Malana hydroelectric project, Himachal Pradesh, India: Construction of Malana Head Race tunnel - a case study

R.D. Varangaonkar Gammon India Limited R.K. Khali Gammon India Limited ABSTRACT: Construction of 3075m long Head Race Tunnel for 86MW Malana Hydroelectric Project in Himachal Pradesh (India) was completed on 31.5.2001. Job site is located on northern Himalayan region of India. This was one of the most difficult constructions on account of geological condition and remote location. Project consists of following main structures.

3075m long 3.65m finished D shaped HRT with steep gradient of 1:7. Surge Shaft 270m high and typically inclined at 720. One 400m long diversion barrage located across the Malana Nallah. One valve house cavern at downstream end of HRT.

Surface power house (18.7mx55m) with two vertical43MW pelton units. Authors deal with construction of Head Race Tunnel and the difficulties faced during execution because of complex conditions like approach roads, heavy seepage, landslide, shear zone and adverse weather conditions. This paper also describes the technical problems and innovative solutions adopted and most modern plant selected for executing the working to overcome the problems at site. Entire tunnel, surge shaft including shotcrete lining was completed in 20months. 1. INTRODUCTION The layout plan of Malana Head Race tunnel is given in fig. 1.
C -1620 h C - 12 h 52

C -1 4 h 69

Face -3
C - 624 h

HRT

Face -2

Ch-3409 C h-3572

Outlet Portal Invert Elevation 1655.6 C h-3609 C h-3699 Valve house

Adit -I
Plan

Outlet Portal Invert Elevation 1655.6

HRT

Surge Shaft E -1920 l

difficulties during execution because of complex geological conditions, approach roads, landslides and adverse weather conditions, the major difficulties encountered was face-2, which starts down stream of junction of access adit-1 with main tunnel. The paper deals with analysis of the problem relating to varying geology i.e. manikaran quartzite (a typical rock which is very hard and very abrasive), phyllite and about 250m of crushed zones and its solutions and further remedial measures. 2. TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION The contract for construction of HRT was awarded to Gammon India Limited. The sco pe covers the construction of HRT and surge shaft. This was a very fast track job and the job was completed within the stipulated time despite several difficulties. This is the first water conductor tunnel in India, which is shotcrete lined and not having any concrete lining. The head race tunnel with inner diameter 3.50m and a length of 3075m was constructed by using convention drill and blast method. Based on the principle of this method to take utmost advantage of rock capacity to support by itself. The local progressive loosening can be limited by employing

Inlet Portal Invert Elevation 1871.85

Adit Face -3 Face -2 Invert level 1676 1760m

EL-1853 Valve house

1025m

290m

L/Section

Boring Operation Face -1 (1050m)Outlet face towards inlet Up the Grade Face -2 (1000m) Through Adit towards Outlet Downgrade Face -3 (1025m) Through Adit towards Inlet UpGrade

Fig-1

Construction of 3.6m dia 3075m long D shaped Head Race Tunnel passes through typical manikaran quartzite of Himalayan Range. The excavation of tunnel was carried out from five faces and in one stage by full-face drill and blast method. Tunnel encountered innumerable

careful excavation methods and timely installation of support elements. The support elements are shotcrete, welded wire mesh, rock bolts, steel ribs, fore poling, precast lagging. The adequacy of the support elements can be assessed by deformation monitoring by installation of extensometer. Permanent rock supporting system was tensioned rock bolt (2.0m long) and shotcreting of varying thickness from 50mm to 150mm. Invert concrete provided of 300mm thickness. Initially working faces were, face 1 from outlet, face 2 and face 3 from intermediate adit 1 (305m long). Later to facilitate the activity of penstock lines, adit 2- 270m long was opened for tunneling of face 1. Since the strata of tunnel in most part was manikaran quartzite and self supported rock, emphasize was given on drilling and blasting pattern for smooth profile. 2.1 Geology along Tunnel Alignment After studying a number of alternative layouts the final alignment of tunnel was fixed on left bank of Malana Nallah, a tributary of Parvati River. 3075m long head race tunnel crosses a number of drainages and passes through strata comprising massive manikaran quartzite (type-1), bedded flaggy quartzite with thin schistose bands (type 2 & 3), sheared fractured rock zone and phyllite and schist (type 4) refer fig.2. Out of 3075 m of total length of tunnel only 121m phyllite portion in face-1 and 80m schist bank in face-2 was encountered while tunnel boring. Balance of 2874m was of Manikaran Quartzite rock very hard and very abrasive but self supported rock. During the course of excavation the portion of phyllitic schist was tackled with fixing steel rib support, fore poling and backfill concreting.
Head Race Tunnel Head Race Surge Shaft Inlet Portal Inlet Portal ValveHouse House Outlet Portal
SurfacePenstock

2.2 Survey and Profile Marking Keeping the fact in mind that tunnel is unlined so shape was to be maintained to have good profile and to keep a check on over break. Meticulous survey was done after each blast and profile was marked properly in the minimum excavation line in hard strata and modified the drilling pattern. As a result we achieved accuracy for maintaining centre line and limiting the over break much below the admissible over break of 7%. Distomat, theodolite, lazer beam analyser and total stations were used to keep the alignment in order. Photograph shows excellent profile of tunnel.

Photograph of tunnel showing excavated profile

PowerHouse PowerHouse 3075 m 3075 m

RockType -1

Massive Maninkaran Quartzite Beded Platty Quartzite with thin Schest Bands

RockType -4

Sheared Fractured Rock Zone Phyllite and Schist

RockType 23 &

RockType -4

Fig-2

2.3 Drilling Drilling activity was the most critical activity since the rock encountered was very hard and very abrasive. Consumption of drill rods was very high. Drilling and blasting pattern as adopted is shown in fig3. Which was concluded after number of trials. Blast hole drilling was initially planned by drilling jumbo but later changed to high speed jack hammers Atlas Copco make BBD-94 with a planned penetration rate of about 0.9m/min. Actual penetration achieved on this rock was 0.25m/min. But variability and heterogeneous nature of rock strata encountered along the tunnel alignment meant that all assumptions were proved wrong. BBD-94 imported jackhammer was successful due to frequent breakdowns and excess consumption of rifle nut; as a result we had to replace the BBD-94 by an ordinary jack hammer (Atlas Copco 657w). Performance of these jackhammers was satisfactory. For excavation of complex rock strata about 51 numbers of holes were drilled on the face to blast according to rock formation encountered. Maximum pull in hard rock strata was achieved 1.20m and in soft rock 1.8m. Drilling long hole

could not become useful, as sockets were remaining left out at face. It was decided not to drill holes more than 8 depth to avoid wastage of time and money. Drill rod consumption was observed on very much higher side compared to our original estimate. We had assumed average life of drill rod as 120m but actually achieved at site was only 22m. Lot of study was done with the involvement of drill rod manufacturers, contractors and clients to increase the life of drill steel. 34 series drill rods were used in sequential order of 2.5, 5 and 8 length and the method followed strictly. Grinding of drill rod was very important in this type of rock. Cup type grinding machine pneumatically operated (Atlas Copco make LSD 64) was used, but the machine could not perform at par with the requirement. Electric cup type grinder then used and performance of this grinder found very satisfactory. To minimize the cost, rebitting of drill rod was done locally and this experiment proved very successful. 2.4 Charging & Blasting Charging pattern was in accordance with the wedge cut, drilling and blasting pattern.
Rock Line

5. Mucking Total cycle time

2.0 hours 6.00 hours

As explained earlier drilling was done by Atlas Copco make 657w jack hammers. BBD94 high speed drilling machine was not successful. 2.6 Defuming Defuming system at this site was excellent. Force ventilation was adopted instead of sucking system and proved to be very effective. Single unit of two Zitron 75KWx02, having dia 1400mm fans were installed at portal and fresh air was blowed through 1000mm dia flexible duct (from J. P.Cher Vent, Sweden). 2.7 Mucking Selection of plant was very important for this activity. Various methods were considered like i) Rail trolly and battery loco ii) Loader and dumper iii) Excavator (crawler type) and dumper iv) Scoop tram and Thawites dumper v) Pneumatic loader and conveyor On study of above methods and on evaluating advantages and disadvantages it was found that x.no.i),ii),iii) and v) above will not suit for mucking because of size of tunnel and slope of invert Scoop tram(wagner)-Atlas Copco make model 572D- 3nos and Thwaites dumpers -4nos and Tata make 708 dumpers-4nos were selected for mucking. Above combination worked very well. Scoop tram was fitted with catalytic converter, which reduced toxic gases from exhaust. Photo shows Thwaites dumper and Scooptram

1975

5 5 5 5 5 3 3 2 2 3 5 3 2 2 1 1 2 3 2 5 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5

Min.Excavation Line

Pay Line

1975

5 5

5 Cross Sectional Area = 14.52 m 5 Total No. Of Holes Empty Holes Geletine = 51 = 2Nos.
2

Consumed =50kg =1.8m

6 3650

Avg

depth of hole

150

Blasting Pattern
Fig -3

150

* Note : All dimensions are in mm.

Only modification in charging was that two numbers primers were used in cut holes. Due to massive manikaran quartzite rock, power factor was also high. It was varying from 2.60 to 3.10 kg/m3. Power gel 901 explosive with long delay detonators were used. 2.5 Cycle time and sequence of operation Sequence for boring in hard strata was as under 1. Survey & profile marking 2. Drilling 3. Charging & blasting 4. Defuming 0.50 hours 2.50 hours 0.5 hours 0.5 hours

Photograph showing Scooptram loading in Thwaites dumper

4 SURGE SHAFT EXCAVATION The excavation of surge shaft was done from bottom to upward by using raise climber because excavation from top to bottom was not feasible due to non-availability of approach and small diameter of shaft. Raise climber was selected for operation. Rise climber model 5 TH 5E was electrical type with single drive unit, electronically controlled with electronic panel fitted at the bottom.

Photo showing Thwaites dumper 7.0t capacity 1. TUNNEL SUPPORT SYSTEM

All excavation faces in tunnel have been supported by minimum recommended support element of the rock class. The following support system adopted at site 1. Rock bolting 2. Shotcreting with wiremesh 3. Steel ribs with backfill concreting 3 ROCK BOLTING Extensive rock bolting was carried out simultaneously with face drilling. TMT bar 25mm dia used for making rock bolts in the length of 2m, with 2 numbers quick setting type resin capsules and two numbers cement capsules. Cement and resin capsules were inserted in to the holes and rock bolt was inserted in to the hole with the help of rock bolter. Rock bolt was kept free after inserting for 10 min for setting and then using torque wrench tensioned rock bolt. These tensioned bolts were tested at 10MT load by pull out test machine. 3.1 Shotcreting This is the only water conductor tunnel in India having only shotcrete and no concrete lining. Therefore quality of shotcrete was most important. Details of shotcrete arrangement is described in para 4.2. 3.2 Steel ribs with backfilling Initially after opening the face 1 at outlet, rock strata encountered was poor and also a shear zone portion in face 2, it was decided to use steel ribs at 100 cm c/c with precast concrete lagging and backfilling.
Photo showing Alimak raise climber used for surge shaft boring

The machine consists of trolley, which moves on rail line fitted; to the rock with the help of expansion shell type rock bolts. Rail line of 2.0 m length, and two pipes for air and water were installed. For communication, telephone was installed in the trolley and at main panel. High lift reciprocating pump of head 600m, was fitted at bottom of pumping water and sprayed after blast for defuming purpose and also for using in wet drill. Boring of shaft was completed in 40days time. Photograph shows Raise climber used on the job. Sequence of borin g operation for surge shaft adopted is described below 4.1 Scaling This is the most important activity and safety precaution was taken. Using stoppers did scaling. 4.2 Survey & Marking Profile marking was done meticulously by using total station (Pantax make) fitted with diagonal eye piece. 4.3 Rail Line Fixing Rail line fixing was carried out when the distance between the last rail line and face was about 2.50m, this was done to avoid any possible damage

to the rails. It was fixed with the help of expansion shell type rock bolt. Two holes were drilled of 0.5m length in hard strata. There was no uniformity in the depth of holes as it varies depending on rock strata. 4.4 Drilling Wedge cut and umbrella cut drilling pattern adopted for drilling work and work carried out by using Atlas Copco make BBD-46 WSB stoppers. These are high speed drilling machine with opening feed length 970mm. For drilling 2.5 and 5 drill rods were used and 35 number holes of 5 depth were drilled to get 1.20m to 1.30m pull. These holes were drilled in order to avoid any damage to the rail line. Average drilling time achieved was two hours. 4.5 Charging & Blasting Long delay detonators of 5 series and power gel901 was used. Approx. 1 kg power gel 901 was used per hole in order to get blasted muck in smaller size. The power factor achieved was 8.4 kg/m3. High powder factor was necessary to prevent rail line from damage. 4.6 Defuming It was done with the help of spraying air with water through pipes fitted with rail line. The defuming time increased as the height of shaft increased. 4.7 Mucking Mucking was planned after every three cycles of drilling and blasting. Same equipment scoop tram, thwaites dumpers, and Tata 709 dumpers were used for shifting the muck as done earlier for tunnel mucking. 5. LINING OF TUNNEL Maximum portion of tunnel was shotcrete lined and weak portion was covered with concrete lining. Invert concrete was done throughout the length of the tunnel. 5.1 Overt Concreting Overt concreting was done only in the fault zone of face 2 from RD 324 to RD 400. Initially this reach was supported with steel ribs (ISMB 150x75) and backfill concrete behind this. Concrete lining was done using two overt shuttering gantries of 6m lengths with shutter vibrators mounted on gantry

shutter. Gantry was movable on rails. Concrete was placed by concrete pump 250HD (Schwing make) 5.2 Shotcrete lining After the day lighting of face II and III cleaning of surface of all the faces was started with the help of water jetting. Welded wiremesh of 100mm x 100mmx 5mm dia were installed close to the excavation profile or on primary layer of shotcrete. Hilty gun and steel nails were used to keep wiremesh in position. There after final shotcrete layer was applied. Aliva make wet shotcrete machine model- AL-262 with robo arm was used for shotcrete. The grade of shotcrete mix used was M35 A10. Average progress achieved was 40m/day of 50mm thickness. Rebound/wastage was observed as 15% (average). Face I shotcrete lining was started but due to landslide the whole platform where batching plant was installed became unstable as a result seven days lost completely. Shotcreting then started again and lining completed up to RD 1200 from face-I a n d b a l a n c e b e y o n d R D 1 2 0 0 w a s completed from Face-II. Total 21,860 sqm shotcrete lining was done with a thickness of 50mm in good rock and 100mm in poor rock zone. Face-II encountered poor rock strata so shotcrete lining was done along with concrete lining at poor rock zone. Total 11966-sqm shotcrete and 400m3 concreting was done at this face. Face three shotcreting was done in 2 to 3 layers since rock strata were very poor. Certain areas were to be supported by welded wiremesh. After fixing welded wiremesh, shotcreting applied and all crevices were filled and surface made smooth. This took lot of time as we had to spray first layer and then advanced to second and third layer. Shotcreting completed successfully in 50days time. 5.3 Invert Lining Invert lining was done after completin g overt. Total 2951m3 invert concrete was laid in all the faces. First of all levels were marked by using leveling instrument and then debris was cleared by using L&T backhoe/HM Loader up to required level. Then scooptram was put inside tunnel to load the muck in thwaites dumper. Then surface was cleaned by applying water-jet. Concrete then

poured after getting okay card. Vibration is done with needle vibrator and surface leveling was done by using power travel. Invert concreting of all the faces completed successfully in 44 days. 5.4 Surge Shaft Lining Surge shaft was steel lined with backfill concreting. Steel liners were fixed one by one to required position and welded together. Rail lines were fixed on excavated surface. Steel liner was than rolled over from bottom by using hydraulic jacks. Total of 150m steel liners was placed in position and than backfill concrete of very high slump was poured from top. Concrete was placed by using tremie pipes 5.5 Consolidation Grouting After completing the consolidation grouting was done to fill the voids/ shrinkage gap between overt and rock surface. This was done successfully with the help of Colomono grout pump keeping a pressure of 2kg/cm2 6. DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTION 6.1 Project Roads Approach road to site was in hilly region. Road condition was very bad and maintenance was very bad. Initially one Bailey bridge was constructed to cross Parbati River but same got washed away during monsoon. One permanent bridge constructed to mobilise plant and machinery to site. This resulted loss of time. Being road in hilly region of young Himalayan Mountain it was prone to land slide. During monsoon road used to get blocked because of landslide and improper sealing and compaction. Considerable time was lost due to poor road and few accidents occurred during construction. 6.2 Fault Zone @ Face 2 Fault zone encountered at Face-2 created lot of problems. Disadvantage at this face was due to advance in down gradient towards outlet face. Fault zone encountered and heavy seepage occurred; as a result work of whole face came to standstill. Scooptram could not work at this face. Small size excavator was deployed for cleaning mucking; deep sump was made for dewatering.

6.3 Very hard and very abrasive rocks Rock conditions were peculiar in this project. Very hard and very abrasive rock encountered through out the tunnel except a portion of 200m out of 3075m length. Drill rod life was not more than 25m as against assumed life of 120m. Rock was so hard and abrasive that after 40cm of drilling, drill bits used to get blunt and require grinding, rebitting drill rods was also done to reduce the drill steel consumption. 40m life achieved after rebitting and proper grinding of drill rod. 5.4 Extreme Weather Work was executed in extreme weather conditions, highest temperature recorded was 420c during summer and lowest temperature was (-) 1 0 0c during winter. Around 30 cm snow fall recorded during winter. All necessary steps were taken to tackle the situation of extreme weather.

Photo showing heavy snowfall during winter

6.5 Rock slide from 500m and above Due to earthquake prone area there was always a fear of sliding of rocks from the area 500m above the portal at outlet face. Heavy rock fall occurred once, as a result all equipments,compressors, light vehicle parked near portal got damage and some workers also injured. Proper care was taken to stabilise the loose boulder at the probable loose fall locations.

6.6 Non-availability of Power Construction power was not made available for execution of job. DG sets of 1.5MW capacity were deployed for power production. 6.7 Non availability of area for infrastructure No space was available for infrastructure at site. Benches were made on the hill with the help of dozer and slopes were protected with the help of gabbions and shotcrete and foundations were made for installing batching plant, compressor, transformers, etc. Lot of extra efforts was required for initial mobilization. 6.8 Size of tunnel, steep slope, heavy seepage Due to small size of tunnel and steep gradient it was difficult to plan the proper equipment to be used inside tunnel. After going through worldwide plant directories thwaites dumper and scooptram were selected for working inside tunnel for removing the muck. Even these equipments could not perform well on down gradient. One smaller excavator was deployed on this face. 6.9 Dewatering Very heavy seepage was observed on entire stretch of tunnel while on up gradient, dewatering was done by natural slope. On face-2 i.e. down gradient deep sump were made at 150m intervals and dewatering pumps were installed as shown in sketch.
DewateringSchemeforFace -II

7. CONCLUSION Most problems in Himalayan tunneling can be attributed to lack of knowledge of the geology ahead of face. These problems have resulted in time and cost overrun and deprived the country of the projects benefits. It is essential that detailed exploration work be carried out before the start and exploration ahead of face should be undertaken on a continuous bas is. Proper wide and good roads should be made before start of project to facilitate speedy and safe working. Selection of proper equipments is very important for speedy and successful completion of Project.

OvertofTunnel AditJunction Ch-00 Perfect/MonoblockPump Perfect/KDS20Pump ToOpen Drain InvertofTunnel D M3-2No.Pumps S DSM3-2No.Pumps

Perfect/CP-20/CP-10

Sump-1 Ch25m

Sump-2 Ch250m

Sm u p-3 Ch500m

Sm u p-4 Ch750m

Face Ch1000m