Location
Chicago, Illinois
Date
01 May 2013, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Abstract
The Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) underground powerhouse is located in Deccan Basalt flows in the lower Narmada valley in Gujarat state. These flows are intruded by dolerite dykes and sill. Basalt flows and dolerite rocks are considered good tunneling media for locating underground structures. Therefore, initial designing of supports was done considering good rock mass conditions. However, during construction numerous geotechnical problems were encountered necessitating review of support system. Rock falls and collapses were observed in tunnel sections passing through dolerite dykes and sills. Cracks were observed in the walls of the powerhouse cavern. During progressive excavations back analysis was done to know the causes of distress in rock mass and structures The ‘Observational Method’ adopted during construction resulted in the safe execution of structures by timely modification and installation of adequate support system.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
7th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2013 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Prakash, Indra, "Application of Observational Method in the Successful Construction of Underground Structures, Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project, Gujarat, India" (2013). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 7.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/7icchge/session01/7
Application of Observational Method in the Successful Construction of Underground Structures, Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project, Gujarat, India
Chicago, Illinois
The Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) underground powerhouse is located in Deccan Basalt flows in the lower Narmada valley in Gujarat state. These flows are intruded by dolerite dykes and sill. Basalt flows and dolerite rocks are considered good tunneling media for locating underground structures. Therefore, initial designing of supports was done considering good rock mass conditions. However, during construction numerous geotechnical problems were encountered necessitating review of support system. Rock falls and collapses were observed in tunnel sections passing through dolerite dykes and sills. Cracks were observed in the walls of the powerhouse cavern. During progressive excavations back analysis was done to know the causes of distress in rock mass and structures The ‘Observational Method’ adopted during construction resulted in the safe execution of structures by timely modification and installation of adequate support system.
