Power Engineering and Hydraulic Engineering Construction

the branch of construction concerned with putting electric power and hydraulic engineering installations into service. Electric power installations include electric power plants and substations, electric power supply systems and transmission lines, and enterprises that constitute the branch’s industrial base. Hydraulic engineering installations include dams, tunnels, aqueducts, ship lifts and inclined planes, locks, and lighthouses.

The primary trends in power engineering and hydraulic engineering construction in the USSR are toward the building of large atomic and fossil-fuel-fired steam power plants; the construction of large hydroelectric power plants, cascades of hydroelectric power plants, and hydroengineering complexes for the integrated use of water resources; and the construction of large-scale interregional and trunk power transmission lines.

The branch typically applies integrated mechanization to production processes together with industrialization and the introduction of advanced technology; integrated mechanization in all construction and assembly operations in the branch reached a level of 96–98 percent by the mid-1970’s. Specialized construction machines have been created for digging foundation areas and trenches, boring holes under supports, laying foundations and supports, and laying power lines. The construction of many electric power and hydraulic engineering installations (fossil-fuel-fired steam power plants, power substations, and power transmission lines) has been standardized, which permits extensive use of prefabricated structural elements that can be assembled directly at the construction site.

Power engineering and hydraulic engineering construction is making progress toward a higher level of industrialization by using high efficiency construction technology, by introducing automatic control systems for installations, by shortening construction periods, and by substantially increasing labor productivity.