MAKILING-BANAHAW GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT

The steam pipe lines at the toe of slope in Bulalo 34 station of the Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Power Plant (Mak-Ban) have been found to be at high risk of damage from falling rocks. This has caught the attention of Mak-Ban’s Engineering Office and requested Maccaferri for an immediate site inspection. After the site inspection, it has been found that the main causes of falling debris in the subject area were the high wind velocity at the elevation of Bulalo 34, the unwanted trees, and the absence of an interceptor drainage canal that could address surface run-off.

Maccaferri engineers recommended a simple drapery system using SteelGrid, which aimed to limit the movement of falling debris. And since the major constituents in the slopes were found to be a mixture of rocks and soils, the simple drapery net was combined with a 3D erosion control geoblanket (MacMat) to address soil erosion. Besides its constructability and being a cheap alternative to other hard-face rockfall protection systems, another distinct advantage of using SteelGrid simple drapery net is its ability to be fitted to slope geometry requirements because of its size and flexibility.