SRI LANKA ENGINEERING NEWS Established 1906 The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 47, No 07, July 2012 Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/86 /NEWS/2011 Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Station commences commercial operations. by: Eng. R.S.W. Wagarachchi, Project Manager, Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project t the auspicious time of forty five minutes past the hour of ten on Fourteenth day of July 2012, His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ceremonially commissioned the 150MW underground power plant of Upper AKotmale Hydropower Project. The Project comprising of 0.8 MCM live storage reservoir and 12.9Km long head race tunnel conveys water to the two 75MW Francis Turbines in an underground power cavern at Niyamgamdora located 22Km away from the reservoir at Talawakelle. The Head race tunnel of the Project is the longest tunnel ever constructed in Sri Lanka. The history of the much awaited power plant goes back decades and the implementation was delayed due to immense pressure from different political, social and environmental groups. With consensus, agreements, court decisions etc. the objective of the Project was achieved and the Project became a reality entirely on tireless efforts of officials of Project Staff and also the commitment of the officials of other related organizations. Portrait of the Immediate Past President, It is not a secret that project has implemented a comprehensive Eng. (Prof) A.K.W.Jayawardane unveiled Resettlement Action Plan he portrait of Eng. (Prof.) A.K.W.Jayawardane – which has definitely uplifted Immediate Past President, IESL was unveiled at a the living standards of the Tsimple ceremony held at the Council Room of the IESL affected community. on 12th July 2012 in the presence of Past Presidents and The Project has improved Council members. Eng.(Prof.) Jayawardane himself was 33Km length of “B” class present, accompanied by his immediate family. Introducing road connecting Talawakelle Eng.(Prof.) Jayawardane, the Executive Secretary, IESL, Eng. to Thawalantenna including Arundathi Wimalasuriya traced his gradual ascension from other access roads utilized his first involvement with the Council in the 1994/95 when he by the Project. The was elected to represent the class of members, to his finally townscape of Talawakelle has changed dramatically. The reservoir located in the heart of the city has increased the beauty of the Contd. on page 6... IESL holds Special Workshop on ‘Engineers to enhance the value of “The Engineer”' Will it mark a turning point for IESL and its members? holding the mantle of The Institution of Engineers ‘Unfair criticism or for that presidency in the 2010/11 Sri Lanka matter criticism for the sake session. Eng.(Dr.) Ananda of criticism, without being 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Ranasinghe, incumbent constructive, against the Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. President of IESL in his Engineer by fellow engineers speech paid a glowing tribute Tel: 2685490, 2698426, 2699210 is self-destructive to the to Eng.(Prof.) Jayawardane Fax: 2699202 entire body of engineers. for his contributions to the E.mail: [email protected] / [email protected] The often heard complaint institution and for the general of IESL members “ …… Website: http://www.iesl.lk uplifting of the profession and IESL doesn’t look after it’s to the engineering education membership and therefore in the country. In this Issue we visit IESL only to renew our membership” or the Get To Know the IESL . frequently quoted Provincial Chairmen...............3. Editorial..................................4 Contd. on page 6.... Contd. on page 6.... Unsafe Bridge in Talawakelle............................5 Sri Lanka Engineering News - July 2012 2 IESL NEWS FORTHCOMING Get To Know the IESL Provincial ANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR Chairmen - 2012 he IESL has a membership exceeding 15,000 dispersed all over the island. TheIESL Provincial Centres which carry out many member services in the provinces provide Event Dates Tthe much needed connectivity to its members in the provinces by organizing courses, ♦Induction and Graduation Ceremony Saturday – seminars, workshops, field visits etc. for their continues professional development. They August 18, 2012 also organize community programmes such as infrastructure improvements to least developed schools in the provinces, relief work in case of disasters etc.for interaction of its ♦Dr. Ray Wijeyewardene Memorial Monday - members with the public.These programmes are initiatives of the Executive Committees Lecture August 20, 2012 headed by the Chairman of each Provincial Centre. The May 2012 issue of your newsletter ♦E O E Pereira Memorial Lecture Thursday – introduced the Chairmen, IESL Provincial Centres who are at the helm of three of the September 13, centres in Central, Northern and Eastern Provinces. In this issue we introduce the Chairman, 2012 IESL North Central Provincial Centre. ♦D J Wimalasurendra Memorial Monday Lecture September 17, Eng. R.M.J.N.Ratnayaka 2012 Chairman, IESL, North Central Province ♦Techno Exhibition Friday–Sunday Chartered Civil Engineer by profession, Eng. October12-14, R.M.J.N.Ratnayaka graduated from the Faculty of 2012 Engineering, University of Peradeniya in 1994. He ♦Inauguration of the Annual Sessions Friday – joined the Road Development Authority in 1995. October 19, He gained his Chartered Engineer status from the 2012 IESL in year 2000.He has held the posts of ♦Annual Sessions Seminar Saturday – Executive Engineer, Nalanda – RDA from 2002 to October 20, 2007, Chief Resident Engineer, Kinniya Ferry 2012 Bridge from 2007 to 2009 and assumed duty as ♦Annual Field Visit Sunday – Chief Engineer Padeniya – Anuradhapura Road October 21, Project in 2009. Currently he is holding the post of 2012 Chief Engineer, RDA – MFAP Division ♦Presentation of Technical papers Monday- (Miscellaneous Foreign Aided Projects). Wednesday Under his chairmanship the IESL, North Central Province has organized and successfully October 22, 23 conducted several CPD Activities for its members - A presentation on “Southern Express & 24, 2012 way”- by Eng. G.S. Chandralal- Additional Project Director- STDP-RDA, a ♦Presentation of Technical Papers Thursday - presentation on “Construction Safety” by Eng. Padmasiri Narayana- Labour Dept.,a by Young Members October 25, presentation on “Arbitration & Adjudication” by Eng. Frankly- Irrigation Dept, a 2012 presentation on “Communication Skill Development through Toastmaster Club”`, a presentation on “Energy Conservation and Future Energy Crisis in the World and ♦Dr. A N S Kulasinghe Thursday – Memorial Lecture October 25, How to Meet the Challenges by Yong Engineers”by Dr. Thilak Siyambalapitiya, a commentary on Modern Irrigation System Vs Ancient Irrigation Wisdom- by Chairman 2012 CECB, Chairman ICTAD, Engineer In- Charge – Victoria Power Project. ♦Annual General Meeting Saturday – October 27, 2012 ♦Techno Awards Ceremony Friday – Induction & Graduation Ceremony 2012 November 02, The ceremony will be held on August 18, 2012 at the Waters Edge, Battaramulla 2012 at 5.00 p.m. Chief Guest : Prof. Susirith Mendis – Vice Chancellor of University of Ruhuna Note: Guest of Honour: Eng. R W R Premasiri, Secretary, Ministry of Ports & Highways. Associate Members who wish to apply for the The following awards will be conferred at this ceremony. Professional Review, are strongly advised to attend Fellows 06 all Memorial Lectures and keep a record of the Chartered Engineers 240 attendance for any future reference. IESL Graduands 17 JIY Winners 05 EVENT PHOTOS OF THE EASTERN PROVINCIAL CENTRE CPD Programs by the Eastern Provincial Centre he CPD lecture series of the IESL Eastern Centre crosses over a new horizon in that, unlike in the past, top level resource persons are now being sourced from all over the island and the TCPD lecture series is being held in the East itself. This milestone was achieved with the facilitation of the IESL Headquarters in Colombo with the assistance of the staff of the Education and Training Division. Out of the three proposed courses the first CPD course was held at the Regional Director of Irrigation office Auditorium, Batticaloa on 13.07.2012 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on the topic, “Time Management” by Dr. (Eng) Jayalath Edhirisinghe, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya. Thirty eight participants attended this magnificent session in which the lecture contents and method of presentation provided real value for the time spent by the Engineers at this session. The heart felt gratitude expressed to Dr.Jayalath Edhirisinghe at the end of the session by the participants was not confined within the bounds of the educational value that the session provided, but also for the effective communication that he achieved through some interesting games and group activities during the lecture. Sri Lanka Engineering News - July 2012 IESL NEWS 3 Sri Lanka Engineering News - July 2012 4 IESL NEWS A public lecture on “Reaping globally from your hard earned ICT-expertise: A simple winning strategy in the knowledge economy.”delivered by Eng. Nihal Kularatna -FIET (Lond.), Senior Sri Lanka Member IEEE(USA), FIE(Sri Lanka), MIPENZ, was held at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka on 22nd May 2012. Eng. Kularatna is an electronics Engineering News engineer with 35 years of experience in Aviation, Telecommunications & Research Environments and the author of 7 internationally published books in electronic engineering subjects. A former