Ingula Pumping Station tunnel collapses, Six dead

SirFooK'nG

SirFooK'nG

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Just received a National alert on twitter for a structural collapse at Ingula Pumping Station near Ladysmith. ... Anyone have details?
 

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Unconfirmed reports say 30 trapped and 3 dead.
An explosion has caused part of a tunnel to collapse.

KZN/Bester | Update 12) Collapsed Tunnel | Caused by an Explosion | Ingula Pumping Station! Hydro Electric Power Tunnel is for Water | â–¶ 12) Unconfirmed 25 more people miss | Awaiting further info
 
:( this will be a big problem if its true..


Over and above the 700 odd injured, it will be the delay over over 1200MW of power, and an escalation of the R27bn cost so far.
 
UPDATE on Structural collapse at Ingula Pumping Stationthey have access to 6 patients, 9 unaccounted for...
 
Hope they manage to rescue the trapped folks and the injured pull through ok.
 
Three killed in Eskom Tunnel Collapse

Three people were killed and several others seriously injured when a tunnel collapsed at Eskom's Ingula pumped storage scheme near Ladysmith on Thursday, police said.

Lieutenant Jack Haskins, of the police's search and rescue unit, said he understood three people had been killed and that five or six people were seriously injured. A further eight or nine people could not be accounted for.

Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said there "was an incident", and he was awaiting further details before he could comment.

The scheme, which is under construction, was expected to go live next year and involved pumping water up the Drakensberg Mountains from the Braamhoek Dam to the Bedford Dam during off-peak hours, an elevation of about 470m. Water would then be released through the tunnels to flow down during peak hours, generating electricity.

It could not be confirmed if Eskom employees or contractors were in the tunnels. The cause of the collapse was not yet known.


Source : Sapa /js/fg/ks/th
Date : 31 Oct 2013 11:51
 
The subcontractors were probably invoicing for 700 people in the tunnel, when 7 pitched up.
 
ToxicBunny said:
:( this will be a big problem if its true..


Over and above the 700 odd injured, it will be the delay over over 1200MW of power, and an escalation of the R27bn cost so far.
Click to expand...

incorrect about the delay in power.
Ingula is a PEAKING station (only performs at certain times). They are not a GENERATION plant (power to grid 24/7).

sad about the accident!
 
pboy said:
incorrect about the delay in power.
Ingula is a PEAKING station (only performs at certain times). They are not a GENERATION plant (power to grid 24/7).

sad about the accident!
Click to expand...

Ummmm, I never said it was baseload or peaking or anything..

Its a delay in the ability to generate an extra 1200MW of power.. plain and simple, and we as a country need every bit we can get.
 
You're both missing something critical.

That's 1.20 GIGAWATTS! Just another 10 megawatts and we could go back!
 
Sad about the loss of life and hope they recover the trapped workers. :(

i used to work for a company that was involved in the design of the cavern rock support. Initially I thought it was related to ground collapse.
 
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