of cement grout pumped into the boreholes there was several times higher. Grouting of pier joints was complicated by the following factors. Firstly, not all of the blocks surrounding the joint cooled to the design temperature of 4 – 6°C by the moment of grouting of the sections. Secondly, the turn of the pressure piers of the dam toward headrace due to the temperature drop Power Technology and Engineering Vol. 38, No. 1, 2004