Nam Theun 1 Hydropower Project Volume 2 – Schedule VI

Contract Documents, Contract A Technical Specification - Section II

Reference No. NT1/2019/CCA Civil Works

The strands shall be continuous without splices, welds or couplers and shall be free of defects.
Strands shall be delivered in coils of at least 1.5m diameter properly and shall be protected
against abrasion and corrosion by factory applied methods.
Sheathing tubes shall be durable, rust and corrosion proof, flexible and watertight. They shall be
firmly held in position during the placing and setting of the surrounding concrete.
The strands shall not be introduced into tubes until all welding in any portion of girders and
anchorages has been completed.
All stressing reinforcement to be bonded shall be free of dirt, loose rust, grease or other
deleterious substances.
Post-tensioning of strands shall not commence until the concrete has attained a minimum
compressive strength of 25N/mm2 as measured on standard cylinders made of the same concrete
and cured identically with the concrete placed in the structure.
Tensioning shall be conducted in such a way that the tension being applied and the elongation
may be measured at all times. Records of gauge pressures and elongations shall be kept.
The strands shall be tensioned to the values indicated on the Drawings. After 30 days, a check
measurement of the stress in each post-tensioned strand shall be made. Should these checks
show a loss of induced stress, the strands shall be re-tensioned and rechecked after another 30
days.
After tensioning or re-tensioning has been completed satisfactorily, the inside of the tubes shall
be filled with grout. Before grouting, the tubes shall be free of water, dirt or any other foreign
substance. The tubes shall be blown out with compressed air prior to the grouting operation.
The grout shall be a mixture of cement and fine sand (passing the No.30 sieve) in the
approximate proportions of 1 part cement to 0.75 parts and, by weight. The exact proportion
shall be adjusted to form a grout having the proper consistency. Commercial plasticizers used in
accordance with the manufacturer's recommendation may be used provided they contain no
ingredients that are corrosive to steel. Sufficient pressure shall be used in grouting to force the
grout completely through the duct. Care shall be taken to ensure that rupturing of the ducts does
not occur.

17.4.3 Precast- & Pre-stressed Units

Precast-prestressed structural concrete units shall be manufactured in an approved workshop and
pre-stressed by the pre-tensioning method.
The minimum transverse spacing of the strands at the ends of the unit shall not be less than four
times the diameter of the strand. The minimum cover to the strands shall be 40mm. The
concrete shall be vibrated internally or externally, or both, as approved by the Engineer. The
vibrating shall be done with care in such a manner as to avoid displacement of reinforcement,
conduits, or wires.
Steam curing, where required, shall be done under a suitable enclosure to contain the live steam
and to minimize moisture and heat losses. The initial application of the steam shall be from two
to four hours after the final placement of concrete to allow the initial set of the concrete to take
place. If retarders are used, the waiting period before application of the steam shall be increased
from 4 to 6 hours. The steam shall be at 100% relative humidity to prevent loss of moisture and
to provide excess moisture for proper hydration of the cement. Steam shall not be applied
directly on the concrete.
During application of steam the ambient air temperature shall increase at a rate not exceeding
5°C per hour. The maximum temperature shall be in the range between 60 to 70°C. The
maximum temperature shall be held until the concrete has reached its specified strength.
Afterwards the air temperature shall be decreased at a rate not exceeding 5°C per hour until a

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