China Gezhouba : Left Diversion Tunnel of N-J Hydropower Project in Pakistan was completed

Construction workers of N-J Hydropower Project in front of the cutter head of TBM with the national flag of China

At 12:08, October 23, local time, the left diversion tunnel of N-J Hydropower Project the so-called 'Pakistani version of Three Gorges Project' was completed. Lieutenant General, Muzammil Hussain, President of Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Brigadier, CEO Charliemu of the proprietor, and representatives of parties involved in the construction including Mr. Deng Yin, Assistant to General Manager of CGGC, engineers, and supervisors witnessed the historical moment together.

The diversion tunnel of N-J Hydropower Station will be 67 km long in accordance with the construction plan, a super long tunnel which can rarely be seen in the world. The project is to build a dam on Nehru River and make the water run through a diversion tunnel to the generator set 28.6 km away in the lower reaches. Both TBM and drilling and blasting methods were applied to the project. Workers started boring through the tunnel by drilling and blasting from one end of the tunnel on February 18, 2009 and completed a total length of 5.28 kilometers; while TBM started excavation from the other end of the tunnel on January 31, 2013, and completed a total length of 10.43 kilometers. The left diversion tunnel was completed when the last rock was finally removed together by TBM tunneling technology and the artificial drill-blasting method.

The diversion tunnel of N-J Hydropower Station runs though the fault zone of the Himalayas, whose complex geological conditions featured by deep embedment, large deformation, and complex geology because of the soft-hard lithologic make the construction extremely daunting and difficult. The construction workers braved the huge challenges by cooperating with the engineers, and they has weathered a stream of difficulties like rock blasting and machine breakdown by means of exploration of practical pattern, integration of resources, optimized design and proper organization, which paid off when the left diversion tunnel was successfully completed. And the success marks the great progress of the project.

On the ceremony, Lieutenant General, Muzammil Hussain delivered an emotional speech, in which he extended his sincere gratitude to CGGC, its engineers and its supervisors. He spoke highly of the staff of CGGC who always face up to any difficulty with immense courage and determination. He was impressed in particular by the persistence and concerted efforts of the staff of CGGC, which pulled them through the hard times like water gushing in 2015 and '5.31' super rock blasting.

Mr. Deng Yinqi said in his speech that with a strong sense of responsibility, the staff of CGGC has finished lots of impossible tasks by fighting against nature and racing against time over the past eight years since the N-J Hydropower Project was launched, and they are determined to continue their efforts and fulfill all their tasks so that the project can be completed and serve Pakistani people as soon as possible.

Journalists from China's Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and people.com and other eight Pakistan's TV stations and the staff of the project witnessed the historic moment together.