REGIONAL REPORT

DFI of India
DFI of India stepped up its liquefiable soils. Equipment, material and instrumentation
activities, thanks to the hard technology providers, contractors and other interested parties will
work of many active geotechnical present their products and services in the exhibition area. The
professionals within India and to conference will be ideally suited to contractors, developers,
the continuous encouragement agencies, local and federal authority representatives, designers,
and support of DFI headquarters. consultants and educators involved in major infrastructure
Our major achievement was the projects. Complete details of the event as plans progress can be
finalization and signing of an found at www.dfi-india2014.org.
Affiliation Agreement between
DFI and DFI of India. With this in Workshop on Deep Foundations
place, DFI of India is now in the A two-day workshop on piling design and practice is planned
Dr. K.S. Rama Krishna
DFI India Chair process of drafting our bylaws. following the DFI of India 2014 Conference from September 22-
drksramakrishna@dfi-india.org Then we will initiate steps to form 23, at Kochi, a prominent coastal city in the state of Kerala in south
the first executive committee of DFI of India, which will take charge India. The workshop will be jointly organized by DFI of India and
of our plans and programs. IGS, Kochi Chapter and the venue will be the Taj Gateway Hotel on
Programs planned for this calendar year are: A two-day DFI of Marine Drive. Kochi has difficult foundation problems because of
India 2014 annual conference at IIT Delhi, New Delhi; a two-day the presence of very deep and very soft clays overlying residual soil
workshop on Deep Foundations at Kochi, in the state of Kerala, and hard rock. The conventional tripod-winch-bailer and direct
South India; and a 15-day pilot training program for hydraulic mud circulation methods of pile boring require a long duration and
rotary piling rig operators in Mumbai. often result in pile integrity and pile load capacity problems. Kochi
houses several strategically important installations such as ports,
2014 Annual Conference at IIT Delhi airports, oil and gas terminals, refineries and other industries. The
Following the DFI of India conferences hosted for the last three city will have a metro rail system soon, which will run through the
years in Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai, we are holding the DFI area’s difficult subsoil conditions. The workshop is expected to
of India 2014 conference at the Indian Institute of Technology expose the geotechnical community to the technological advances
Delhi (IIT Delhi), New Delhi, on September 19-20. The conference in the design and installation of large diameter deep piles.
is being organized by DFI, DFI of India, IIT Delhi, the Indian Information for this workshop will be posted on DFI of India
Geotechnical Society (IGS) Delhi Chapter and the Construction website www.dfi-india2014.org.
Industry Development Council (CIDC). The main title of the
conference is “Deep Foundation Technologies for Infrastructure Pilot Program for Hydraulic Rotary Piling Rig Operators
Development of India,” and there will be four main themes: Drilled At the post DFI of India 2013 conference meeting held at IIT
Piling Systems, Driven Piling Systems, Ground Improvement and Bombay in November 2013, it was decided to conduct a 15-day
Deep Excavation Support Systems. Technical sessions will include training program for hydraulic rotary piling rig operators at one of
the piling rig manufacturers’ established
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TIONS
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facilities near Mumbai. It is heartening to
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mention here that piling rig manufacturing

DFI
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EP FO

ITUTE
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companies are keen to support this

DFI of India in collaboration with the
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, important initiative. The program is
Indian Geotechnical Society Delhi
Chapter and Construction Industry proposed to be jointly coordinated by DFI of
Development Council presents…
India and the Association of Piling
Specialists (APS) Mumbai. For this to take
place, a firm commitment is necessary from
Deep Foundation Technologies for Infrastructure Development in India the piling specialist contractors. However,
September 19-20, 2014 | IIT Delhi | New Delhi, India many piling contractors are currently facing
difficulties because of the prevailing dull
plenary sessions with invited lecturers on practice-oriented topics economic environment. We plan to hold a DFI-APS meeting with
as well as parallel sessions on design, field monitoring/ piling contractors and the leaders of piling rig manufacturing
testing/investigation, model testing and numerical analysis. There companies to express the urgency of and solicit commitment for
will be a special session on design aspects of deep foundations in the initiative.

DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2014 • 51

Major Projects Under Construction in India
Bored Piling Foundation for Kochi Metro
Kochi Metro is the first mass rapid transit project in a Tier-2 city in
India and is the new icon of Kochi. Phase 1 of the project is
approximately 27 km (16.8 mi) long, with an estimated cost of INR
5200-crore (US $870 million) and will connect Aluva to Petta in
five stretches with 22 stations.
The metro line will traverse viaducts supported by bored cast-
in-place concrete piles with diameters of 1,000 mm (39.4 in),
1,200 mm (47.2 in) and 1,500 mm (59 in), and depths up to 50 m
(164 ft). The piles have vertical load capacities ranging from 300
tonnes (661 kips) to 700 tonnes (1,543 kips). Depending on the
loads, each pier may have a group of 4 to 6 piles. Keller Ground
Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. is under contract to install 1,150 piles
using hydraulic rotary piling rigs. Construction in the middle of
narrow (7 m or 23 ft wide) roads with live traffic poses a great
challenge to speed and safety with regard to movement and
operation of heavy construction equipment and plants including
rotary piling rigs, hydraulic cranes, stabilizing fluid plants,
excavators and concrete transit millers.
The subsoil consists of about 6 m (19.7 ft) of loose silty sand
underlain by 15 m (49.2 ft) to 20 m (65.6 ft) of very soft to soft silty
clay and lateritic deposits of sandy and silty clay up to 50 m (164 ft)
deep. Stability of the pile boring is a major challenge in these soils.
Based on material encountered at each pile location, permanent
liners up to 10 m (32.8 ft) deep or temporary liners up to 6.0 m
(19.7 ft) deep are used to stabilize the upper soils.
Piling works at Kochi Metro
An environmentally-friendly polymer is being used at a dosage
of 0.9 to 1.3 kg/m3 (0.06 to 0.08 lb/ft3) of soil to stabilize the walls of
piles. The viscosity of the fluid is monitored on site using a Marsh
funnel, and is generally maintained at 50-60 seconds at a density of
1.0 to 1.05 kg/m3 (0.062 to 0.066 lb/ft3). A continuous on-site
monitoring of dosage, pH and density of the slurry is being
performed. Polymer usage also allows effective recycling, easy
handling and disposal, and successfully achieves a cleaner borehole.
52 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2014
The project team has made continuous efforts to plan all
activities, optimize cycle time of various stages of execution, perform
regular maintenance of plants and equipment, and conduct daily
progress meetings, safety meetings, and critical reviews on each
activity which enable the overall success of the project.
Conducting instrumented load test with anchors
Amrapali Verona Heights in Greater Noida
L&T GeoStructure LLP completed the challenging first phase of a
bored cast-in-situ concrete pile project at the Amrapali Verona
Heights site in Greater Noida, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
The team installed 501 piles within the stipulated 120 days with
quality and safety. Piles were installed 1,200 mm (47.2 in) in
diameter and 40 m (131.2 ft) in depth through sandy strata. Other
highlights of this project were the large number of tests, including
500 low strain integrity tests, 7 routine load tests, 77 crosshole
sonic tests and 25 high strain dynamic tests.
The subsurface comprised layers of sandy silt with gravel and
fine sand. This, together with the requirement of 40 m (131.2 ft)
deep piles, necessitated the selection of proper drilling fluid to prevent
side collapse during drilling and to ensure frictional resistance along
the shaft length to attain the required load carrying capacity.
Field trials were performed to check the efficacy of the polymer
fluid and to finalize the pile length. The pile borehole was observed
for 12 hours while the fluid loss and borehole wall collapse were
monitored. Then the instrumented test pile was cast and successfully
tested for a load capacity of 750 tonnes (1,653.5 kips). To prevent
collapse of the sandy strata the following precautions were taken:
a) High torque Bauer BG-25 and BG-28 rigs with Kelly bar lengths
of 40 m (131.2 ft) or more were used to achieve the required
productivity.
b) 6.0 m (19.7 ft) long casings were used to prevent major collapse
near the pile cut-off elevation.
c) Drilling tool advancement and extraction were performed at
controlled speeds to avoid a suction effect that could lead to
borehole collapse.
d) Steel angles were welded inside the drilling bucket to act as air
vents to prevent vacuum formation while drilling.
e) Piston pumps were used for polymer supply lines and
submersible pumps with low rpm (revolutions per minute) of
1,400 were selected for the polymer return line. Pumps with
high rpm would shear the polymer molecules resulting in high
polymer consumption.
f) Strict quality control was exercised to ensure that the polymer
met the required parameters of viscosity, pH and specific
gravity. In addition, care was taken to ensure a sufficient head of
polymer in the drilled pile.
g) Since the strata were highly abrasive, spare buckets were kept
and a dedicated welder was deployed to maintain required
drilling tool dimensions.
The following steps helped assure proper use of equipment and
improved productivity:
a) To prevent flooding of the site due to a high groundwater table,
sump pits were installed to allow polymer overflow during
concrete placement to be collected and pumped off.
b) Prior to every shift, piles were selected for installation after
considering rig movement, space for crane movement, concrete
truck movement and muck disposal.
c) Continuous training and group discussions took place between
the site team and included all staff, operators and workmen.

DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2014 • 53