CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION


1.1 General Background
The Cameron Highlands Hydroelectric Scheme is located in the northwest of the state
of Pahang, Malaysia. It was constructed in the period between 1957 and 1964. The
scheme consists of four small run-of-rivers and one storage hydro project and has five
power stations. The main features of the storage project beside the 100 MW
underground power stations are a 40-m high concrete buttress dam with gated
spillways, four side-stream diversion schemes of Sungai Plauur, Sungai Kial, Sungai
Kodol, and Sungai Telom, some 20 km length of tunnels, the Bertam Intake and other
appurtenant structures.
The Ringlet Reservoir is a man-made lake created upstream of the concrete
dam on Sungai Bertam. It impounds the waters of Sungai Bertam and its tributaries
and those of Sungai Telom, Sungai Plauur, Sungai Kodol and Sungai Kial which
have been diverted from the Telom catchment through the Telom Tunnel into the
Bertam catchment. The designed gross storage of the reservoir is about 6.7 million
cubic meters, of which, 4.7 million cubic meters is usable storage. Water from the
Ringlet Reservoir is channeled through a tunnel to the Sultan Yussuf (Jor) Power
Station and then is discharged through a tailrace tunnel into the Jor Reservoir of the
Batang Padang Hydroelectric Scheme. The Ringlet Reservoir, which has an estimated
dead storage of 2.0 million cubic meters, would have a useful life of approximately 80
years.
Since its operation in 1963, the Ringlet Reservoir has lost nearly 53% of its
gross storage to sedimentation, which is presently estimated as reaching a volume of
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about 3.5 4.0 million cubic meters yearly. Figure 1.1.1 shows the storage capacity
curve of the Ringlet Reservoir. The current estimated sediment deposition rate in the
Ringlet Reservoir is in the range between 350,000 to 400,000 cubic meters per year.
Figure 1.1.2 shows the decline in trap efficiency over time for the Ringlet Reservoir
calculated using the Brunes method on an annual basis, which shows the current
trapping efficiency of the reservoir to be about 56 %.


FIGURE 1.1.1 Ringlet Reservoirs Reservoir Capacity Curve (1963 vs. 2000) (Choy
& Hamzah 2000)

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FIGURE 1.1.2 Ringlet Reservoirs: Trap Efficiency vs. Operation Period (Published
by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) 1978)
Most of the incoming sediment is therefore unlikely to be deposited in the
Ringlet Reservoir and will be carried down to the Sultan Yussuf Power Station and
discharged into the Jor Reservoir. Presently, 45.2% of the 3.9 million cubic meters
gross storage of Jor Reservoir is filled with sediment. A study in 1999/2000 (SNC-
Lavalin, 2000) indicates that the sediment deposition in the Ringlet Reservoir has not
affected the safety of the dam. However, the substantial reduction in the live storage
of the reservoir would largely reduce the capability of the Sultan Yussuf Power
Station to generate peaking power for the load requirement of the National Grid and
would also reduce the capability of the reservoir to regulate incoming high flow. The
former will make the Sultan Yussuf Power Station to be no different from other run-
of-river stations and will result in financial loss; the latter will pose a risk of the dam
being without flood control capacity, hence leading to frequent spillage and flooding
of the downstream Bertam Valley during monsoon (Published by Tenaga Nasional
Berhad (TNB) 1978).
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Therefore, in order to maintain the storage capacity of the dam; dredging of
sediments is carried out regularly. These dredged sediments are deposited at the
landfills causing serious environmental problems. Therefore, the best solid waste
management practice is to use these sediments in producing construction and building
materials.

1.2 Problem Statement
Thousands cubic meter of sediments are dredged yearly from the Ringlet Reservoir.
These sediments are deposited into the landfills creating unfavorable environmental
situation. In addition, the cost of the landfill is quite high. Therefore, the best solid
waste management option is to use these sediments in producing construction and
building materials.

1.3 Project Objective
1. To characterize the reservoirs sediments,
2. To propose a new potential usable products using the sediments.


1.4 Significance of Research
The significant of this research would be the analysis of the characteristics of
Cameron Highlands reservoirs sediments and to propose the new potential usable
products using these sediments.

1.5 Organization of the Project
This study has been organized in 5 chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction; literature
review has been expressed in Chapter 2 to review and study the technical journal,
conference proceedings for collection of information and existing knowledge in
Malaysia and others parts of the world. The Methodology of the project is covered in
Chapter 3 which is characterization of collected sediments from different points of the
reservoirs by TNBR, as identified in the Figure 1.5.3. Results and analysis has been
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described in Chapter 4 and eventually conclusions and recommendations have been
presented in Chapter 5.


Figure 1.5.3 Map for Sampling Points in Cameron Highlands