Nupche Likhu Hydropower Project — Geotechnical Investigations & SRT Survey
About the Project
The Nupche Likhu Hydropower Project is a 57.5 MW run-of-river scheme under development by Vision Energy & Power Pvt. Ltd. (VEPL) in Ramechhap District. The project harnesses the combined flow of the Nupche Khola and Likhu Khola — snow-fed tributaries originating in the high mountain terrain of Province 1 — through a high-head design with a gross head of 994 m and three Pelton turbines at a surface powerhouse at 2,336 m elevation. The intake is located at 3,330 m above sea level, conveying water through a twin-tunnel headrace system of approximately 6,825 m.
IES was engaged to conduct comprehensive geotechnical investigations and seismic refraction tomography (SRT) across five critical project structures — the Nupche and Likhu headworks, surge tank, outlet portal and powerhouse — providing the subsurface characterisation essential for foundation design, tunnel alignment and slope stability assessment in this high-altitude, structurally complex mountain terrain.
Field investigations comprised 290 m of rotary core drilling across nine boreholes, supported by 216 in-situ tests and extensive laboratory analysis of soil and rock samples. Eight SRT lines totalling 2,150 m were acquired and processed to delineate subsurface layer boundaries, bedrock depth, groundwater conditions, and structural discontinuities across all major structure sites.
What We Did
The Nupche Likhu Hydropower Project is a 57.5 MW run-of-river scheme under development by Vision Energy & Power Pvt. Ltd. (VEPL) in Ramechhap District. The project harnesses the combined flow of the Nupche Khola and Likhu Khola — snow-fed tributaries originating in the high mountain terrain of Province 1 — through a high-head design with a gross head of 994 m and three Pelton turbines at a surface powerhouse at 2,336 m elevation. The intake is located at 3,330 m above sea level, conveying water through a twin-tunnel headrace system of approximately 6,825 m.
IES was engaged to conduct comprehensive geotechnical investigations and seismic refraction tomography (SRT) across five critical project structures — the Nupche and Likhu headworks, surge tank, outlet portal and powerhouse — providing the subsurface characterisation essential for foundation design, tunnel alignment and slope stability assessment in this high-altitude, structurally complex mountain terrain.
Field investigations comprised 290 m of rotary core drilling across nine boreholes, supported by 216 in-situ tests and extensive laboratory analysis of soil and rock samples. Eight SRT lines totalling 2,150 m were acquired and processed to delineate subsurface layer boundaries, bedrock depth, groundwater conditions, and structural discontinuities across all major structure sites.
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