PROJECT OVERVIEW
Project Idukki Hydroelectric Rehabilitation Project
Location India
Owner Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
Idukki Dam is a double curvature thin parabolic concrete arch dam constructed
across the Periyar River in a narrow gorge between two granite hills locally known
as Kuravan and Kurathi in Kerala, India.
At 169.16 m (555 ft) Idukki Dam is one of the highest arch dams in Asia. It is the first
and the only arch dam in India. Length of the dam on its top is 365.76 m (1200 ft).
Width of the dam is 7.62 m (25 ft) at the top and 19.81 m (65 ft) at the bottom.
Problems inherent in the site were overcome by the innovative use of load transfer,
parabolic geometry and rock mechanics techniques. The dam construction
completed in 1973.
Idukki dam is constructed and owned by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
The dam was constructed along with two other dams at Cheruthoni and Kulamavu.
Together, the three dams have created an artificial lake. Idukki Arch Dam does not
have any shutters; only Cheruthoni Dam has shutters to release water and maintain
the reservoir level.
The installed capacity of the powerhouse is 780 MW consisting of 6 units of Pelton-
type turbines with a power generation capacity of 130 MW each. The regulated
waters of Periyar falls through a drop of about 669.2 m while generating power in
the underground powerhouse.
WHY MONITORING?
Idukki dam was constructed in 1973 and due to long years of service, it required rehabilitation.
The rehabilitation program comes under Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project
(DRIP) that focuses not only on the rehabilitation and improvement of dam structures but
also addresses shortcomings in instrumentation and maintenance.
A Real Time Structural Health Monitoring & Early Warning System (RTSHMEWS) was planned
for Idukki Dam to provide continuous and up-to-date information about the key parameters
related to the dam's structure and performance. This information would help the dam
operators to make informed decisions about the dam's operation and to ensure its safety.
Purpose of RTSHMEWS can be summarized as follows:
• To ensure the safety & longevity of the dam and improve its reliability
• Timely detection of any behaviour that may deteriorate the dam and potentially result in
its shutdown or failure, in order to implement corrective measures without losing time
• Generating data related to the dam’s performance in real world situation for future design
improvements
• To know the impact of any natural event of the structural integrity of the dam
• To plan the maintenance of the dam in an effective and efficient manner.
MONITORING SOLUTION
Real Time Structural Health
Monitoring & Early Warning System
(RTSHMEWS) designed for Idukki Dam
covered supply, installation and
commissioning of new geodetic and
geotechnical safety monitoring
instrumentation (real time) as well as
automation of existing geotechnical
monitoring instrumentation (manual
readings to real time).
SCOPE OF WORKS
We were assigned with the crucial
task of safety monitoring for the dam.
Scope included:
• Supply and Installation of
Geotechnical, Geodetic & Hydro-
meteorological sensors
• Programming & commissioning of
dataloggers and robotic total
stations with control boxes,
equipped with wireless data
transmission
• Integration of existing working
sensors in the dam with the new
monitoring system; the historic data
correlated into the new monitoring
system.
• Data storage and back-up servers
• Lightening, surge protection and
earthing
• Setting up of data management
software, for real time monitoring
with instant alarms
DATA COLLECTION AND PRESENTATION
The monitoring system is capable of
continuous monitoring of data from
sensors installed in the dam. It is also
capable of accepting manual data of non-
automated geotechnical sensors, as well as
manual survey data from geodetic targets.
Compact dataloggers and data acquisition
system, with suitable interface unit are
collecting the data from Geotechnical and
Hydro-meteorological sensors at desired
intervals. The frequency is re-configurable,
depending on site requirements.
Two robotic total stations collect the data
from prism targets installed on curved
surface of dam at desired frequencies. Each
total station is equipped with our in-house
developed control box. The control boxes
have suitable software, that allows to
control the total stations remotely.
The dataloggers and robotic total station's control box transmit the data wirelessly to the
central server having our database management software. The central server is installed in an
instrumentation & control room located at quite a distance from the dam location.
SENSORS DEPLOYED
Uplift Installed in dam galleries (drilled
pressure drains), to monitor the uplift pressure
meter acting on dam
Installed at the cracks/joints in dam
Crack meter galleries, to monitor opening of
& joint meter existing cracks or the joints between
different blocks of the dam.
Installed in the vaults at top of the
Tilt meter dam and at other location to monitor
the tilt of dam structure.
Installed in the galleries in inclined
Concrete
holes, towards downstream side of
temperature
the dam. These were required to
meter
monitor the concrete temperature.
Installed towards the upstream side
of the dam to monitor water
temperature close to the dam’s face.
Water
A chain of temperature meters at
temperature
different depths was suspended in
meter
water from top, to monitor water
temperature at various depth,
spanning the dam height.
Installed in dam drains in galleries
along with V-notch, to monitor the
Flow meter
rate of water seeping through dam’s
foundation.
installed at top of Cheruthoni dam
(located near Idukki Dam) to monitor
Reservoir
the water level of the reservoir. Both
level sensor
radar type as well as vw type sensors
were used.
consisted of air temperature and
Weather relative humidity, wind speed and
station direction, solar radiation,
atmospheric pressure and rain gage.
to collect data automatically from
the sensors at required intervals;
Dataloggers incorporated with GSM/GPRS
modem for wireless data
transmission to central server
installed at the downstream intrados
(concave surface) of the arch dam.
Prism targets Special prism targets with 60 mm
dia and hood for protection were
used.
two stations with individual control
Robotic total
boxes were commissioned to
station
monitor the prism targets.
CHALLENGES FACED
The installation of prism target on the concave side on the double arch dam was quite
challenging. A lot of preparatory works and arrangements were done for the
installation of prisms, as it was difficult to reach the installation location due to the
double curvature-parabolic surface of the intrados of dam, and the huge height of the
dam (169.16 m).
A trained person, with proper license to work at heights, did the installations, as can
be seen in the installation photographs. A rope access technician, at the dam top,
controlled/assisted the movement of the installation person.
During the installation, an experienced surveyor was always at the robotic total
station to ensure the correct direction of prism target. The successful installation of all
the prism targets was quite an achievement.
CASE STUDY
The data from our state-of-the-art
monitoring system installed under
Real Time Structural Health
Monitoring & Early Warning System
(RTSHMEWS) program at Idukki
Dam, ensured the safety of hundreds
of people when the water level at
Idukki dam breached all trigger
values.
On October 18, 2021, the water level
was recorded at ~2397.37 feet in
Idukki reservoir - one of the largest
reservoirs in India. An orange alert
siren was given.
The full reservoir level of Idukki dam is 2,403 feet. After the red alert sounded on
October 19, 2021, three gates of the Cheruthoni dam on the Periyar river were opened
by the local authorities in Kerala to ease the pressure on the Idukki dam structure in
the wake of heavy rainfall in the area. Cheruthoni dam is one of the three dams that
form the Idukki reservoir. As water gushed down, its level rose in Cheruthoni River - a
tributary of the Periyar River. As many as 200 families residing on the banks of the
Periyar were alerted and shifted to relief camps as a precautionary measure.
