Engineering Division specialists have applied the Russian Sheet-Pile Walls (abbreviated as RShS in Russian) technology in constructing foundation pit retaining structures for water intake structures and for the feed pump station at the Rooppur NPP construction site (Bangadesh).
Russian Sheet-Pile Walls are a construction kit featuring a ready-made range of standard solutions based on sheet piles with beams as reinforcing members. Other technical solutions for foundation pit retaining structures like, for instance, a slurry-wall technology, were unsuitable for the Rooppur NPP construction site due to the complex hydrogeological conditions. That is why the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) of the Engineering Division proposed that an RShS technology, selected and added to the industry-wide Database of Best Available Technologies (BAT Database), be implemented at the Rooppur NPP.
As compared to similar sheet-pile structures like, for instance, tubular sheet piles (abbreviated as TSh in Russian), the RShS technology boasts such advantages as a simplified assembly process at the construction site and high stability at low costs. It takes less time to drive piles for RShS in comparison with TSh which is a great advantage in the context of constructing an NPP. Thanks to the RShS high stacking density, logistics costs can be reduced. This solution allows you to reduce the installation time for retaining structures to a value of up to twice as low, and to cut the costs of works and materials by about 30%.
With a view to successfully implementing the said technology, the TTC has formed a technological alliance involving Aquatic JSC, GK Profil Ltd. and Orgenergostroy Institute JSC and interacting with the Nizhny Novgorod Design Institute, a branch office of the Atomenergoproekt JSC, for design issues. Such a formation has made it possible to unite experience and competencies of the members by creating a continuous process chain ranging from the design to the implementation.
Building on the successful application experience gained at the Rooppur NPP, the RShS technology is currently in active use at one more NPP Construction Project of the Rosatom State Corporation. It is expected that the technology will be further scaled and applied, among other things, in creating and developing the Northern Sea Route infrastructure.
For reference:
BAT (Best Available Technologies) Database is a register of innovative solutions, products, modern technologies, materials, items, high technology services, and far-reaching developments having achieved the stage of high technological readiness (TRL 8-9 levels). All technical solutions of the BAT Database have had not less than two successful industrial applications, show high competitiveness, and market potential both in Russia and abroad, and are recommended for wide use in capital construction projects for nuclear facilities.