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Module-6

Contents
1. Diaphragm walls: purpose and construction method
2. Safety measures in construction
3. Prevention of accidents
4. Introduction to disaster management
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Diaphragm Wall
• Diaphragm walls are underground structural elements
commonly used as retention systems and permanent
foundation walls.
• They can also be used as groundwater barriers.
• In dam construction, diaphragm walls are employed as
sealing curtails in subsoil of dams.
• Diaphragm wall is a continuous wall constructed in ground
in to facilitate certain construction activities, such as:
 As a retaining wall
 As a cut-off provision to support deep excavation
 As the final wall for basement or other underground
structure (e.g. tunnel and shaft)
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 As a separating structure between major underground

facilities
 As a form of foundation (barrette pile –rectangular pile)
• The wall is usually designed to reach very great depth,
sometimes up to 50 m.
• Diaphragm walls are excavated using various types of
grabs either rope hung on crawler cranes.
• The jaws on the grabs can be either mechanical or
hydraulically operated.
• Diaphragm Walls are structural concrete walls which can
be cast in-situ (usually by the bentonite slurry method) or
constructed using precast concrete components
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Diaphragm Wall Excavation by Grab

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COMMON USES OF DIAPHRAGM WALLS
• Structural support for the construction of building
basements, underground car parks and similar structures..
• Add stability to landslides, highway cuts and deep
building excavations including circular shafts.
• Provided as retaining walls in areas where severe
limitations may be posed by noise, vibration, geology,
water table and schedule.
• Provided as deep diaphragms where geometric precision
and continuity at depth are vital for structural and
hydraulic reasons.
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ADVANTAGES OF DIAPHRAGM WALL
 Suitable for unstable soil profiles below water table.

 Limited construction time.

 Where deeper than normal cantilever support may

needed.

 Designable to carry vertical loads.

 Construction time of basement can be lower.

 Minimize the settlement of adjacent soil structure.

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Cast In-situ Diaphragm Walls by Bentonite Slurry Method
BENTONITE SLURRY
• Sodium bentonite powder shall be mixed thoroughly with
potable water to form a fully dispersed lump.
• Suitable slurry tanks shall be used for this operation.
• The use of a slurry pump with special nozzle is suggested
for preparing bentonite slurry.
• Use of paddle stirrer or other mechanical devices such as
colloidal grout mixer, may also be made for proper mixing
of slurry.
• The temperature of water used and slurry used shall not
be less than 5°C.
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GUIDE WALLS
• Guide wall shall be constructed prior to main slurry
trenching operation.
• Guide wall shall be 100 to 250 mm thick 1 to 2 m deep
and made of lightly reinforced concrete, and shall
represent the reference lines.
• In soft ground or fill, guide walls may be taken deeper.
• When ground water table is closed to surface, guide wall
higher than the surface level shall be constructed to
maintain additional slurry head.
• The clearance between finished diaphragm wall and guide
may be 50 mm minimum for straight panels.
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• The clearance shall be suitably increased when the panel

are curved.
• Guide wall after construction should be suitably propped
to maintain specified tolerance.
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STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION OF DIAPHRAGM WALL
• Cast-in-situ structural RCC diaphragm wall shall be
constructed by resorting to either successive panel
method or alternate panel method.
• In successive method, a panel shall be cast by the side of
another completed panel, so as to form a good joint and
continuous leak proof diaphragm wall.
• In alternate panel method, primary panels shall be cast
first, leaving suitable gaps in between. Secondary panels
shall then be cast, resulting in a continuous diaphragm
wall.
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SUCCESSIVE PANEL METHOD
• In this method a panel shall be cast in continuation of
previously completed panel.
• Use of form tubes is generally used for creating a joint
between primary panels and secondary panels.
• However with larger width of diaphragm wall and greater
depth of diaphragm wall it may not be possible to provide
form tube due to handling, lowering and extraction
difficulties.
• In such a case special tools, such as semicircular chisels
are used to effect a joint between primary and secondary
panel.
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ALTERNATE PANEL METHOD
• In this method primary panels shall be cast first leaving
suitable gaps in between.
• Secondary panels shall then be cast in these gaps.
• Two stop end tubes are used the ends of the primary
panels to support concrete and to form suitable joints
with the secondary panels.
• The excavated length of trench for secondary panel may
be smaller than that of primary panel.
• The shape of the secondary panel end should be such as
to form a good joint with primary panels.
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Construction Sequence
• Excavation of each trench panel shall be done with the
help of suitable machinery.
• The trench panel shall be kept filled with bentonite slurry
of suitable consistency and viscosity during the excavation
period.
• A stop end tube with a smooth surface, or a structural
section shall be inserted in the trench at the end of the
panel to support concrete and to form a suitable joint
with the next panels.
• Reinforcement cage shall then be lowered in the trench
panel and suitably supported.
• The concrete cover for the reinforcement shall be
maintained by the use of spacers.
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Construction Safety
• Construction Industry in India is very large & complex.
• Social Concern of the safety of construction workers and
their protection against injury arising out of their
employment has been quite evident for a long term.
• Rate of growth in this industry has been so rapid that the
legislation and standards as well as their implementation
could not keep pace with it.
• Construction is a relatively hazardous undertaking.
• Safety is a difficult term to define due to the inter-
relatedness of several factors.
• Very often, safety is adjudged in terms of an inverse
relationship with accident rate
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• Theoretically, safety would mean the absence of danger

at work which is made possible by eliminating hazards
that create the danger.
• Safety can also be defined as “ the condition of enterprise
operations in which , by controlling hazards, accident free
production is achieved.”
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Importance of Safety
• Construction industry, employing the largest Labor force
in the country has accounted for about 11% of
occupational injuries & 20% of all deaths resulting from
occupational accidents.
• The cost of accident is expensive.
• Reason for considering safety include:
1. Humanitarian Concern – When accident happens, the
resulting suffering of the injured workers & their families
is difficult to quantify in economic terms.
• The contractor should never ignore this even if he has
insurance against accidents.
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2. Economic Reason – Even if a contractor has insurance, he
will find out that the cost of accidents will come out of his
own pocket through an increase in insurance premiums.
• In addition there are other indirect costs that result from
accidents.
• The Direct & Indirect Costs can be:-
 Direct Cost:-
• Medical care expenses for injured
• Workmen’s compensation costs
• Insurance premium increases
• Replacement cost of equipment & material damaged in
accidents.
• Facility repair & cleanup.
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 Indirect Cost:-
• Slowdown in operation
• Decrease in morale which affects productivity.
• Productive time lost by injured worker & fellow
worker.
• Administrative work associated with accident.
• Loss of client’s confidence.
• Overtime necessitated by work slowdown.
3. Laws & Regulation – As per the different acts and
laws, the employer should look after the safety of the
employee.
• Violation of these laws will be subject to punishment.
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4. Organizational Image – A good safety record can produce
higher morale and productivity and stronger employee
loyalty.
• It will also improve the company’s public image and
therefore, make it easier to acquire negotiated jobs.
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Cause of Accidents
• There are many possible causes of accidents as there are
activities.
• Among these are:
 Technical defects in equipment's and methods of work
 Defects in organization and dangerous acts by workers.
 Cause that come from the nature of construction
operations themselves,
 Defects in planning and construction
 Constant changes in workplace and task
 Friction often found where workers from different trades
are working in close proximity to each other.
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Cause of accidents have been grouped according to their:-
1. Planning, Organization –
• Defects in technical planning
• Fixing unsuitable time-limits
• Assignment of work to incompetent contractor
• Insufficient or defective supervision of work
• Lack of co-operation between different trades
2. Execution of Work –
• Constructional defects
• Use of unsuitable materials
• Defective processing of materials
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3. Equipment –
• Lack of equipment
• Unsuitable equipment
• Defects in equipment
• Lack of safety devices or measures
4. Management & Conduct of work –
• Inadequate preparation of work
• Inadequate examination of equipment
• Inadequate instructions from supervisor
• Unskilled operatives
• Inadequate supervision
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5. Workers Behavior
• Irresponsible acts
• Unauthorized acts
• Carelessness
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Classification of Construction Accidents
• Construction accidents can be classified under the
following three groups:-
1. According to cause of occurrence.
2. According to nature of injury sustained.
→ Temporary disablement → Partial Disablement
→ Total disablement → Death
3. According to the severity of Injury
→ Minor accident → Major Accident
→ Accident hazard
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Safety Measures
• Safety during construction of a project is also influenced
in large part by decisions made during planning and
design process.
• Some construction plans are inherently difficult to
implement.
• Safety largely depends upon education & training,
vigilance & co-operation during construction.
• Safeguards built into machinery can notify operators of
problems or prevent injuries.
• With availability of on-board electronics & sensors, the
possibilities of sophisticated machines controllers &
monitors has greatly expanded for construction
equipment & tools.
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• Proper choice of materials also ensure safety of

construction.
• Educating workers and managers in proper procedures
and hazards can have a direct impact on job site safety.
• Pre-qualification of contractors & sub-contractors with
regard to safety is another important avenue for safety
improvement.
• The personal protective equipment's are the most basic
front of protection and safety for the workers.
• There are various safety tools according to the type of
work, but the few basic tools are:
 Safety helmet for head protection
 Safety glasses & goggle for eye protection
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 Safety earmuffs for ear protection

 Safety gloves for hand
 Safety chain & harness for work on higher floors
 Safety Masks & Respirators for protection against
respiratory hazards like gases, fumes, mists,
 Safety Shoes to protect the feet from cuts and injury due
to falling objects
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Measuring of Safety
 Injury Frequency Rate – Number of disabling injuries per
one lakh of man-hours worked.
Injury Frequency Rate =
[No. of disabling injuries x 1,00,000] / [Total no. of man
hours worked]
 Injury Severity Rate – Number of days of lost time due to
injuries for 1000 man hours worked.
Injury Severity Rate =
[No. of days lost x 1000] / [No. of man hours worked]
 Injury Index –
[Injury frequency rate x Injury x Severity Rate] / 1000
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Introduction to Disaster Management

• Disaster is unlike anything else in human experience.
• It strikes quickly, it changes the lives of all that it touches
& its effect are felt along after the event.
• Its’ forces are largely outside the control of the people
whom it most affects.
• Disaster can be defined as “An occurrence arising with
little or no warning which causes or threatens serious
disruption of life, and perhaps, death or injury to large
number of people and requires therefore a mobilization of
efforts in excess of that normally provided by the statutory
emergency services”.
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Disasters are of three types
 First type is frequently the result of natural phenomena;
For Ex:- Earthquake, volcanic eruption, Hurricane,
Tornado or flood.
• But modern technology is capable of predicting hurricane,
tornadoes & now sometime earthquake.
• However, the warnings issued before such an event are
often ignored to a notorious degree.
 Second kind is of an anthropogenic origin and exemplifies
some of the terrible accidents, that have resulted from
man’s interaction with the artificial environment he has
himself created.
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• Titanic sank because one person after another failed to

pay attention to the danger presented by a pack of deadly
icebergs in the north Atlantic.
• Such a tragedy was possible meant that there were not
enough life boats available & most of those that were
provided were lowered with only a few people in each.
• Turkish airline DC-10 crashed outside Paris because a
series of ineptitude resulted in the failure of an airport
attendant to close the baggage door properly.
 Third type is known as Hybrid disaster which arises from a
linkage of anthropogenic (man-made) events and natural
events.
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• Ex. of these are the spread of disease from a community

in which the disease is endemic to a community which
has no natural immunity;
• The whole-sale destruction of rain forests and consequent
reduction of evapotranspiration which intensifies annual
flood occurrences in many countries.
• Large scale deaths due to smog or pollution in many
major settlements throughout the world and the
pollution of the oceans, due to accidental or deliberate
dumping of oil or chemical products into the marine
environments.
• Environmental degradation is being held responsible for
exacerbating the impact of drought, floods, hurricanes,
landslides and wildfires.
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Disaster Management –
The organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of
emergencies, in particular preparedness response and
recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.
Management of Disasters in India
• The basic responsibility for management of disasters is
that of the state government concerned.
• The role of the National government is supportive, in
terms of supplementation of physical and financial
resources and complementary measures in sectors like
transport, and interstate movement of good grains.
• The National government also sets out the policy climate
and draws lessons from disasters.
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• The lessons learnt are communicated to the states and

national initiatives are made possible.
• As a national initiative, the representatives of the
communities and the NGO’s are invited in the operational
and policy processes so as to achieve greater impact of
mitigation & preparedness measures.
• The Department of Agriculture and Co-operation in the
Agriculture Ministry is the nodal Department for all
matters concerning natural disasters relief at the center.
• In DAC relief commissioner functions as the nodal officer
to coordinate relief operations for all natural disasters.
• Central Relief Commissioner receives information relating
to forecast/warning of the natural calamity from the
Director-General, India Meteorological Department (IMD)
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or from central water commission on continuous basis.
Various other committees working at the national level for
the disaster management are as follows:
1. Cabinet Committee: The cabinet may set up a committee
for effective implementation of relief measures in the
wake of national disaster.
• Secretary in the ministry of agriculture acts as the
Secretary of this committee.
2. National Crisis Management Committee: Under the
chairmanship of cabinet secretary, NCMC has been
constituted in the cabinet secretariate.
• The NCMC gives direction to the crisis management group
as deemed necessary.
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3. Crisis Management Group: A group under the
chairmanship of the Central Relief Commissioner comprising
the senior officers from the various ministries & other
concerned departments
 To review every year, the contingency plans formulated by
the central ministries/departments;
 To review the measures required for dealing with a
natural disaster
 Co-ordinate the activities of the central ministries & the
state governments in relation to disaster preparedness
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State Level
1. Chief Secretary – States have relief commissioners who
are in charge of the relief measures in the wake of natural
disasters in their respective states.
• Chief secretary will be in overall charge of the relief
operations in the concerned state.
2. State Crisis Management Group: There is a state crisis
management group(SCMG) under the chairman-ship of
Chief Secretary/Relief commissioner of chief secretary.
• Representatives of civil supplies, power, irrigation, water
supply, Rural development, Health, Planning, etc. will
function as members of the SCMG.
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3. District Level – States are further divided into districts,
each headed by district collectors.
• It is the district collector who is the focal point at the
district level for directing, supervising & monitoring relief
measures for disaster management & for preparation of
district level plans.
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Principles of disaster management
 Comprehensive – disaster managers consider and take
into account all hazards, all phases, and all impacts
relevant to disasters.
 Progressive – anticipate future disasters and take
preventive and preparatory measures.
 Risk-driven – use sound risk management principles
(hazard identification, risk analysis, and impact analysis)
in assigning priorities and resources.
 Integrated – ensure unity of effort among all levels of
government and all elements of a community.
 Collaborative – create and sustain broad and sincere
relationships among individuals and organizations .
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 Coordinated – synchronize the activities to achieve a

common purpose.
 Flexible – use creative and innovative approaches in
solving disaster challenges.
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Phases of Disaster Management

 Disaster Preparedness

 Disaster Impact

 Disaster Response

 Disaster Recovery

 Disaster Mitigation
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1. Disaster Preparedness
• It is ongoing multisectoral activity.
• Integral part of the national system responsible for
developing plans and programs for disaster management,
prevention, mitigation, response, rehabilitation and
reconstruction.
• Co-ordination of a variety of sectors to carry out-
 Evaluation of the risk.
 Adopt standards and regulations.
 Organize communication and response mechanism.
 Ensure all resources- ready and easily mobilized.
 Develop public education programmes.
 Coordinate information with news media
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Medical Preparedness & Mass Casualty Management-
• Developing and capacity building of medical team for
Trauma & psycho-social care.
Mass casualty management and Triage.
 Determine casualty handling capacity of all hospitals.
 Formulate appropriate treatment procedures.
 Involvement of private hospitals.
 Identify health care centers that can function as a
 medical units.
 Identify structural integrity and approach routes
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2. Impact & Response
• Greatest need for emergency care is in 1st few hours after
the impact.
• The management of mass casualties are divided into :
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1. Search and Rescue & First-Aid
• For search and rescue the team should be organized and
work as one.
• Even with a good team the search may be a small fraction
in major disasters.
• The immediate help is usually obtained from the
uninjured.
2. Field care
• The injured people are brought to nearest health care
immediately by available means of transport and people
converge into health facilities.
• The hospitals must get ready to deal with mass input of
injured with new priorities for bed availability and surgical
services.
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• Provision for food, shelter should be done.

• A center to respond for the enquiries from patient’s
relatives and friends.
3. Triage
• It consists of rapidly classifying the injured on the basis of
the severity of their injuries and their likelihood of their
survival with prompt medical intervention.
• The principle of “First come, first serve” is NOT
FOLLOWED.
• High priority is given to those whose immediate or long
term prognosis can be changed dramatically with simple
intensive care.
• It is the only approach that can provide maximum benefit
to large population in a major disaster.
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4. Tagging
• All persons should be tagged with details – name, age,
place of origin, triage, initial diagnosis and treatment.
• Internationally accepted four colour coding system :
 Red – High priority treatment or transfer.

 Yellow – Medium priority.

 Green – Ambulatory patients.

 Black – Dead or Moribund patients.

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5. Identification of Dead
• Dead people care is most important in disaster
management because they impede the efficiency of
rescue activities.
• Care of dead includes :
 Proper Respect.
 Removal of dead from the scene.
 Shifting to mortuary.
 Identification.
 Reception of bereaved relatives
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3. Disaster Recovery
• Repatriation - after the emergency is over, displaced
people return to their place of origin.

• Rehabilitation - restoration of basic social functions.

 Providing temporary shelters,

 Stress debriefing for responders and victims,

 Economic Rehabilitation,

 Psycho-social Rehabilitation,

 Scientific Damage Assessment,

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• Elements of recovery
 Community recovery (including psychological).
 Infrastructure recovery (services and lifelines).
 Economy recovery ( financial, political ).
 Environment recovery.
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4. Reconstruction
• Rebuilding homes.
• Permanently repairing and rebuilding infrastructures.
• Elements -
 Owner Driven Reconstruction.
 Speedy Reconstruction.
 Linking Reconstruction with Safe Development.
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5. Disaster Mitigation
• Permanent reduction of risk of a disaster, to limit impact
on human suffering and economic assets.
 Primary mitigation - reducing hazard & vulnerability.
 Secondary mitigation - reducing effects of hazard.
• Components:
 Reducing hazard - protection against threat by removing
the cause of threat.
 Reducing vulnerability - reducing the effect of threat.
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Components of Disaster Mitigation
Hazard identification and mapping –
• Assessment – Estimating probability of a damaging
• phenomenon of given magnitude in a given area.
• Considerations-
 History
 Probability of various intensities
 Maximum threat
 Possible secondary hazards
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Vulnerability analysis –
• A process which results in an understanding of the types
and levels of exposure of persons, property, and the
environment to the effects of identified hazards at a
particular time.
Risk analysis –
• Determining nature and scale of losses which can be
anticipated in a particular area.
• Involves analysis of
 Probability of a hazard of a particular magnitude.
 Elements susceptible to potential loss/damage.
 Nature of vulnerability.
 Specified future time period.
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Prevention –
• Activities taken to prevent a natural phenomenon or
potential hazard from having harmful effects on either
people or economic assets.
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