Small Hydroelectric Engineering Practice

Chapter 11

Construction and commissioning

No matter what the size of the project, a project manager should be appointed. His/her

job is to:

– prepare and update a Gantt chart

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showing all the tasks that need to be carried

out and showing the critical path

– prepare a project budget and keep it up-to-date as new information becomes

available

– certify payments to contractors and manage variations

– make sure that everyone involved is informed when a design change is needed

– convene regular meetings of the whole design team at regular intervals to discuss

any problems and report on progress.

The competence of the project manager is a critical factor in the success of the

scheme. The project manager’s primary loyalty should be to the owner, not the

contractor. He must act impartially in the event of a dispute.

11.1 PROJECT CONSTRUCTION

Construction of a small hydro scheme usually involves many contractors and subcon-

tractors. Whether or not there should be a single main contractor and all the others

should be subcontractors is a decision that needs to be considered very carefully. If the

developer or the consultant is confident that they can manage the coordination and

integration, then employing a number of contractors – often from the locality – is usu-

ally cheaper and, in many cases, will expedite the project. For instance, a small local

contractor can be employed for site clearing and initial excavation to reveal the actual

site conditions before the design is complete.

During construction it is important to maintain accurate records of what is actu-

ally built and to record the geology that is revealed during excavations. These records

will be invaluable in the event of any civil engineering problems in the future.

Installation of mechanical and electrical equipment should, if possible, be done

with the involvement of local contractors because this will ensure that there are local

people available with knowledge of the equipment and how it can be dismantled and

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An excellent (and free) Gantt program is available from http://www.ganttproject.biz/praha.