The Central Region Water Resources Office (CRWRO), Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, supervised the Hushan Reservoir project. For the Hushan Dam, the volume of the earthwork materials reached 12.8 million cubic meters, the most filling sizes in Taiwan so far. The “Hushan Reservoir on-site laboratory” is dedicated to the Reservoir, providing geotechnical engineering tests solely to the construction works of the Hushan Reservoir. Its primary tasks include in-situ tests and statistical analysis of the test results as a reference for the administrative unit (CRWRO in control of construction progress).
We applied the certification for the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory (the main lab.) in 2006 and the Hushan Reservoir On-site Lab. (the branch lab.), respectively, and was awarded certifications. Through the certification process, we successfully got accredited and completed 29 procedures quality manual, 16 standard inspection procedures (SIP), 12 standard verification procedures (SVP), 13 standard operations procedures (SOP), 16 assessments on uncertainties, and related audits, proficiency testing, education course and technical training programs.
The Laboratory conducted tests follow the standard specifications for construction, certification on all 16 tests (aggregate sieve analysis test, field density test, compaction test and Standard Test Method for Rapid Determination of percent Compaction, etc.) (as shown in Figure 1, 2)
The monthly statistics of test reports in three dams (the Hushan main dam, the Husan auxiliary dam and the Hunan dam) over the years show that subject to the weather (precipitation), fewer tests were done mainly in June – September, and annual test number reached the highest in 2012, with a total of 6,600 reports produced. Since 2008 to 2013, the Hushan Reservoir on-site laboratory conducted various geotechnical engineering tests on the reservoir engineering till the completion of the reservoir, a total of 19,361 reports were completed.
The “Hushan Reservoir on-site laboratory” was founded in 2008, has performed the “Quality test of Hushan Reservoir on-site laboratory” project for 6 years and qualified by TAF(Taiwan Accreditation Foundation) certification for conducting site tests. The process included various on-site tests as well as the statistical analysis of the test results. We faced the challenge from the accreditation application procedure, sampling, test processes. The operating personnel in the laboratory also skillfully perform apparatus to meet the TAF accreditation requirements. And, we thank for the harmony cooperation between all colleagues to make the task performance onto the right track.
Figure.1 Field density test (water replacement method)
Figure.2 Field density test (sand-cone method)
Figure.3 Aerial view of the completed Hushan Reservoir