International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering

Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

Teesta-III Cut-Off Wall

Brajesh Kumar Ojha
“FIE”, Project Director (Energy Infratech Pvt. Limited)

Abstract: The Teesta-III Hydro Electric Project (1200 MW) essential to optimize the construction cost vis-a-vis
is located in North District in the North Eastern State of construction period taking into account the price escalation
Sikkim, India. The project is in advanced stage of and interest during construction as well as benefits due to
construction and is likely to be commissioned by Jan early completion. The project area experiences almost six
2015.The project envisages the construction of 60m high months of monsoon rains and with scarcity of clay material
Concrete Face Rock-Fill Dam (CFRD) as diversion in the vicinity of dam site, the central earth core type rock fill
structure. The concrete Diaphragm wall was constructed dam was ruled out. Various alternatives of providing positive
under the Concrete Face Rock Fill Dam as positive cutoff cutoff below the dam foundation like curtain grouting,
wall so as to arrest the seepage of water below the dam diaphragm wall and jet grouting was explored. Due to large
foundation. This cutoff wall is made up of plastic concrete depths and presence of big size boulders, all these options
which can deform without development of cracks. The are challenging. However during detailed design and with
excavation up to 60 m in the river borne material which selection of CFRD, the diaphragm wall was selected in
comprised of big boulders caused problems and therefore tandem as part of diversion structure. Many CFRD’s with
well planned construction method was employed by careful diaphragm wall up to 100 mtr has been built all over the
deployment of right kind of trench cutting machine and world and even in India 60m high CFRD type dam with 60
other drilling accessories. This paper details the basic plan, m deep cutoff wall has been done in Dhauliganga Hydro
process of cutoff wall construction and evaluation of its Electric Project (Uttrakhand) successfully. Keeping into
performance. various aspects the CFRD with diaphragm wall was adopted.
The location of cutoff wall was shifted from center to the
I. INTRODUCTION upstream end. The positioning of the impervious elements
The river Teesta is one of the main Himalayan Rivers and outside the dam body makes the construction of cutoff wall
originates from the glaciers of Sikkim in north at an elevation and related foundation treatments independent of the rock-
of about EL 5280 m. This river is formed by confluence of fill construction and thus simplifying the construction
two snow fed streams namely Lachen Chu and Lachung Chu schedule.
at Chungthang about 400 m upstream of the proposed dam
site. It has been planned to harness the power potential of
Teesta through cascade of six power projects across the
basin. This project Teesta Stage-III envisages utilization of
gross head of 800 meter, by construction of 60 m high
Concrete Face Rock fill. This is a run of the river
hydropower scheme. It operates with a low plant load factor
51% to satisfy electricity demand peaks. The power House
holds 6 units of 200 MW each generating 5228 MU of energy
annually. The project envisages construction of plastic
concrete cutoff wall through the boulder mixed alluvial
deposits at the dam site extended from the level of the plinth
foundation of the dam up to the 1m into bed rock. During the
feasibility stage design Concrete Gravity Dam was proposed.
It involved excavation of more than 50 m deep river borne
material for about 18lac cum and further about 8lac cum of
concrete in the dam body out of which 6 lac cum below the
river bed. These works would have entailed handling of
heavy seepage of the dam pit resulting in high cost in
dewatering. The time consumed in excavation and concreting
work would have increased diversion period and hence the
flood risk. Further the elaborate grout curtain being required
below the Cofferdam and may be Jet-Grouting as done in the
case of Teesta-V and Teesta-VI dam sites. With such high
requirement of time and cost, the dam construction period
was getting critical for commissioning of the project and
therefore alternatives were explored on this account. It is A view of CFRD

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION IV. GEOLOGY

The CRED is 60m high at its maximum section and has a fill The rocks of the area comprises of Chungthang series of
volume of about 11lac cum. In the upper part of the dam, Kanchenjunga Group comprising central crystalline Gneissic
parapet wall, 3m high was built in order to reduce the total Complex. Due to complex folding, Gneissic and Schistose
volume of the dam embankment materials. The upstream and bands are intricately folded with Meta sedimentary units.
downstream slope is 1V:1.5H. The spillway is located in the The riverbed and river-course is lined by riverine terrace
left bank and consists of two no’s 10m dia about 1 km long deposits on either bank, overlain by boulder to pebble grade.
spillway tunnel and 32m wide 2 no’s gated surface spillway Bed rock of hard quartzite with interbedded Calc Gneiss with
of size 11X14m each. One 11m dia 1.2 km long flushing occasional thin bands of Bauxite, Schist and Amphibolites
tunnel has been provided 5m above the average riverbed are observed projecting steeply out of overburden stress
level for flushing out the reservoir during the flood. This will banks, in the form of escarpment faces. In view of the
also augment the spillway capacity to pass the design flood slightly open nature of the foliation, provisions of the
of 7000 cumecs. The power house is a 240m longX20m grouting of the bed rock along the banks were planned. The
wideX45m high cavern connected through a 7.50m dia 13.8 drill holes performed at various locations along the Dam
km long HRT, 160 m deep 13 m finished Dia Surge Shaft Axis area have revealed overburden depth varying form
and 1.4 km long 2 no’s of pressure shafts to feed six units of 45m–55m comprising heterogeneous assemblage of
200MW each vertical shaft type Pelton Turbines to generate boulders, cobbles, grade fragments of Granite, Gneiss
1200MW of peaking power. The diversion tunnel 10m dia Quartzite etc. in a coarse to sandy matrix. High drill water
has been designed to pass a diversion flood of 1028 cumecs. loss in overburden was observed in drillings and
This tunnel shall be subsequently used as spillway tunnel as permeability values ranging from 5X10-3 to 7X10-1. Hence
well. in view of the higher permeability the overburden appears to
be unconsolidated and has poor compaction.

V. DIAPHRAGM WALL CONSTRUCTION

Layout of Dam Complex This is a conventional cast-in-situ plastic concrete cutoff wall
excavated under bentonite slurry and concreted by tremie
III. HYDROLOGY pipe. This continuous cutoff wall is done in alternate panels
The catchment area of Teesta River above the Dam Site is primary panel being 2.8 m long and secondary panel being
about 2787 Sq. km out of which 70% is snow bound. The 2.4 m long. Primary panels were excavated at regular spaces
catchment under glacier cover is 425 Sq. Km. the River flows along the cutoff axis. When the plastic concrete of adjacent
in a very steep gradient of 1 in 20 up to Chungthang. Rains primary panels is hardened enough (0.2 to 0.4 Mpa, i. e. after
are mainly in the lower part of the catchment area below El 4-5 days) the secondary panel in between was excavated.
4570 m. most of the rainfall occurs during the monsoon The interlocking between primary and secondary panel is
period, though significant spells of rain are also experienced obtained by scrapping the edges of the primary panels
in the non-monsoon months as well. The annual rainfall near already constructed, thus overlapping about 30 cm on each
Chungthang has been found to normally vary 1600 mm to edge. As the excavation reaches acceptable depth (i. e. 1 m
2750 mm however in 2010 the annual rainfall recorded was into the bed rock) the panel is cleaned and concreted. The
3220 mm and in 2012 as 3200 mm. The mean discharges of wall thickness has been kept as 1000 mm, though
Teesta River at Dam Site (Chungthang) vary during the dry theoretically minimum thickness is kept 800mm. The
season of the year from 30 cumecs to 60 cumecs and from increased thickness has been designed for two reasons, firstly
100 cumecs to 500 cumecs during the wet season of the year. given the very difficult soil to be excavated and in event of
The project has been designed for diversion flood of 1028 some deviation occurring especially when large boulders are
Cumecs (100 year frequency flood) and a design flood of encountered the minimum cutoff wall thickness specified
7000 cumecs. between the two panels (750mm) could be achieved. Also

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

the increased thickness will allow the extraction of larger consolidating, this river borne material/bouldary soil and
boulders thus reducing the requirements of chiseling. Such thus to ensure that there shall be no loss of bentonite slurry
walls are not supposed to carry load and hence great strength during trenching. The grouting was performed through two
is not required. Rather these walls should be able to follow parallel rows, one upstream and one downstream of the
the deformation imposed on them by the soil without diaphragm wall to be constructed. A total of 56 holes with
cracking and therefore the plastic concrete is selected to depth varying from 20 m to 33 m were done and cement
allow for higher deformation and low compressive strength. grouted to consolidate the foundation consuming about of
Therefore bentonite slurry is mixed during the preparation of 20000 bags of cement. This facilitated better ground
the concrete mix to improve deformation characteristics. condition during trench excavation.

Parameters of Cut-Off wall

1 Panel Nos 60
2 Total length m 155.6
3 Width m 1
4 Max Depth of panel m 62.05
5 Min Depth of panel m 2.44
6 Top EL of Cut-off wall cap m 1535.50
7 Approximate Area m2 6270 B. Guide Walls
The diaphragm wall is excavated between two parallel,
8 Completion Period month 16 slightly reinforced concrete guide walls. The guide walls act
as
 Support the upper layer of soil mass in the vicinity
of the excavation, avoiding collapse of the
surrounding soil.
 Provide a permanent alignment and to mark the
position of series of panels, precisely locate the
diaphragm wall.
 Drive the grab and extend a support for the trench
cutter guide frame.
 Provide a temporary support for concreting
platform.

The top of guide wall was fixed at El 1534.70 m with a depth

Cut-Off Wall section of 3.5 m and the top of wall being located 60 cm lower than
the working platform elevation, to maintain a clean working
A. Preliminary Works surface. The finished inner face of the guide wall is kept
Before start of trench cutting, a working platform about 20 m vertical with minimum clear distance between the inner faces
wide was constructed to allow movements of cranes, trucks as 1000 mm + 50 mm. The guide wall is reinforced with
and other machineries. About 500 mm thick layer of longitudinal bars 16mm Dia one each 250 mm c/c and stirrup
sand/aggregate was placed and compacted and thus to act as 10 mm Dia at a spacing of 250mm c/c and of M25 concrete
working draining surface to bear the weight of utilized grade. The guide walls were not dismantled and the cutoff
equipment. Prior to start of construction of cutoff wall, the wall cap was provided over the guide wall itself.
complete stretch of cutoff wall area was grouted for

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

Fig: - Guide Wall

C. Trenching
The main excavation equipment used for the excavation of
cutoff wall were BC-40 Trench Cutter, Hydraulic Grab (with
120 ton capacity, hydraulic cylinder chisels (14+17ton
capacity). Diaphragm walls are constructed using the slurry
trench technique, which involves excavating a narrow trench
that is kept full of bentonite slurry. The slurry exerts a
hydraulic pressure against the trench walls and act as shoring
Average Excavation Speed
to prevent collapse.
Sl No Equipment M2/Hr

1 BC 40 cutter 1.15

2 Grab & Chisel 0.66

Excavation Volume
Sl No Equipment M2
1 BC 40 Cutter 5790
The trench was excavated to the full depth by BC40 Trench 2 Grab & Chisel 480
Cutter except the top 6-8 m being excavated by Grab having 3 Total 6270
the same width of the cutter. The Hydromill Type Trench
Cutter BC-40 (BAUER) 1.0m thick and 2.8 m wide with a
height of 11.40 m and operated by Crawler Crane Liebherr Operational Hours
HS885 equipped with HT550 System was used. The Cutter
Sl No Equipment Hrs
has inbuilt electronic system to monitor the performance of
Cutter. For BC the consumption of bit tips Round Shank 1 Graber 340
Chisel Teeth was high 4.2Pc/M2. Before starting the trench 2 Chisel 1350
excavation, the pretrench was deepened to about 3.5 m and
filled with drilling fluid so as to permit the total immersion of 3 BC 40 Cutter 3480
trench cutter pump. Whenever required, a chisel was utilized
to break the boulder or removing the rock fragments by the Excavation Volume
Grab. Cross chisel of 11m long and 14ton weight are being
used to crush the boulders encountered during trenching.
Removal of crushed rock fragments at greater depth was 7.6
mainly handled by way of BC 40 only. Both Chisel and Grab % BC 40 Cutter
are being handled by HS882 Crane which is with special
feature of free fall and live pull capacity. Two types of chisel,
box and cross were used depending on boulder shapes. The 92.6% Grab &
average excavation speed for BC40 Cutter was 1.15m2/Hr Chisel
and the Grab was about 0.66m2/hr. About 92% of excavation
was carried by BC40 cutter. Both the primary and secondary
panels were excavated in one single bite 2.8 m long.

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

6 % bentonite slurry solution was designed as suspension

Operational Hours slurry and was kept in good condition by adjusting the
solution from the results of Marsh Cone Viscosity, Mud cake
6.5% Graber
thickness and density tests. About 1200 tons of bentonite was
consumed in excavation work.
Chisel
67.5 26%
E. Controlling Verticality
% BC 40 During the excavation, the panel verticality at each depth is
Cutter regularly monitored through a precision encoder and two
precision inclinometers fixed on the Trench Cutter Frame,
the encoder detects the actual depth, one inclinometer gives
the verticality on the transversal axis, the other on the
D. Bentonite Slurry for Excavation longitudinal one. As the sign of deviation is detected, the
The panel stability during excavation is ensured by the operators reposition the Trench Cutter back to the vertical
presence of a suspension of bentonite slurry in the trench. position while excavation continues. This monitor also
The stability of the trench is ensured by maintaining shows the load applied on the Cutter Wheels and the rotation
stabilizing fluid level in the trench at least 1.5 m above the speed. When working with the Grab, the panel verticality can
water table level to ensure a positive head on the sides of the be monitored by checking the position of pair of cables fitted
trench. The rate of slurry supply to the trench is controlled to on the Grab and connected to winding reels, on purpose.
maintain the correct slurry level within the upper part of the After the excavation, the panel verticality at each depth is
guide wall. The excavation by trench cutter is done using the checked by Ultrasonic Echo metric (Koden) tests.
reserve circulation system; working with the trench cutter,
the slurry circulation is a closed circuit between the F. Concrete Placement
desanding unit and the panel being excavated. When The composition and mechanical proportion of plastic
consumption of drilling fluid increased, trench slurry is concrete are as follows:
pumped from the storage tank to the desander tank. With
Trench Cutter Pump, the dirty slurry is pumped from the Plastic concrete specification
bottom of the trench to the desanding unit. The incoming Slump 180±15 mm
flow i.e. slurry & cuttings is pumped to a vibrating screen
Unconfined Compressive Strength 1.5-2.5 Mpa
unit which segregates all the coarse particles. The screened
slurry is pumped under pressure to the large cyclones for Confined Compressive Strength 2.5-3.5 Mpa
desanding. The slurry separated by cyclones and having a Strain at Falure >3 %
high concentration of sand falls on a secondary vibrating
Youngs Modulus 200-400 Mpa
screen unit, which segregates all the coarse particles. After
screening all the excavated material is stock piled and are Permeability < 1X10-8 m/s
transported to the disposal areas. If the slurry has been
contaminated by cement or by any means the bentonite slurry The mix design trials were carried out at project laboratory
was not found suitable as drilling fluid (high fine particle with cement at 150 Kg/M3 and bentonite content varying 20
content) it is reprocessed. The characteristics of the bentonite Kg/M3 to 38 Kg/M3 was conducted and following mix
slurry shall conform to the values as mentioned below. design was adopted which satisfied the requirement of
strength, permeability, strain and youngs modulus values.
STAGE
Bentonite Uni G. Design Mix
Regener Before Remarks
Slurry t Fresh
ated Concrete
Ingredients Unit Quantity
1.01- Twice per Cement Kg 150
Density D <1.15 ≤ 1.10
1.10 shift Bentonite Kg 20
Water Kg 264
Marsh
Twice per
Viscosity Mg 35-45 35-50 35-50
shift
Sand Kg 855
(S/L)
Aggregate(10mm) Kg 372
Sand Aggregate(20mm) Kg 557
Content S - ≤3 ≤3
(%) Slump mm 175

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

3.500
3.000 Avg. Comp
2.500 Strength
2.000 Unconfined
1.500 (N/mm2)
1.000 Avg. Comp
0.500 Strength
0.000 Confined

PP-39
PP-09
PP-01
PP-10
PP-23
PP-14

PP-29
PP-36
(N/mm2)

Fig No: 1- Unconfined & Confined compressive strength

Fig: - Concreting (Panel no vs. Avg. Comp. Strength)

After the completion of the excavation tests and operations B. Young’s Modulus
are carried out in order to detect the actual depth, to desand Young’s modulus also satisfied the specifications and
and homogenize the slurry mud, to clean up the side walls average value obtained was in the range of 350 MPa for
and the bottom of the trench. The time between the end of confined state 250 Mpa for unconfined state.
panel cleaning and the start of pouring is kept minimal as
possible. Temporary steel gang ways is laid on the trench on 500.000
both sides of the pipes to create safe working condition. The
concrete is placed using a pipe, the lower end of which is 400.000
always immersed into the concrete to a depth sufficient to
prevent the bentonite slurry to penetrate into the pipe. The 300.000 You
tremie pipe is lowered into the trench to the bottom of the ngs
excavation and then raised about 30-40 cm when concrete 200.000
Mo
begins. Except in the beginning, the immersion of the tremie 100.000 dul
pipe into the poured concrete was kept between 3m-5m. us…
After priming the pipe is lifted as the concrete rises in the 0.000
trench, and moved up and down to help the flow of plastic
PP-04
PP-09
PP-07
PP-03
PP-06

PP-23
PP-22
PP-19
PP-27
PP-24
PP-29
PP-58
PP-56
PP-40
concrete. The service crane supporting the tremie hopper
raises and lowers the tremie pipe throughout the pouring
time. During concreting, the concrete level is checked at
Fig No: 4- Young’s Modulus for Unconfined and Confined
frequent intervals to ascertain the actual volume vis-à-vis the
State.
theoretical volume. About 9460 m3 concrete was palced in
cutoff wall against theoretical quantity of 6752 m3 i.e. 40%
C. Permeability
was the over break quantity. The bentonite was mixed into
The test results conducted on samples were satisfactory and
concrete in the form of solution since it took 10-12 hrs for
average permeability obtained was in the range of 0.083X10-
dissolution and hence bentonite was mixed with water on 8
.
previous day of concreting. During concrete placement, the
slurry mud in excess is sucked by a suitable pump, located
within the guide walls and delivered to the desanding plant Permeability
storage ponds, to be regenerated by the same process.
0.12
VI. QUALITY CONTROL 0.1
All the data’s on excavation and concreting is recorded on 0.08
the proper log including the testing reports of bentonite slurry 0.06
and plastic concrete. The plastic concrete was tested for 0.04
following parameters 0.02 PERMEABILITY
0
A. Strength
PP-09
PP-01
PP-10
PP-23
PP-14
PP-39
PP-29
PP-36

The concrete of every panel was tested and the average of

unconfined compressive strength was 1.9 MPa and that of
unconfined was 2.8 MPa. All samples satisfied the technical
specifications. Fig No: 3- Permeability (Panel no vs. Permeability/10-8)

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International Journal For Technological Research In Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 8, April-2014 ISSN (Online): 2347 - 4718

D. Underground Water level

After the completion of the final panel, the difference
between U/S water level of Cutoff Wall and downstream
shall be observed to test the efficiency of the Diaphragm
Wall.

VII. CONCLUSION
It is essentially desirable to do pre-consolidation grouting in
the vicinity of the cutoff wall which helps in prevention of
whole collapse or ground subsidence during trench
excavation work. Experience has shown that the BC cutter
proved to be the most effective equipment for penetration at
depth and such boundary strata. Also the deployment of right
kind of trenching equipment and crew is necessary for timely
execution of the work with safety and quality as well. The
feasibility study and further the experience of construction of
CFRD with diaphragm wall in such a difficult geological and
topographical conditions of Dam Site has proved that this is
the most viable and economical solution in such riverine
material. The location of cutoff wall axis u/s of CFRD toe
gives a lot of leverage so far as construction period of
diversion structure is concerned.

Acknowledgement: The author wish to express his gratitude

to Teesta Urja Ltd. (TUL) the Navayug Construction and
Energy Infratech Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi .Also special thanks to
MD TUL for invaluable support

Biographical Details of the Author:

Brajesh Kumar Ojha “FIE”, Project Director (Energy

Infratech Pvt. Limited)
“Presently working in Teesta III HE Project (1200 MW)
in Sikkim”.
Graduated in Civil Engineering from Bhagalpur University
Bihar in 1984 and joined National Hydro Electric Power
Corporation (NHPC) a Govt. of India Enterprise in Feb 1985.
The author has worked in NHPC Limited, the largest
Hydropower Utility in India for more than 23 years. During
this period he gathered experience in Design and
Construction of various Hydropower Projects in the country.
He was involved in the planning and design of various hydro
projects and also was in charge of Kalpong HE Project
located in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has the
experience of construction and commissioning of Teesta
Stage V (510 MW) HE Project and also in the construction of
Teesta Stage VI (500MW) HE Project being presently
developed by M/S Lanco Infratech Limited. The author has
experience of working in Teesta Basin for more than a
decade now. He is presently involved in the construction of
Teesta-III Project in the State of Sikkim.

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