Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr Sohan’s recent letter in SN on the eight-door sluice and note that it is normal for the owner (NDIA) to purchase the steel gates ahead of tender and give same to the contractor for installation when construction starts.
Normally for this type of construction the control section of the sluice is built first and gates and assemblies are installed when access is available to do so. Then later the upstream and downstream sections are built. The gates are not yet on site and the contractor now has no choice but to utilise the access slab to install the gates. NDIA and its consultants appear to have screwed up big time. It does not appear to me that the access slab has been designed to sustain the loading from a crane or dragline lifting a steel door which weighs over 1.5 tons.
Under the circumstances the contractor should get the owners’ approval to do so.
Yours faithfully,
M Alli
