Construction oF BR. No. 316 (7 x 12.

20 PSC Slab)
by Elimination of Pile Cap and Pier
By
Mukesh Mandalia*
A.K.Panday**

SYNOPSIS
The proposed bridge site is between Gandhidham and Kandla Port, near the Kandla Port Station on Nakti
river which is a creek experiencing two high tides and two low tides every day. Form the Google map of
the bridge location, it is seen that the entire area remains flooded and submerged due to high tides.
Surrounding area was marshy and having compressible soil. A large area of land was required adjacent to
the site for stacking of cement, steel, erection of batching plant, CPCC treatment, sand blasting,
fabrication of MS liners, pile driving equipments etc. To carry out the above activities, huge amount of
earthwork had to be carried out make a leveled platform. Due to compressible nature of soil underneath,
there was lot of difficulty in the plying of vehicle i.e. trucks, trailers cranes etc. It was not feasible to
construct the bridge in a conventional way of piling, pile cap, abutment & pier and then slab. So it was
decided to do away with pile cap and abutment/pier and directly construct bed block on piles.

Google Map of Nakti River and the Bridge site location

* XEN(C)-ADI
**AXEN(TMC)-NER
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Integrated Course No. 12103

IRICEN JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

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2.
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3.

Introduction
Kandla Port is a major Port on the western cost of
India. There was single BG line between Kandla Port
and Gandhidham.
Due to vast development of Kandla Port in the recent
times, the cargo handling has increased many folds in
the recent years.
Due to this, the Rail Traffic to and from the Kandla port
had also increased substantially.
To meet with the increased traffic to and from the
Kandla Port, the need for doubling of GandhidhmKandla Port had arisen. Therefore, the work of
doubling between Gandhidham-Kandla) Port (12.00
KM) was sanctioned and it was targeted to be opened
before 31.3.2011.
Bottle Necks and Difficulties
In the doubling between Gandhidham-Kandla Port,
construction of Major Br. No.316 (7X12.20 M PSC
Slab) on NAKTI RIVER, which passed through
creek of Kandla port was a bottleneck as it carries
back water and is perennially under water.
There was huge tidal variation of approx. 6 M and the
velocity of the flow at the time of high tide was
extremely high.
The net available time for completion of this project
including Major Br. No. 316 was only 3 and half
months. The work was started on 15.12.2010 and it
was targeted to be completed before 31.3.2011.

Scheme of Construction:
There were two options available for the construction
of this bridge
(i) Construction of pile cap at river bed level and pier
by constructing water tight coffer dam.
(ii) Elimination of pile cap and pier by following
method
Construction of earthen bank up to pier cap
level
Driving piles from top of earthen island up to
pier cap level.
Removal of earthen island and with the pile
from bed level to pier cap level serving as pier.
This portion of pile is to be cast with casing.
3.1 Drawback of Scheme-(i)
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The option of providing pile cap at bed level would
have required water tight coffer dam with sheet piles.
In this method, there was a possibility of ingress of
subsoil water which would have required massive
arrangement for bailing out subsoil water by well point

system etc. so as to construct pile cap and pier in dry

condition. The cost of construction of sheet pile
cofferdam, bailing out of water etc. roughly worked
out to be about Rs 75 Lacs.
The construction of sheet pile offer dam, bailing out of
water etc. would have been very time consuming
Then too ensuring the quality of concreting in pile cap
and pier would have been difficult.
With this methodology, it was not possible to
complete the bridge in 3 and half months. It would
have taken at least one and half year to construct the
bridge with this method.
The QTY of concreting in pile (BL to Pier cap level)
and pier cap in scheme (ii) was slightly lesser than the
combined QTY of pile cap, Pier and pier cap in
scheme-(I).

3.2 Drawback of Scheme-(ii)

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In scheme No. (ii), some extra quantity of earthwork
was involved to block half the river in first face to divert
the flow through second half and the same activity for
the second half of the bridge.
3.3 Final Decision:
Scheme (ii) didnt require driving of sheet piles, bailing
out of water etc. Therefore it was presumed to be cost
effective and far less time consuming.
Therefore, after weighing all pros and cons of both the
schemes and also keeping in view the target to
complete the work in 3 and half months and cost
effectiveness, it was decided to construct the bridge
as per the scheme (ii)

4.0 Planning
There was extremely stiff target of 3 and half months
for the completion of this bridge.
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Therefore what was required was the meticulous
planning and strict implementation of that planning
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A bar chart was prepared keeping in view the
availability of machinery, material, labour festivals
etc. All arrangements of Machineries, material and
labour were closely monitored as per the bar chart.
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Problems with regard to labour, material, machineries
were immediately identified and corrective measures
were taken so as not to deviate from the bar chart
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For any deviation in the original planning and bar
chart due to any unforeseen reasons, corrective
measures were taken and back up plans were
immediately drawn to make up the loss or delay in the
work.
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The construction of Bridge was done in two phases
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5.0 Phase-i
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and earthen bund was constructed covering span 5 to

7.
The width of 30M was essentially required for erection
of piling tripod, transportation of PSC slabs by trailer
and for placement of cranes for launching of PSC
slabs.
There were many activities dependent on tidal
variation, therefore daily and yearly tidal chart and
table were collected from port authority and it proved
to be very useful in the execution of work.

PHASE-I

EARTH FILLING IN FOUR SPANS

First of all span 1 to 4 were tackled.
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Earthen bund of approximately 30.0 M width was
constructed with boulders and good earth up to
bottom of pier cap level in span 1 to 4.
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The water was diverted through span 5 to 7.
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Piles were constructed from the top of earthen bank
and constructed up to pier cap level.
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On the top of the pile group pier cap was cast.
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By the time pier caps of 4 spans were constructed,
PSC slabs were kept ready and launched
immediately.
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Earthen bank constructed for span 1 to 4, was
cleared, the flow of water diverted through span 1 to 4
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WATER DIVERTED THROUGH

SPAN 5 TO 7

RUBBLE AND MORRUM FILLING

IN SPAN 1 TO 4
PFL 99.95
BOTTOM OF PSC SLAB 98.76
HFL 97.76

PSC SOLID SLAB

R.L.96.76

PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

ABUTMENT

PILE CAP

PILE

BED
LEVEL
9161

BOTTOM OF PILE 6898

PILE

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PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

PSC SOLID SLAB

PIER CAP

6.0 Salient Features

(A) Foundation:
Structure

Grade of CC

Pile Dia.

Pile Nos.

Depth of piles

For Pier

M:35

1200 mm dia.

4 Nos

23.68 M from bottom of pier cap

For Abutment

M:35

1200 mm dia.

9 Nos

13.50 M from bottom of pier cap

(B) Substructure:
Structure

Grade of CC

Size

Remarks

Pier

M:35

4X 1200 mm Dia.

Cast as pile

Pier cap

M:35

1X5100mmX5100 mmX1800 mm

Pier cap cast on pile group of 4 piles

Abutment

M:35

RCC Abutment of size 6850X1150 mm

Abutment cast on a pile group of 9 piles.

(C) Super Structure:

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PSC slab for 12.20 M span as per DRG.NO. RDSO/B10271 to 10271/1

This Bridge being in earthquake zone-V, Therefore, no Elastomeric bearings were provided as per RDSO guidelines.
Free Board

2185 mm

Clearance

1005 mm

Waterway

265.44 SQM

7.0 CPCC Treatment To Reinforcement

deployed at a time.
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This bridge was constructed in creek of Kandla, where

severe environment condition as per Concrete
Bridge Code prevails. Therefore It was necessary to
do anticorrosion treatment.

The piles were constructed up to the bottom of pier

cap level

Main Reinforcement: 32mm Dia. 19 Nos. up to 17.68

m from the bottom of the pier cap. For the remaining
depth 20 mm Dia. 19 Nos

Links : 8 mm Dia. @150 mm c/c

MS liners were provided up to 16.00 M from the

bottom of pier cap to prevent scour, the collapse of

CPCC treatment was done on the reinforcement.

8.0 CONSTRUCTION OF PILE

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Since, the entire work was to be completed in 3 and

half
months, three Pile machines were

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soil and to protect the concrete from aggressiveness

of the sub soil water.

Since, no pile cap was provided; extra care was taken

to ensure good quality concrete and no laitance or
weak concrete at the neck of pile and pier cap was
there.

11.0 Superstructure

Since the pile above the bed level acts as a pier, extra
care was taken to ensure the verticality of the pile.

Shear Reinforcement: 10#stirrups 4 leggs@200 mm

c/c
Superstructure was provided as 12.20 M PSC slab as
per DRG.NO. RDSO/B10271 to 10271/1

12.0 Parallel Activity

9.0 Pile Load Test

In a span of 7X12.20 M, total 28 Pieces of post

tensioned PSC slabs and 14 pieces of RCC retainer
were required to be cast.

Vertical load test (Compression) was carried out on

the test pile for 2 times the design load.

Construction of PSC slab is a time consuming activity

due to fixed time lag between casting and stressing.

The deflection at the test load was within permissible

limit as per the I.S. 2911

Therefore, the casting of PSC slab and retainer were

planned to be constructed as a parallel activity with
the casting of pile and pier cap.

Since the casting of PSC slabs and retainers were

considered to be a critical activity, following special
measures were taken.

10.0 Construction of Pile Cap

(I)

The casting bed was constructed of sufficient

length and breath

(ii) All the material required for the construction of

PSC slab and retainer i.e. reinforcement, cable
strands, sheathing, bearing, cones etc, were
made available at site.
(iii) Bottom plates were arranged for 28 Nos of PSC
slabs and 8 Nos of RCC retainers.
(iv) No recycling of casting bed, shuttering etc was
done being a critical activity
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The size of pile cap is 5100X5100X1800 mm

Main reinforcement bottom: 16 mm Dia@140mm c/c

both ways

Main reinforcement at top: 16 mm Dia@140mm c/c

both ways

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By the time piles and pier caps were constructed in

A1, P1,P2,P3,and P4 , The 16 Nos. of PSC slabs and
8 Nos. of RCC retainers were cast and kept ready
including stressing and grouting.

13.0

Launching of Psc Slab:

Flow was directed through span 1 to 4

The total weight of one PSC slab was around 35 MT.

It was not possible to launch the slab with the help of

one big crane due to compressible nature of soil
underneath the filling.

Earthen bund of approx. 30m wide was constructed

along span 5 to 7, up to bottom of pier cap level.

The piles were constructed up to bottom of pier level

for span 5 to 7.

Pier cap were constructed

PSC slabs launched for span 5 to 7

Piles cast between bed level and pier cap level served
as pier. Pier cap were directly constructed on pile

Finally, the earthen bund was cleared through span 5

to 7.

The water was allowed to flow through all the spans.

Since the casting yard was around 200 m away from

the bridge site, the slabs were taken to the site with
the help of two cranes and trailer.
Even during the transportation of PSC slab by the
trailer, it got stuck in the soil due to compressible soil
beneath and the help of Hitachi was taken out

14.0 PHASE-II

15. Conclusion

14. PHASE-II
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In Phase-II, Earthen bund was cleared through span

1to 4

There was extremely difficult and adverse site

condition for construction any Bridge and in addition
to that there was extremely stiff target of 3 and half
months for completion of this bridge.

All areas where there might be difficulty and delay in

the construction were identified well in advance and
suitably addressed in time.

However, with selection of proper choice of scheme

and methodology ,meticulous planning and
execution, proper monitoring, and hard work by
railway officials at all levels and efforts of agency, the
work could be completed in time and the target was
achieved

Highlights of The Companies Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha in 2012

Clause 135: Corporate Social
Responsibility
Every company having net worth of Es. 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more
or a net profit of Rs. 5 crore or more during any financial year is required to constitute a Corporate
Social Responsibility Committee.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Committee will formulate a Corporate Social Responsibility
Policy.
The company is required to spend at least 2% of the revenue net profit of the company made
during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social
Responsibility Policy.
If the company fails to spend such amount the Board shall give in its report the reasons for the
same making it a binding obligation on the Board

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