ACCIDENT OF GT (FR9 Fa+) & ITS RETRIEVAL

INCIDENT REPORT:The Contract for Marine Cum Inland Transportation from US Port to Pipavav site for FR9fa(+) Gas Turbine was finalised by BHEL ROD, Mumbai on Shipping Corporation of India. SCI in turn, engaged M/s J M Baxi for the inland transport. The Consignment was dispatched from Mundra Port on 30th July09 which fell into Shetrunjay River at Talaja, near Bhavnagar due to the failure of the span of the Bridge on 8th August09. Weight of the Consignment was around 280 MT. The trailer was a brand new 132 Tyre Hydraulic Trailer of Volvo Make and it was carrying its first consignment. The rear side of the trailer kept hanging with broken slab of bridge after collapse (Refer view 1 & 2). The 250m long bridge had 10 spans, each span being 25m long. The third span totally collapsed as the Bearing over which RCC Girder and RCC Slab were resting snapped. The bridge also failed from the middle of the span. GT was submerged in water. Though a part of Inlet, Combustion and Exhaust chambers could be seen. 5 Casualties were observed.

RETRIEVAL PLAN:Retrieval plan was made by BHEL Hyderabad in association with BHEL Officials at Pipavav Site. Civil works near the GT prior to lifting the GT was a major challenge which was overcome by preparing a Coffer Dam around the work area and Preparation of a Steady & solid working Platform made from rubble masonry & plumb concrete for heavy lift crane movement. A plan for lifting the GT, Shifting it to a working platform and dismantling it there itself over the platform was prepared thereafter.

CIVIL WORKS PRIOR RETRIEVAL:Survey was done for an access road from Highway to the place of fall (River bank) submersed in water. Through talks with concerned officials water of the River was stopped at the Dam near to the bridge. To prevent water logging, a coffer dam was prepared around the GT area. An excavation of 5 m was done and a strong platform was built using Random Rubble Masonry for a height of 4.5 m. Platform was strong enough to bear the load of GT and the Crane Movement. An access road of 7m width was prepared from the Highway to the place of fall.

INITIAL SITUATION The trailor was removed prior the land preparation for GT-Retrieval.

LAND DEVELOPMENT : (Initial Stage) The loose black cotton soil was removed first after the removal of trailor.

APPROACH ROAD

An approach road of 7m width was prepared from the main road to the place of fall (River bank) for the movement of crane and vehicles

PLATFORM FOR CRANE MOVEMENT AND DISMANTLING OF GT POST RETRIVAL

COFFER DAM CONSTRUCTION Coffer Dam was constructed to avoid seepage of water to the work-area. Still, heavy de-watering of River Water was required.

SALVAGING OPERATION: After the fall, GT got stabilized in a position almost perpendicular to the position of the base. Thus, first the GT was tilted by 90o i.e. to a position where its all 4 Lifting Lugs were easily accessed by the slings so that the crane could easily lift it. Structure beams and other supporting members required for the tilting operation were designed by BHEL Hyderabad. After tilting, GT was shifted to the platform prepared. The GT was dismantled there itself before sending it back to the concerned Unit/Service Station.

OVERALL SITE VIEW AFTER MOBILIZATION OF HEAVY LIFT CRANES LIFTING THE GT

TILTING OPERATION OF GT BY CRANE (600MT)

SALVAGING OPERATION OF GT PROBLEMS FACED DURING SALVAGING

Entire bed was to be prepared with Random-Rubble masonry &

Plumb Concrete which could bear the weight of a 650 MT Capacity crane and 280 MT GT with other small cranes. Constructing such platform over a river bed became a herculean task.

Even after taking all possible precautions water seepage couldnt be stopped and thus continuous dewatering was done. The behavior of GT while tilting, though thoroughly, but was still unpredictable. was calculated

The casings of the compressor chamber were just 35mm thick,

thus care was taken while designing the beams used to tilt the GT. CONCLUSION The Gas Turbine was successfully removed from the River and was placed over a platform adjacent to the river bed. It was dismantled

there itself so it could be sent back to the Unit safely. The Inlet Chamber, Compressor chamber and the exhaust chamber were sent to Hyderabad unit and the Rotor assembly and the nozzles were shipped to Singapore to get them checked through GE.