AESP WO-A-0078 Kajaki Unit 2 Assessment

Budget information contained herein is for illustrative purposes. All policy, personal, financial, and procurement sensitive information has been removed. The document presents an evaluation of the proposed plan for installation of the Unit 2 components in the existing power house at the Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan. Units 1 and 3 were installed in the 1970s, while the Unit 2 components were fabricated by China's CMIC and delivered to the site in 2008. Tetra Tech staff visited the site in 2010 to evaluate the existing conditions, and Black & Veatch (B&V) staff visited the site for two extended periods in 2011 to document and assess the condition of the site and the Unit 2 components. The proposed construction plan involves refurbishing, repairing, or replacing Unit 2 components and installing the turbine, generator, and associated equipment and controls in the center bay of the existing four-level powerhouse. Construction would start with the setup of work facilities, followed by the refurbishing of turbine components, and then the foundation and concrete work for the turbine unit in the powerhouse. The site is located 100 km by road from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and is secured by Afghan and NATO forces. Additional private contractor security forces would be required to ensure safe working conditions. The basic components to install turbine #2 are on site at the powerhouse laydown yard in various states of condition. The use of these components will require some level of restoration or replacement. The list of components that require replacement will not be known until an attempt at refurbishing is done. In addition, there may be some design flaws and other issues that will need to be addressed as work progresses. Due to the location of the site and the hazards involved, the ability to import materials and manpower is difficult. This will cause some delays in construction. Significant preplanning will need to be done to ensure that the construction operation is self-contained and will minimize the need for outside resources. The contractor will provide an onsite batch plant and source aggregate resources near the dam. Access to these resources is assumed to be provided by the government. The implementation schedule calls for a 6-month period for reviewing construction drawings, procuring needed materials, and establishing the construction camp on site. Actual field work is expected to require approximately 18 months for completion, barring any changes in the security of the area and ability to use the CMIC components. Additional time may be required if major components are found to be unusable. Tetra Tech has reviewed the report titled "Kajaki Dam Unit 2 Hydro Inventory and Condition Assessment Report – Draft Final" dated August 28, 2011, prepared by Black & Veatch. The assessment appears to be a thorough and fair evaluation of the situation in the field. Tetra Tech has reviewed the recommendations, with particular interest in the items recommended for replacement, and has the following comments: numerous flanges are identified as needing to be replaced, but some basic machine shop tools can be used to repair rusted or slightly damaged flanges instead of replacing them. A water purification plant to filter river water may be less expensive than importing bottled water. Alternatively, a shallow well with chlorination may also be a less expensive option. A camp for 170 workers is excessive, and the maximum number of workers, excluding local labor, at any given time may not exceed 100. Fuel quantity and cost for powering the camp may be excessive, and if the camp can utilize power generated from the project when it is in service, and the camp size is reduced, perhaps a significant reduction of this cost can be realized. The schedule calls for all 3 units to be installed and on-line by October 2014. This appears to be a somewhat relaxed schedule and requires a full 4-month outage during a portion of the Spring runoff period. The procurement period of the project is expected to be approximately 6 months, and the construction period is expected to be approximately 18 months.