ADHERING COMMITTEE OF INTERNATIONAL TUNNELLING ASSOCIATION (INDIA)

BACKGROUND

Location of various facilities underground will be the order of the day in the immediate future to ensure sustainable life for future societies by providing necessary infrastructure to accommodate transportation, communication utility networks and complexes for handling, processing and storage of many kinds of materials., more so in urban areas which will have to accommodate large populations. Application of New technologies besides use of sophisticated equipment for underground construction works would be warranted for execution of works in a cost effective manner conforming to sustainable development. With rapid growth of underground structure anticipated, there will be evolution of new technologies and innovative construction practices.

In India, to cater different needs like power generation, Irrigation, highways and metro etc., projects are under execution involving construction of tunnels and underground works which include mighty Sardar Sarovar Project, Tehri Hydroelectric Project, Pykara Ultimate Stage Project, Koyana Project, Dulhasti, Calcutta Metro, Delhi Metro besides Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project in Himalayas with 27 kms of tunneling are also being executed.

Since its inception, Adhering Committee of the International Tunnelling Association (India) established in 1991, has been involved in dissemination of information by encouraging planning of the use of subsurface and to promote advances in the preparatory investigations for tunnels, design, construction and maintenance of tunnels and also by organising symposia, seminars, workshops, and training courses, both at national as well as international level, in liaison with international organisations.

The international Tunnelling association was formed in the year 1974 and having its headquarters at Switzerland. The aims of the association are to encourage planning of the use of the subsurface and to promote advances in the preparatory investigations for tunnels, and in the design, construction and maintenance of tunnels, by bringing together information thereon and by studying questions related thereto.

The Association fulfils its mission: by interchange of information among its several Adhering National Organisations, holding Executive, Public or other meetings at intervals, organizing and co-ordinating studies and experiments, publication of proceedings, reports and documents etc. The association is not a profit seeking body.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMITTEE

• to encourage the planning of the use of the sub-surface and to promote advances in the preparatory investigations for tunnels and in the design, construction and maintenance of tunnels by bringing together information thereon and by studying questions related thereto;
• by organizing and co-ordinating studies and experiments;
• by publication of proceedings, reports and documents;
• by encouragement of collaboration with and support of International Programme in the field of tunnel engineering including cooperation with other organizations in the activities of common interest;
• to encourage membership in the adhering organizations;
• to provide an information service to all concerned with tunnel engineering about the development of techniques, new trends and experience gained by others to enable updating of knowledge;
• to act as a coordinating body in India for International Tunnelling Association
• to provide an information to all concerned with Tunnel Engineering about the development of techniques, new trends and experience gained by others to enable updating of knowledge.
• to allow specialists in the various disciplines to discuss their experiences, research work and or techniques at various fora.

BENEFITS

The Adhering Committee of ITA (India) provides information regarding latest developments in the subject to its members and all its members automatically enrolled as members of ITA. The member gets the following benefits:

- Adhering Committee of ITA (India) News Letter published two times a year
- TRIBUNE quarterly Journal from ITA Secretariat
- Literature / Information bulletions of seminar/ conferences pertaining to the subject being organized by different organization in India / abroad
- Can submit papers to International Seminar / Conferences through the National Committee, being organized by International Tunnelling Association / other National Committees
- Acessing on line publications on ITA Website
- Discount rates in publications and registration fee, etc.

Report On Workshop

Tunnelling in Himalayan Geology

6- 9 th June 2006, Katra, Jammu & Kashmir

In order to provide desired linkages to the remotely located areas and for exploitation of the hydro potential of the country, particularly in Himalayan ranges , extensive underground activities for road, railways and hydroelectric projects is being undertaken. Many such projects are under construction and many more are under consideration. Excavation for tunnels and caverns in Himalayan ranges , which are considered youngest mountain in the world require use of most complex mixture of excavation methodologies as type of the rock changes very frequently in short distances. Despite best efforts and use of latest technologies including Radar mapping, there is always slight uncertainty in pre-assessing the type of rock expected to be encountered. Thus, it becomes difficult to arrive at definite conclusion regarding adoption of the technologies/combination of technologies for excavation in Himalayan ranges. Thus it is being observed that at difficult sites, a combination of excavation methodologies is being used including conventional drilling, blasting, use of road headers and now concerned authorities have started thinking in terms of using TBMs too.

Engineers working for underground excavations in Himalayan ranges, therefore, need continuous interaction and information dissemination to up-date their knowledge covering all aspects of underground works they are developing . Interaction with fellow engineers involved in similar activities also is of great help to these field engineers. The “Workshop on Tunnelling in Himalayan Geology” is, therefore, organized by Central Board of Irrigation and Power in association with the “Committee of ISRM (India)” and “Adhering Committee of International Tunnelling Association (India)” ,to meet the objective.

More than 150 participants from all over India and abroad participated in the workshop His Excellency Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, PVSM, Governor of Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir was chief guest of function and he had inaugurated the workshop. Other dignitaries on the dias were Shri Jugal Kishore , Hon'ble Member of Legislative Assembly; Prof. N.K. Bansal, Vice Chancellor, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University; Shri Vinod Kumar, Executive Director (Projects), Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, Shri G.N.Mathur, Secretary , CBIP and Shri V.K.Kanjlia, Director, Central Board of Irrigation & Power. Dr. Arun Kumar, CEO, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, also graced the occasion.

At the outset, Shri G.N.Mathur, Secretary, Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP) welcomed His Excellency Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, PVSM, Governor of J& K , other dignitaries on the dias, invities and the delegates. Shri G.N.Mathur, Secretary, CBIP, gave the brief background that Modern tunnel construction in India has its origin mainly in the Nineteenth century when a number of railway tunnels were constructed for extension of rail network in various parts of India for crossing of hill ranges - in Western Ghats, Vindhayas and in the foothills of Himalayas for connecting few hill resorts like Simla, Quetta and Darjeeling. There were few instances of tunnels being constructed for roads and other purposes. Early last century, a major tunnel was built in Shiwalik ranges for construction of first major hydro power project in Punjab - the Shanan Hydroelectric Project. Barring few tunnels in the soft rock formations of Himalayan Foothills in the North, most of the tunnels were bored in hard rock strata in Peninsular India. Generally the dimensions of the tunnels constructed that time were limited to requirement of accommodating single broad gauge railway track.

Construction of tunnels received a big boost after Independence when large programs for exploitation of water resources were taken up which involved construction of tunnels for water conveyance and housing hydropower generating units. In the last four decades large numbers of tunnels have been constructed in connection with multipurpose and hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region.

Secretary, CBIP during his speech also mentioned that CBIP is happy to have in our midst the representatives of the Co-organisers, Co-sponsors and supporters of the workshop, namely, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., IRCON International Ltd.; Patel Engg. Limited, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd.; Hindustan Construction Company Ltd.; Atlas Copco Construction and Mining Sales ; Herrenknecht; Degussa Construction Chemicals (India) Pvt.Ltd. and CBIP is thankful for their financial support to this workshop.

His Excellency Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, PVSM, Governor of Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir, in his address stated the need for tunnels in the state of Jammu & Kashmir for its real development .

During the two and half days deliberations of the workshop, besides the Plenary Session there were 8 technical sessions where 20 experts made the technical presentations on the different aspects of planning, design and construction of tunnels and underground works in Himalayas. The discussions concluded with the due importance to the components like geology; engineering, construction methodology and management for timely completion of the project. Need was also felt that there is a shortage of the qualified engineers as well as foemen and technicians at present. Thus, Human Resource Management should be given due care before initiation of any infrastructure project. The following issues emerged during the deliberations in the various technical sessions of the workshop:

1. With the growing need, to accelerate the development of infrastructure for water resources; hydropower development, rail network, road projects, construction of large number of tunnels in practically every type of strata is necessity of the time. Thus, adoption of faster & cost-effective techniques for tunnel driving under complex geological environment in Himalayan ranges is requirement of the day.

2. Inadequate investigations in Himalayan region having complex geological strata at detailed project report preparation stage are a matter of concern and should be addressed adequately to decide use of technology and equipment for tunneling in Indian context.

3. As more and longer tunnels are needed, use of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) is advocated for accelerating the construction of tunnels and underground works, in Himalayas based upon the experiences of Parbati Hydroelectric project. Proper planning and selection of TBM is must for timely execution and completion to save time and cost over runs of the project. One should be very careful while arriving at a decision whether we should use TBM or NATM method for tunneling.

4. Expert supervision and timely arrangement of material at the project site is the most important. The contract document shall have a clause for risk sharing between Owner and contractor mutually. Abnormally high cutter cost, hold ups in poor geology cost shall be offset by sharing mutually.

5. For special chemical and grouting materials, provision should be made in the contract document at the time of tendering so as to avoid contractual complications later on.

6. To overcome the various geological surprises in Himalayas, there should be proper geological investigation to be carried-out before initiation of the construction of the project.

7. Shotcrete with wire mesh, placing ribs rock bolting etc. various stablising methods of tunnel face like forepoling should be mentioned in detail. Greater utilization of available equipment and products should be made to improve shotcrete quality and jobsite environmental conditions.

8. Detailed hydro-geological survey is to be done to identify the source recharging the sub surface flow through the saturated shear zone and the anticipated discharge which will help in proper design of drainage/diversion of the flow through the saturated shear zone and in the use of effective and economical grouting method to achieve faster and steady progress of tunneling.

9. Support of authorities is must for execution of infrastructure project.

10. The workshop was successfully organized with the active cooperation from Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, NHPC, and other private agencies involved with the tunnel construction activity in the region.

In 2 nd half of 8 th June the participants visited Tunnel No.1& Tunnel No.2 of Katra-Laole Section of Udhampur – Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Link Project and on 9 th Tunnel No.5 and 3 / Portal P-I & II at Reasi of Katra – Laole Section of Udhampur – Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Link Project was visited.

MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY

Individual/ individual life membership is open to any person engaged in or interested in tunnelling work involving planning, design and construction of tunnels and who is a graduate in engineering or science or with equivalent qualifications

Institutional membership is open to Organizations and Institutions which prepare projects, execute and supervice tunneling works and deal with the equipment involving tunnelling;

MEMBERSHIP FEE

Individual Member , Annual Membership : Rs. 500/-
Individual Life Member, Membership : Rs.5000/-
Institutional Member , Annual Membership : Rs.5000/-
Institutional Life Member, Membership : Rs.1,00,000/-

Membership Form

ITA - AITES World Tunnel Congress & 32nd ITA General Assembly

The ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress & 32nd ITA General Assembly will be held in Seoul, Korea from April 22 - 27 , 2006. The Korean Tunnelling Association and the Organizing Committee of ITA WTC 2006 have prepared various programs under the theme of Safety in the Underground Space. Internationally well-known invited speakers will deliver four keynote lectures. Five open sessions are also planned beside other technical sessions. In the open sessions, five lectures will be arranged to thoroughly discuss topics related to 'Managing Risks in Tunnelling'. There will also be four post congress technical site visits such as two Seoul subway construction sites, a rail construction site, and a Seoul Railway construction site in Seoul. Besides, diverse technical exhibitions and social programs are scheduled during the congress. The congress will provide an open forum for exchanging new information and ideas related to tunneling industry. The venue city Seoul, has a population of over 13 million, takes pride in its long history. Seoul has been the capital city since the Chosun dynasty had completed its construction works on March 30, 1392. To celebrate Seoul's foundation as the capital, the Korean Society of Civil Engineers has designated March 30 as Civil Engineers day. Surrounded by dozens of beautiful mountains, Seoul has the Han River that centrally cross the city from east to west. Detailed information regarding Congress Resistration , Keynote Lecture, Technical Program, Working Group Meetings, Exhibition, Sponsorship ,Technical Visit and Post Congress Tour etc are mentioned in 3rd Bulletin of the Congress is available at http:www.ita2006.com