World Tunnel Congress 2008 - Underground Facilities for Better Environment and Safety - India

Managing adverse geological occurrences Key to accelerated implementation of

underground hydropower projects
A.K.Bajaj, T.P. Singh & J. Chandrashekhar Iyer
Central Water Commission, New Delhi, India

SYNOPSIS: During construction of tunnels, shafts and caverns in an underground hydropower project,
adverse geological occurrences are not uncommon. These adverse occurrences can be huge ingress of water,
squeezing condition, cavity formation, occurrence of harmful gases, high temperatures and the like which can
lead to unforeseen delays in project schedules. The key to accelerated implementation of an underground
hydropower project therefore lies in expeditiously managing these adverse occurrences. In this paper, the
experiences of few hydropower projects where such geological conditions were encountered during
excavation and the way in which they were managed is presented, with particular reference to pressure shafts
and head race tunnels. The paper brings out the importance of carrying out adequate geological investigations
during project report preparation, their interpretation and projecting the adverse geological conditions likely
to be met with. This enables the implementing agency to plan accordingly, make adequate provisions in the
contract documents and be in a state of preparedness during execution. In this way the executing agency has
adequate resources and expertise in handling such adverse tunneling conditions timely. Prompt decision
making by the implementing agency is the essence of the matter.
1.

INTRODUCTION

cost overrun in underground projects. By adopting a

pragmatic approach right from the planning stage,
adequate geological investigations and their
interpretation during project report preparation,
provisions in the contract documents, continuous
monitoring and predictions by resident geologist,
preparedness of the implementing and executing
agency and prompt decision making process can
minimize the time and cost overrun.
This paper discusses some case histories where
adverse geological conditions were encountered and
the way in which they were managed in hydropower
projects constructed and commissioned in recent
years in India & Bhutan wherein Central Water
Commission was the design consultant. The adverse
occurrences have been experienced in shafts,
caverns and various types of tunnels during
excavation, but in this paper only the case studies
related to some experiences in pressure shaft and
head race tunnel have been discussed.

High priority has been accorded by Government of

India to harness the huge untapped hydropower
potential of the country. Most of the potential is in
the Himalayan region, which in most cases is
conducive for development of underground
hydropower projects but has very diverse geological
conditions. An underground hydropower project
involves significant underground excavations for
tunnels, shafts and caverns in varied geological setups and adverse geological conditions are likely to
be encountered during tunneling or excavations.
Some years back when there was not so much
awareness about the subject, projects were started
without adequate geological investigations. When
adverse conditions were encountered, the project
suffered unexpected time delay besides cost
overrun. The adverse occurrences can be huge
ingress of water, mechanical discontinuities,
swelling and squeezing condition, cavity formation,
occurrence of harmful gases, high temperatures etc.
which can lead to unforeseen delays in project
schedules. In some cases, these adverse geological
conditions were anticipated by the geologists
whereas in others these were totally unexpected.
The later is also referred to as geological surprises
and has been cited as one of the reason for time and

2.

ADVERSE GEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCES

IN PRESSURE SHAFTS

In hydropower
long pressure
critical factor
project. The

projects, any adverse occurrences in

shafts generally turn out to be a
in the timely completion of the
experience gained during the

excavation of long inclined pressure shafts of two

high head projects is shared below.

found in the entire length of the access tunnel, adits

and the middle reach of the tail race tunnel.
Therefore its presence was not anticipated in the
pressure shaft which is about 7 km away from the
tail race tunnel exit. Further investigations were
carried out and based on detailed geological
mapping two shear zones were identified. [5]
An Expert Committee was then constituted to
look into the possible alternatives and decide the
future action to resume work on the pressure shaft.
Various proposals as shown in Fig.1 were
considered taking into account engineering
geological aspects, cost and completion time. The
activity of pressure shaft being in the critical path,
completion time became the main criterion in
choosing the suitable alternative. The proposal
finally accepted was alternate alignment of the
lower pressure shaft at 60 inclination keeping the
top position same (2a) and driving an additional adit
of about 700 m length (2b) along with a horizontal
pressure conduit of about 260 m from power house.
The 700 m adit provided an additional face for
excavation of the pressure shaft and erection of steel
liners. As anticipated, the sheared dyke daylighted
in the horizontal reach of the new alignment. The
dyke contained crushed, pulverized and gougy
material which was so fragile and loose that it fell
even due to a little vibration and could be easily
scooped with hand tools. The mouth of the old
pressure shaft was plugged. This is indeed a case of
geological surprise which threw up a major
challenge to the project authorities, designers,
geologists and contractors. The collective wisdom
of all concerned could help negotiate the zone
successfully while taking adequate precautions. [5]

2.1 Pykara Ultimate Stage Hydropower Project (3

x 50 MW), India
Pykara ultimate stage hydropower project is a very
high head underground project constructed in Tamil
Nadu for which Central Water Commission was the
design consultant. The project comprises of a
pressure shaft, 1492 m long, 2.4 m finished
diameter and fully steel lined. Several alternative
alignments were studied during planning. The
pressure shaft was finally planned in two reaches
namely upper and lower pressure shaft with an
intermediate adit for access to the middle of the
long inclined portion. The proposed slope of the
upper pressure shaft was 60 to the horizontal
whereas that of the lower one was 45. No adverse
geological conditions were anticipated. [5]
The excavation of the pressure shaft was done
adopting conventional drill and blast method using
Alimak raise climber. The excavation of both the
limbs could proceed simultaneously through three
construction adits. Upper part of the pressure shaft
was completed by excavating from bottom with the
Alimak raise climber and from top with the help of
winch. When the lower pressure shaft excavation
had reached about 176 m from the lowermost bend,
during the scaling operations, loose rock suddenly
collapsed and the Alimak got struck in the debris.
Crushed rock with boulders weighing 1 to 2 kg,
were deposited at the bottom of pressure shaft with
few rock pieces of bigger size weighing up to 10-15
kg. The rock falls continued intermittently. This
resulted in complete stoppage of work on the lower
pressure shaft for about eight months. Engineers
from Alimak Company, Sweden visited the project
site. All attempts to retrieve the raise climber
proved futile. [5]
Based on studies at the investigation stage, the
rock mass in the project area had been predicted as
good to very good and the predominant rock as
massive charnockite. On examination of the falling
rock, geologists found that the pieces were of
dolerite dyke which had intruded into the
charnockite country rock, the contact of which was
highly sheared. Though the presence of dolerite
dyke in this region is not a common phenomenon, a
dyke was encountered near the exit of the tailrace
tunnel which was 30 m wide with a 0.5 m wide
sheared contact. The extension of this dyke was not

2.2 Tala Hydropower Project (6 x 170 MW),

Bhutan
Tala hydropower project is a high head run of the
river project on river Wangchu in south-west
Bhutan in eastern Himalayas for which the design
consultancy was provided by Central Water
Commission and Water & Power Consultancy
Services Ltd., India. The project involved
construction of two inclined steel lined pressure
shafts, each 4.0 m finished diameter and 1.05 km
long, inclined at 52o with the horizontal. Each of the
pressure shafts trifurcates into penstocks of 2.3 m
finished diameter near the power house. The
inclined length of each shaft is 962 m and the
excavated diameter is 5.3 m. [2]

SURGE TANK
INTAKE GATE SHAFT
ADIT

60

HEAD RACE TUNNEL

PRESSURE SHAFT
(UPPER PART)

N.S.L
7.0
58
m
x
x
x

ADIT NO-2

x
x

STEEL LINER

SHEAR ZONE

x
x

300
x

4M
2.

EN
T

ADDITIONAL ADIT PROP-2b

AL
IG
NM

CHAMBER

O
LD

PRESSURE SHAFT
(LOWER PART)

L - 700M

ADDITIONAL ADIT
PROPOSAL -1

x
x

m
80.0

ACCIDENT SPOT
POWER HOUSE

x
x

6
17

45

60

L-11

90

EL.1110.00

-2a
AL
OS
T
OP 7 M
EN
PR 59
NM
IG
AL

W
NE

CROSS SECTION OF
PRESSURE SHAFT

PROPOSAL-3

1500

TAIL RACE TUNNEL

Figure 1: Proposals considered for lower pressure shaft excavation after mishap Pykara project
about 35mx18mx13m whereas in pressure shaft-II it
was about 21mx16mx9m. The remedial measures
for treatment and backfilling of the cavities resulted
in delay in the construction of pressure shafts. The
design of steel liner also had to be revised. To
accelerate the pressure shaft excavation, suitable
ways for simultaneously widening of all the three
pressure shaft reaches was devised and
implemented by the project authority which helped
save considerable time. [2]

The inclined length of each pressure shaft had

been divided into three segments through four adits,
dividing the inclined pressure shaft into upper,
intermediate and lower reaches. The rock mass in
the upper reaches consisted of moderately jointed,
highly folded fresh variants of gneiss,
muscovite/biotite schist, amphibolite and quartzite
bands with heavy ingress of water along the joints
dipping toward the valley. In the intermediate and
lower reaches the rocks were quartzite, phyllitic
quartzite with amphibolite bands. Fair to good
tunneling media had been projected for these shafts
but geological conditions actually encountered have
been rather poor to very poor. [2]
Problems were encountered during excavation
of the upper and intermediate reaches of the
pressure shafts. In the intermediate reach of both the
pressure shafts, difficulties were faced during the
excavation of the 2.5 m diameter pilot shaft. After
completion of 2.5 m diameter pilot shaft, large
cavity formation was observed in both the shafts
during widening. Two numbers of cavities in
pressure shaft PS-I and three in pressure shaft PS-II
were observed at locations indicated in Fig. 2. The
maximum size of the cavity in pressure shaft-1 was

3.

ADVERSE GEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCES

IN HEAD RACE TUNNELS

Adverse geological occurrences in large headrace

tunnels have posed major problems during
excavation and have in certain cases resulted in
complete cessation of activities. Some case studies
are discussed below.
3.1 Nathpa Jhakri Hydropower Project (6 x 250
MW), India
Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project is a run of the
river project constructed on river Satluj in Himachal
Pradesh for which Central Water Commission was

15.0M DIA SURGE SHAFT

15.0M DIA SURGE SHAFT

BUTTERFLY VALVE CHAMBER

CONSTRUCTION ADIT (D-SHAPED)
52

6.8M DIA MODIFIED

HORSE SHOE
HEAD RACE TUNNEL

BUTTERFLY VALVE CHAMBER

CONSTRUCTION ADIT (D-SHAPED)
6.8M DIA MODIFIED
HORSE SHOE
HEAD RACE TUNNEL

CAVITY -1
IInd INTERMEDIATE ADIT TO PRESSURE SHAFT
(D-SHAPED)

IInd INTERMEDIATE ADIT TO PRESSURE SHAFT

(D-SHAPED)
CAVITY -1
CAVITY -2

CAVITY -2
CAVITY -3
4.0 M FINISHED DIA STEEL LINED PRESSURE SHAFT
Ist INTERMEDIATE ADIT TO PRESSURE SHAFT
(D-SHAPED)

52

4.0 M FINISHED DIA STEEL LINED PRESSURE SHAFT

Ist INTERMEDIATE ADIT TO PRESSURE SHAFT
(D-SHAPED)

TO POW ER HO USE COMPLEX

KEY ELEVATION

TO PO WER HOUSE COMPLEX

KEY ELEVATION

(THROUGH CL OF PS-I)

(THROUGH CL OF PS-II)

Figure 2. Location of the cavities formed along the pressure shafts of Tala project

of the muck, filling of the cavity and improving the

ventilation system [6].
Elaborate remedial measures had to be
provided which included installing booster fans of
200 KW in the tunnel and adit inlet that could
supply 1,80,000 cubic metre/hour of fresh air. In
addition, the air had to be cooled by placing ice at
the rate of 25-30 tonnes per day near the tunnel
heading to lower the temperatures and arrangements
for pumping of hot water also had to be increased
with proper adjustment in setting of thermostat.
Additional measures included replacing workforce
at heading after 2 to 4 hours and above all extensive
monitoring and observations had to be maintained
to forestall any mishaps. With these measures the
tunneling work could progress and the work was
completed [6].
In addition to tunneling excavation, such a
high geothermic condition also posed problems in
providing the concrete lining of the tunnel.
Reinforcement had to be introduced to prevent
wide-opening of cracks in the lining due to the
severe thermal conditions. Curing of lining was also
very difficult in the hot and humid conditions.
Special measures were adopted to ensure concreting

the prinicipal consultant. The water conductor

system of this project, one of the worlds longest,
comprises of a 10.15 m finished diameter, concrete
lined, 27.40 km long headrace tunnel passing
through a variety of metamorphic rocks and
intrusive igneous bodies. The excavation of a reach
of the head race tunnel was disrupted due to heavy
ingress of hot water at a rate of about 100
litres/second. This lead to rock mass collapse at the
face. The dewatering arrangements in place could
not tackle the quantity which resulted in flooding of
the tunnel for about 300 m [6].
The rock in this reach was moderately strong
to strong consisting of quartz mica schist, quartzite
and amphibolite. Hot water zones with temperatures
ranging from 35oC to 40oC were expected with
corresponding rock temperatures at the tunnel
grade. However, the actual temperatures of the
seepage water encountered were much higher (as
high as 60oC), particularly downstream of Wadhal
adit junction. Such unexpected severe geothermic
conditions halted the construction work for quite
some time. The work could restart only after
augmenting the dewatering arrangements, removal

POWER HOUSE

PRECAMBRIAN
GNEISS
GONDWANA

SURGE SHAFT
ADIT IV

INTAKE

PRECAMBRIAN
SCHIST

ADIT III

Ranganadi hydropower project on river Ranganadi,

a major tributary of the mighty river Brahmaputra
was the first major project to come up in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The water
conductor system of the project comprises of a 6.8m
finished diameter, concrete lined, 10 km long head
race tunnel and a 688 m long inclined shaft of 5.8 m
diameter as part of the power tunnel, besides other

ADIT I

3.2 Ranganadi Hydropower Project (3 x 135 MW),

India

ADIT II

structures. The geological mapping along the tunnel

alignment (Fig.1) showed tunnel passing through
Precambrian schist, Precambrian gneiss, sand stone
and carbonaceous shale with coal seams, volcanic
and metabasics belonging to Gondwana group, soft
friable sandstone with bands of clay shale and
streaks of coal belonging to Shivalik upper group.
The rock conditions were generally expected to be
of fair to "poor" category. However, in some
reaches at the site, the rock condition actually
encountered was very poor. Such poor rock
condition caused heavy water seepage, squeezing
rock conditions, rock spalling and roof collapses. A
thrust zone was encountered along the tunnel
alignment. As it appeared to be extremely difficult
to excavate the tunnel through the thrust zone, the
tunnel alignment was revised avoiding the thrust
zone. One of the adits was converted into a portion
of the main head race tunnel and a new face was
excavated so as to meet the original tunnel
alignment as shown in Fig. 3 [6].
Another problem that was anticipated in the
region was the presence of highly inflammable

under these conditions. Concrete mix design was

changed to cater for the likely corrosive action on
concrete lining and reinforcement. Appropriate type
of cement (Portland slag cement or Portland
pozzolona cement) was used as preventive measure
against long term effect of hot water on concrete
lining. Curing of concrete was done by keeping
surface of concrete moist for at least 21 days by
attaching a suitable cooling water system of pipes.
These were attached to the steel shutter to ensure
proper hydration and hardening of concrete [6].

III
ADI
T

AD
IT

AD

IT

II

MODIFIED ALIGNMENT

SUR

GEOLOGICAL SECTION

GE
S
ADI HAFT
T IV

SHIVALIK
SAND-STONE

INTAKE

PLAN

ORIGINAL ALIGNMENT

Figure 3. Plan & geological section of head race tunnel alignment -Ranganadi project

PH

methane gas. The geological report had indicated

the possibility of encountering methane gas.
Accordingly, some precautionary measures like use
of methanometer, providing extra ventilation system
to dilute probable methane gas inside the tunnel
were adopted as the tunnel entered into Gondwana
zone. In spite of the above precautions, methane gas
explosions occurred injuring workmen &
supervisors. At one point it was found that the
heading had caved in, forming a cavity of 4 to 5 m
above the crown. The accumulated methane gas in
this cavity exploded. After this incident, excavation
was done carefully by adopting flame proof
illumination system, additional ventilation system,
proper monitoring of methane gas concentration etc.
[6].

were drilled up to a depth below the invert of the

headrace tunnel. However, the grout curtain formed
by these holes did not prove effective in controlling
the seepage. Hence secondary holes at 6 m c/c in
between the primary holes and thereafter tertiary
holes at 3 m c/c were drilled and cement grouting
was carried out. The grouting scheme could control
only about 50% of the seepage. The construction of
the overt concrete lining in this reach of the tunnel
was carried out by channelizing the water away
through pipes and by resorting to chemical grouting
as required. The excessive seepage problem was
encountered only in the initial reach of horizontally
bedded alternate sequence of quartzite and olive
green shale. Seepage problem was not encountered
in the later part of the tunnel in reddish brown
massive quartzite. The project authorities were not
prepared for this eventuality and thus time was lost
in studying the various alternatives, mobilizing
resources and executing the remedial measures [4].

3.3 Srisailam Left Bank Hydropower Project (6 x

150 MW), India
Srisailam left bank hydropower project is an
underground pumped storage project constructed on
the left bank of Srisailam Dam on river Krishna in
Andhra Pradesh. The project consists of six
reversible Francis turbine units, each of 150 MW
capacity utilizing the existing reservoir to augment
the total generation for peaking purposes. The
project comprises of a 15.0 m finished diameter,
concrete lined, 347 m long headrace tunnel.
According to the geologists, the headrace tunnel
passes through horizontally bedded alternate
sequence of quartzite and olive green shale in the
initial reach and thereafter through reddish brown
massive quartzite[4].
The excavation of the headrace tunnel was
done through drill and blast method in stages of
heading and benching. Due to the proximity of the
reservoir, heavy water seepage was encountered
during excavation of the initial reach of the tunnel.
This was probably due to piercing of the tunnel into
the alternate sequence of horizontally stratified
quartzites and shales. The observed seepage was of
the order of 60 litres per second at full reservoir
level condition which reduced as the reservoir water
level went down. Various alternatives for
containing the seepage by means of grouting
galleries and grout curtain were studied. The
measure finally adopted consists of forming a grout
curtain all around to isolate the affected reach of the
tunnel. A series of primary grout holes were drilled
at 6m c/c along the rim of the reservoir in the intake
area and cement grouting was carried out. The holes

3.4 Tala Hydropower Project (6 x 170 MW),

Bhutan
Tala hydropower project comprises of 23 km long
head race tunnel passing through rock mass
conditions varying from very good to exceptionally
poor as per Bartons rock mass classification
system. Difficulties during excavation were faced at
various locations due to adverse geology. The
adverse geological condition encountered in the
head race tunnel at Kalikhola shear zone was one of
the worst wherein completely pulverized bands of
quartzite, amphibolite and quartz biotite schist
intermingled with clayey mass and drippings/water
seepage resulted in unstable crown and face, large
overbreaks and flowing rock mass conditions. In
spite of using the best tunneling techniques, the
tunnel collapsed and about 70 m of the tunnel got
filled up with about 3500 cubic metre of
muck/gouge material. The head race tunnel had to
be diverted by 45o from the original alignment
towards the hill side increasing its length by about
74 m and abandoning nearly 102.0 m of the
excavated portion as shown in Fig. 4. [3]. In the
diverted alignment the shear zone was again
encountered but was tackled by the DRESS
technique (Drainage, Reinforcement, Excavation &
Support Solution) which involved the following
operations and was carried out using state-of-art
equipment:

10

geological occurrences. The case studies presented

in this paper establish the fact that with proper
mechanism, adverse geological situations can be
managed. The lessons learnt from managing these
adverse geological occurrences should be properly
documented for benefit of future projects.

Drainage in advance of the rock mass ahead of

the face with long drainage holes.
Reinforcement of rock mass by installation of
long forepoles (12-15 m long) followed by
intensive grouting to create an umbrella arch
as pre-excavation support.
Excavation of tunnel with varying diameter in
parts to make space for installation of one steel
rib at a time and
Support system by installation of steel ribs of
varying diameter and other rock support like
shotcrete etc. [3].

REFERENCES
1.

Central Water Commission, Proceedings of

Workshop on Challenges due to geological
surprises in water resources development projects
New Delhi, 2001.

HILL SIDE

HRT 6.8m MODIFIED HORSE SHOE

(FINISHED)-NEW ALIGNMENT

KALIKHOLA ADIT JN.

OLD ALIGNMENT
D/S-TOWARDS
SURGE SHAFT

U/S-TOWARDS
MIRCHINGCHU
VALLEY SIDE

Figure 4. Modified alignment of head race tunnel upstream of Kalikhola adit in Tala project

4.

CONCLUSION

Managing adverse geological occurrences properly

during the execution of an underground hydropower
project is the key to accelerated implementation of
underground
hydropower
projects.
These
occurrences may be in tunnels, shafts or caverns.
Adequate geological investigations during project
report preparation and its interpretation, reliability
of the predicted geology and the predictions on the
adverse geological conditions likely to be
encountered is very important for the implementing
agency, designers and executing agency. This
enables the implementing agency to plan
accordingly and make adequate provisions in the
contract documents to handle such situations. The
executing agency appointed should be capable of
handling such adverse tunneling conditions timely.
Continuous geological monitoring of the rock mass
and predictions by resident geologist during
execution, inputs from Expert Committees helps the
designer to go in for mid-way correction in the
designs. Prompt decision making by the
implementing agency is vital in managing adverse
11

2.

Goyal D. P. and Khazanchi R.N., Excavation

problems in shafts of 1020 MW Tala hydroelectric
project in Bhutan Himalayas Proceedings of Water
Power XIII, Buffalo, USA, 2003.

3.

Goyal D. P. and Khazanchi R.N., Dress

Methodology for tackling adverse geological
conditions in head race tunnel of Tala hydroelectric
project in Bhutan Himalayas International
Conference- Tunneling Asia 2004 Need for
Accelerated Underground Construction Issues and
Challenges, New Delhi, 2004.

4.

Mande O.D. and Chauhan S.P.S., Chandrashekhar

J., Underground works at Srisailam hydropower
project Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical
Conference New Delhi, 1998.

5.

Mande O.D. and Chandrashekhar J., Dey K.K.,

Planning and design aspects of Pykara underground
hydropower project Proceedings of International
Conference HYDRO-2000 Bern, Switzerland,
2000.

6.

Technical Reports of projects.

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF THE AUTHORS

A.K.Bajaj graduated in Mechanical
Engineering and obtained Master of
Technology in Fluids Engineering and
Water Resources from Indian Institute
of Technology, Delhi. He joined the
Central Water Engineering Service in
1974 as Assistant Director in Central
Water Commission and has over these
years held various positions in Central Water Commission
and other organizations under the Minister of Water
Resources. In his 34 years of service, he has made
significant contributions in the field of design &
consultancy for various water resources projects within the
country and abroad. He is currently Chairman and
Member (Designs & Research), Central Water
Commission and Ex-officio Additional Secretary to the
Government of India. He represents Government of India
in various national and international committees/workbodies. He has traveled widely and has to his credit
several technical papers.

of spillway. He joined the Central Water Engineering

Service in 1976 as Assistant Director in Central Water
Commission and since then while working in various
capacities has experience of design of hydraulic gates and
hoists, planning & design of concrete and masonry dams,
investigation and finalization of feasibility reports and
detailed project reports for various multipurpose projects.
He is currently working as Chief Engineer-Designs,
Central Water Commission.
J. Chandrashekhar Iyer graduated in
Civil Engineering from National
Institute of Technology, Surat in 1984.
He acquired Master of Technology in
Civil Engineering from Indian Institute
of Technology, Chennai in 1986. He
joined the Central Water Engineering
Service in 1986 as Assistant Director in Central Water
Commission and has over these years worked in various
capacities. During 1992-94, on NORAD Fellowship, he
pursued Master of Science degree in Hydropower
Development at Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, Trondheim. His key area of specialization is
planning, analysis and design engineering of hydro-civil
components of surface and underground hydropower
projects and has been associated with Nathpa-Jhakri,
Srisailam, Pykara, Upper Indravathi, Doyang, Rampur and
Ken-Betwa Link projects. He is currently working as
Director, Hydel Civil Designs Directorate, Central Water
Commission.

T.P. Singh graduated in Civil

Engineering from Delhi College of
Engineering, Delhi in 1970. He
obtained the degree of Master of
Engineering in Water Resources from
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
During 1972 - 1975 he worked on
Beas-Satluj Link Project, Pandoh, Himachal Pradesh
where he was involved in the construction

12