Brabben T.E.
in
Dupuy B. (ed.).
Aspects économiques de la gestion de l' eau dans le bassin méditerranéen Bari : CIHEAM
Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 31 1997
pages 253-259
Article available on lin e / Article dispon ible en lign e à l’adresse :
--- http://om.ciheam.org/article.php?ID PD F=CI971544
--- To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article
--- Brabben T.E. Cost effective an d su stain able main ten an ce: some ways to adapt an d develop th e tech n ological approach . In : D upuy B. (ed.). Aspects économiques de la gestion de l'eau dans le bassin méditerranéen . Bari : CIHEAM, 1997. p. 253-259 (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A.
Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 31)
---
http://www.ciheam.org/
http://om.ciheam.org/
Thomas Brabben
SUMMARY - This paper considers some examples of current maintenance practice and examines the cost effectiveness of these methods as used. The need for further research into maintenance technology is identified.
Timely and appropriate maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems is necessary to sustain the delivery and removal of excess water. Whilst there is no doubt that there is an important organizational and management dimension to successful maintenance there is also a need to use efficient and effective technological solutions.
This paper discusses, with examples, how new and adapted technologies can be used for maintenance in developing countries. Examples of successful technologies and practice in the water sector in other countries along with what works in other sectors, like transportation will be used to determine what the practical research needs are and what can be done at the design stage, or more commonly the modernization stage, to make the best use of maintenance technology.
Key words: Maintenance, irrigation, drainage, technology, research.
RESUME
-
La présente communication examine quelques exemples de pratique de maintenance actuelle, et examine la rentabilité de ces méthodes telles qu'elles sont utilisées. Le besoin de recherches supplémentaires en matière de technologie de la maintenance est identifié.La maintenance opportune et appropriée de systèmes d'irrigation et de drainage est nécessaire afin d'assurer la durabilité de la fourniture en eau et l'écoulement d'eaux en excès. S'il n y a aucun doute qu'il existe une importante dimension d'organisation et de gestion pour une maintenance réussie, il est également nécessaire d'utiliser des solutions technologiques eficaces et efficientes.
Le présent article examine, exemples à l'appui, comment des technologies nouvelles et adaptées peuvent être utilisées pour la mainrenance dans les pays en développement. Des exemples
d'utilisation réussie de ces technologies dans le secteur de l'eau dans d'autres pays, avec ce qui marche dans d'autres secteurs, tels que le transport, seront utilisés pour déterminer les
besoins pratiques en matière de recherche et ce qui peut être fait au stade de la conception, ou plus communément au stade de la modernisation, pour tirer le meilleur parti de la technologie
de la maintenance.
Mots clé: Maintenance, irrigation, drainage, technologie, recherche.
254 Brabben
the that technology, in a in making maintenance and Effective applications of
of
A of
the last few decades the
with its
in to be ex-
pected, the of
some instances the
in example the
is in need of
not been completed. The lack of timely and ade- quate maintenance, defined as the physical activi- ties to keep the system functioning in ac-
is of
tion et al (1993) define mainte- nance as "any activity that slows the
by use aging".
can also be thought of as the invest-
ment to an in
the
the unwillingness to
is in of
in- sufficient funds
-
less maintenance.all the to now
being seen to have a positive effect on maintenance in
ha);
to
of (in the
in
ftom and Colombia.
Associations having taken
maintenance planning to make main- tenance
the adap-
tation and application of successful technologies and techniques is also needed.
is no doubt that of fi-
on the maintenance of vital if the
benefits of the to be sustained.
to
at with the
to in
still to be inade- quate though. example, in
in of what was
("Loughlin 1988).
in
the magnitude of the investments needed to im- and in 1988 with the objective of making maintenance of 48,000 km of public
component of $45 million is expected to
Community has now
assistance and equipment.) Cost effective methods and technologies of maintenance and the
the main tools to the total maintenance budget by 40% The which is jointly funded by the
the and the
totals $1.2 billion. Of this total
$77 million has been to the
by
the of
little economic analysis and that exists is
not widely disseminated especially among the de- and social impacts of the lack of maintenance ill timed, inadequate maintenance on effi- able. The need to place a value on maintenance the lack of it is step
and managing maintenance activities. Not until the high
and quantified can on obtaining adequate be achieved.
on how well the system is
can
tion is
needed on how effective the
will be, on un-
how impact the
channels of a system. the case of a length
what time all the be
moved? What happens if only a of the is done? What will be the consequence of
the activity? an such as
investment now to in the fù-
ie.
nologies continue to be used with the that a
up. and Wickham (1985)
found that
all insufficient to to the
The
and weed cutting and using the
the an in-
the time
led to the
in a system, as was the case in
tem, (J.A.
gains in the if, as a consequence, is beyond the physical capabilities
of the then
will A combination of these inefficien-
cies has in turn the ability tion agencies to an
The scale also have an effect on the implementation and success of maintenance.
be able to
with the to pass the
and maintenance on to
associations these to
such plant the to a
company specializing in supplying and
such machines. As pointed out by (1988), in
-
notably the of sluices - beyond the technical ca- The likely consequence is that maintenance specialized equipment andpeople will not be high technol-
ogy solutions can be
in that will
able to skilled staff to use
New
the needs of the
on mechanical and the system, is cost effective
in the long run. ma-
the unavailability simple tasks difficult and often impossible. This is expensive modifications having to be made because of the
The quality of can also have a long impact on the need maintenance. The use
on An and
of sudden be the
on the and
is
dissemination of best to be contin- ued and expanded. Skutsch (in details main- tenance needs and indicates the scope
is as the
u s e l l in
associations as they take systems.
256 Brabben
maintenance effective
-
an example inschemes dominated by the
sediment is an
in is only a small sediment input, desilting costs become excessive when the
is the
available only to desilt the system each then the canals will cease to
in in
the
the Agno
the be
loads in the to
high soil and
stimulated landslides mean that the
studies showed that the intake was as the wet season has declined by about
50% of the 18,000 ha scheme can now be To be viable the scheme needs to
out the with only a close down and this was insufficient the
National Agency to the
quantities of sediment deposited in the main canals. A method of most of the
(sand) in the the main ca-
nal was needed. Whilst some
still get into the canals it would be possible
and the to in the
tional and digging.
The planned solution was to make existing mainte- nance activities investing in a
sediment that a
tube sand
and con- by with financial the United
States Agency in
1991. The total cost of the
The tube is used to sand the ca- nal and it to the the wet season and a settling basin is used in the sea- son when sediment loads
it is estimated that
$80,000
the c o m . ) that
the system is now
in line with estimates and the of the
of up to 90%. Wet season incomes
and helping the irri-
gation lesson is that with good
field studies, an can be used
to the system vi-
able and sustainable.
Sustaining weed control
-
an example aquatic plants inchannels can have a significant
on to be
within a planned
nance if an acceptable level is to be
Aquatic can
classified as (i) mechanical; (ii) chemi- cal; (iii) biological and (iv)
At most mechanical and chemical methods
in of
fiom to
small flail the past
slow and costs fuel, skilled
New developments in size, efficiency and clean disposal making these side-mounted cutting
buckets 60 kW machine can
vegetation 2 of a 20 m channel in
ing and skilled
tion this can to 5
km.
with can is a
of
in the US,
six in
in potable
use.
and pilot studies the the conditions the suc-
cessful and of
(Ctenopharyngodon idella Val.) The is a long one and an initial capital investment
a station and skilled staff it is possible
to at acceptable levels with
a modest annual investment. the 185,000 ha a
in 1979 to
alien total of million had been spent to
tional the
tion ($350,000), staff out a full and
fish, to fì-om
in the infestation fi-om the length of actual infestation
and all the that could be in-
fested of 1100 km in 1988 to 40 km in 1992 at an
$380,000. (Costs include capital, ance used to cost between $400,000 to $500,000
to the of the fish. Annual
the in the
in the fish of $4.86.
method is to
of the
Such methods can be classed as as the aim is to make the canal a less suitable habitat
like on the
sections and can limit inci-
dent light and so &
the management of the weed, cutting to
the to
food all upon using knowledge of the biology of the plants to find ways of mini- mizing
& 1988)
in the US, one example the technique of
anndcosts by 30%.
No one method will be effective in and
sustaining the in
gation the application of new
low cost and efficient machines in combination with
the of achieving sustain-
this
existing
in and
tween disciplines.
-
is that the technical chal-
lenges and
can
lows: (i) the impacts of not
ing adequate maintenance; and (ii) choosing main- tenance methods and technologies that sustainable, technologically, financially and envi-
of
of maintenance in
of an adequate level of of the sys-
cessful maintenance methods and to adapt and de- velopments in
to achieve
in missions indicate the
finding sustainable and solutions to the sediment deposition and the functioning of open
been
in to these
many instances is a gap though
and the application of the knowledge to de-
that the needs could be met
with on pilot studies and im-
dissemination of instance,
the on the efficacy of
maintenance techniques need testing and adapting
in the the
and successful adaptations need to be to a the next few is likely to be an
need human development based upon
25 8 Brabben
the net- of
to the choice of techniques and equipment. The need to
in is emphasized if
tic to be made.
the same attention as the
schemes, too often it is taken is
that available finance is to
This nance is not
to to
that maintenance must be- tivities still
in to
of
in be beyond the capabilities of
the
is that inadequate mainte- nance will continue. Gorriz et al on
the in
the need to the sustainability of that
in Egypt still have to
communication systems,
to weed, silt
als and”,guidelines highlight some of the possibili-
ties for the
planning an
of these manuals will depend on the capacity of institutions to adapt them to local conditions and on the policy, financial, technical,
the to
tion
the need.
A n education and at all
levels of decision plan
to give a lead with in
1995. The example of the
the et al, 1991), would
be an to follow in the
the aim was to to- so facilitate policy
to and
education aimed at institutions and technical peo- that policies have to put in place to elevate mainte-
nance activities in in educa-
tional
in aspects of
needed if existing ties to
to develop the in
follow up is needed.
ties in the
of
of such as ties with
volvement that
pilot
of the
in is that they allow
to at a
pace acceptable to the
in the theme of
nance technologies is to: (i) the devel- opment and application of good maintenance in
and (ii) facilitate the ment studies to
and (iii) give a lead capacity building by the collation and dissemination of maintenance and ments in
is
(i) developing and applying good and (iii) dissemination and capacity building.
to im-
but so too is the availability of technologies effective and sustainable
systems. the long in the
tions about maintenance has to be
and (1 993) the status
of
tasks
in This
to the value of maintenance is the
tion agencies and
Brabben, T.E. (1988). Canal maintenance in Summary the Commission of the
Brabben, T E. (1992). aquatic plant management in Aquat.
31: 214-217.
Carapetis, S et al. (1991). The road maintenance initiative: Building capacity for policy reform.
(1993). of the issues.
the
Chancellor, F. (1991). A method for evaluating the economic benefit sediment control. Tech. Note 59,
F and Brabben, T E. (1991). Conflicts of in In
Techniques for environmentally sound water resources development.
Gorriz. C Subramanian, A., and Simas, J. (1995). management in and seminar on participatory irrigation management.
(1988). in systems: economic
Bulletin.24(3): 599-607.
(1988). before management: A new strategv for small scale irrigation tanks in Sri 88/2e.
Orstom, E. et al. (1993). policias in perspective.
Plusquellec, and Wickham, T. (1985). in Thailand and its
general applicability. Technical 40. Washington
Skutsch, J C. scope technical and In
1993. Ltd,
Subramanian, A. (1995).
-
the case of Egypt. ODU Bulletin. 3 1:4-6,F. F (1986). The management of calcareous by cutting in
England. Symposium on Aquatic Weeds. 7:395-400.
F. (1988). The effects of autumnal weed cuts in a lowland on
and flooding in the following Verhandlungen, Vereinigung f i r theoretische angewandte 23: 1273-1277.
pp. 137-154.
