Paper No.

533

THE SINKING OF WELL FOUNDATIONS IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

GOURANGA PRASAD SAHA*

ABSTRACT
Well foundations are quite appropriate foundations for alluvial soils in rivers and creeks where maximum depth of scour
can be quite large. In India technology of well foundation for design and construction is quite well developed. Still there
are situations where serious problems are encountered at site during construction of well foundations. Some of the typical
problems have been identified and solutions adopted by the author and also elsewhere in some earlier jobs have been
presented in this Paper.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the Indian subcontinent there are many rivers

where the depth of alluvial deposits is very high and the
scour around the pier foundations can be very deep if
the piers are located within the active channel of river.
For such condition well foundation is a very appropriate
type of foundation.
To the authors knowledge one 3 km long Railway
bridge crossing a creek was supported on pile
foundations. After some years, the sway of the pile
foundations was so large when the mail trains crossed
the creek; the Railways not only reduced the speed of
the trains substantially but constructed another bridge
adjacent to this bridge on well foundations. Thus under
certain situation, well foundation is a highly desirable
type of foundation.
In India the technology for the design and construction
of well foundation is quite advanced. In all rivers, including
large rivers with torrential flow of water currents, well
foundations were provided. In the foundations of Howrah
Bridge in Kolkata giant monoliths were provided. In Second
Hoogly Bridge also in Kolkata with one of the longest
span cable stayed bridges in the world having the central
span of 457 m being same as that of Howrah Bridge, an
ingenius solution was adopted. Instead of a monolith for
the foundation of each tower of the cable stay bridge, 2
well foundations up to 23 m dia were placed side by side
at 30 m center and interconnected by a 14 m deep beam.
This solution was construction-wise easier and more
controllable and quantity of material used was much less.
These wells were constructed purely by gravity sinking
method.

These well foundations under main towers were kept

totally empty for the service condition. The entire well
was designed as a water tight structure. At the junction
of any two lifts of concreting of well steining, water
stops were provided to prevent leakage of water through
construction joints of well steining.
The wells were constructed using gravity sinking
method of construction. As stated earlier, the wells were
kept totally empty and no water was inside the well during
the service condition primarily to reduce the load of water
on the foundations, since vertical loads were very large
for the central spans of 457 m and side spans of 183 m.
At the base of wells RCC slabs were constructed which
were designed for the upward force from the base of
the well. For support of the slab and continuity of
reinforcement, recesses were kept in the steining above
the well curb where bond bar reinforcements were kept
bent. A cover was provided with a steel plate which,
were kept in position by bolts, to keep the bond
reinforcement recesses free from blocking with muds.
After the wells were sunk up to the designed level, the
bottom plug was laid with colcrete. The wells were
dewatered. It was noted that the colcrete bottom plug
not only withstood the upward pressure but also was
reasonably leakproof. Thereafter, those steel plate covers
were removed and reinforcements were bent back to
the designed positions. Reinforcements were laid and
concreting was done. In this way a fully water tight design
was done for these wells.
Deep well foundation up to 67 m deep across the
river Ganga in Varanasi and upto 68 m deep across the
river Brahmaputra at Jogighopa were used. In Varanasi

* Executive Director, M/s Construma Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai Email: construma_sp@rediffmail.com
Written comments on this Paper are invited and will be received upto 30th September, 2007.

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Bridge wells, no sand filling was done. These wells were

filled with water only to reduce the weight at the founding
level. In long span bridges or in bridges where the
horizontal force is large, heavy foundation mass is
desirable for stability and serviceability requirements point
of view and hence well foundation is a highly appropriate
solution.
In spite of the excellent development of technology
on well foundations there are still some areas where
engineers face difficulty while sinking of wells, some of
which are stated in this paper from the direct experience
of the author. The author had the opportunity of having
associated with construction of well foundations of many
large and outstanding bridges including Second Hoogly
Bridge, Varanasi Bridge, etc., while working with
Gammon India Ltd., and Hindustan Construction Co.
Ltd.
2. SINKING WELL THROUGH STIFF CLAY STRATA

If a very stiff clay layer is encountered during the

sinking of a well, the engineer has to face a very tough
and challenging situation if the well becomes stationery
and does not move at all.

(i) Continue grabbing much below the cutting edge

level of the well.
(ii) Dewater well up to certain depth to reduce the
buoyancy and thereby increase the weight of
the well.
(iii) Remove soil in contact with the outside surface
of the well by grabbing to a certain depth.
(iv) Flushing with a jet of water on the outside soil
through holes, which are kept in the steining at
certain intervals during the construction of the
steining of the well.
(v) By thumping on the water inside the dredge hole.
(vi) By Kentledge loading on the well.
The merits and demerits of each of the above
measures are discussed below.
(i) Some engineers continue grabbing much below
the cutting edge level of the well

At that time due to the action of horizontal water

current force, the well may start tilting. The well becomes
more vulnerable due to tilt if a step is provided on the
outside face of the well steining to reduce the thickness
of the steining. At the initial stage if the tilt is not brought
under control, the tilt goes on increasing making the
situation very difficult to control. This leads to a very
expensive and time-consuming affair for attempting to
make the well straight and vertical within practical limits.
This is a very serious situation and one should
examine how this resistance is developed. A solution
should be devised on the basis of insight into the causes
for the resistance to sink.
Referring to Fig. 1 it may be seen that the primary
resistance comes on the sides and also by bearing at the
base over the area of the well steining. The projection
on the outside surface over the height of the kerb by 50
mm to 75 mm as recommended in IRC 78-2000 is very
helpful to reduce the resistance due to stiff clay on the
outside surface of the well.
(a) To overcome this resistance to the authors
knowledge, the following measures have been tried
by various engineers.

(a) PIPES PLACED

PERPENDICULARLY

(B) PIPES PLACED VERTICALLY

UPWARDS

Fig. 1. Showing location of pipes within well steining

HIGHLIGHTS
THE 178TH COUNCIL
MEETING
THE SINKING
OF WELLOF
FOUNDATIONS
IN DIFFICULT
SITUATIONS
One site engineer with vast experience in
construction of well foundations and claimed in
achieving success by adapting this method,
continued grabbing to a depth of about 10 m
below the cutting edge of the well situated in
the river Ganga in a major project when the well
became stationary in a very stiff clay layer. This
particular well was partly in the water and partly
in the bank. One day the well suddenly sank to
a depth of nearly 10 m leading to a major
catastrophe. This was a very unwise decision,
which should never have been taken.
IRC 78 : 2000 specifies that sumps made by
dredging below cutting edge shall preferably not
be more then half the internal diameter.
(ii) Dewatering well as a device to sink a well
The purpose of dewatering is to reduce the
buoyancy. Thus the buoyant weight of the well
is increased which increases the sinking effort
of the well. But the major problem is the chance
of occurring sand blow.
If the sand blow occurs and if the sand blow is
eccentric and the lateral force exerted on the
well is high, the well may break into 4 segments
along its height, which was noticed in many
projects in this country. The author has developed
a method for the design of a well foundation for
resisting excessive sand blow forces, which was
published in IRC Journal in 1993. This method
was used in a major bridge across river Ganga
where the well foundations of 13 m diameter up
to 67 m depth, which was the deepest well for a
road bridge in India at that time was used. There
is no literature available which specifies the
evaluation of horizontal force for the design of
a well foundation for the condition during
construction when the well is like a hollow pipe
and is in a most vulnerable condition. For such a
large and deep well, IRC method of design was
not used. Instead a rational and conceptual
method developed by the author was used. The
quantities of the well were nearly half even for
such a deep well. It may be noted that all the
wells were sunk to the designed founding level
without any appreciable difficulty.
According to the author for a major bridge with

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large and deep well foundations, the wells must

be designed three dimensionally with a realistic
lateral load during construction condition to
avoid disastrous situation due to which the well
steining may crack transversely. The cost of
such an analysis and design is negligible
compared with the unpleasant situation, which
may become very expensive and delay the
project badly.
(iii) Remove soil in contact with the outside surface
of the well
If the top soil layers are soft, this does not help
much. If the stiff clay layer exists at a shallow
depth then it may help to some extent.
(iv) Flushing with jet of water on the outside face of
well
In this process holes are kept in the well steining
with outlets on the outside surface of the well.
Two types of orientation of the outlets are shown
in Fig. 1 (a) & (b). In Fig. 1 (a) the outlets are
perpendicular to the vertical whereas in Fig. 1
(b), the outlets are inclined with the tip upwards.
Experience shows that the outlet hole of the pipe
gets blocked with the entry of the clay more
easily than the inclined one. A plug was provided
to prevent entry of sand or other softer material.
This plug moves out with the force of water jet.
When the well gets stuck in a very stiff clay
layer, water is pumped from the top of the
steining. Water coming out on the outer surface
of the well is supposed to lubricate the surface
and reduce the adherence of the clay on the
surface of the well which consequently reduces
the upward resistance against sinking down of
the well.
(v) By thumping on the water inside the dredge hole
by dropping grab
This also has been tried to overcome the
resistance.
(vi) By Kentledge loading on the well :
The Kentledge loading is placed on the top of
well either by sand bags or by concrete blocks
leaving adequate space in the central zone of
the dredge hole for grabbing. This weight helps

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increase the sinking effort of the well.
In case of tilt of a well, eccentric Kentledge
load is placed for the correction of tilt.

(b) The method which is different from the methods

listed above had been tried by the author and briefly
described below :In one project when the well became stationary in a
stiff clay layer, this method was used. In those wells the
outside projection of the well kerb was 75 mm. In the
upper region the strata was of softer variety. Pipes were
not kept in the well steining to inject water on the outside
surface of the well.

clay over the entire inside area at the bottom of the well
kerb. The well was observed to sink down when the
inside clay soil was cut and removed.
After the removal of the bearing still clay strata, the
wells started moving down.
Thus this method was found to be quite effective,
safe and efficient method.
3. BOULDERY STRATA

The bouldery strata can be dealt with 3 ways.

(i) When the boulders are lying loose, they will come

It has been stated earlier that the resistance to sinking

comes from the outside surface of the well and also
from the bearing on the stiff clay below the well kerb. In
a large diameter well, the thickness of the steining is
large and hence the resistance due to bearing on the
stiff clay layer is quite substantial. To overcome this
resistance veteran well sinking engineers continued
grabbing inside the dredge hole much below the cutting
edge level so that the soil below the well kerb fell off and
this resistance was eliminated. The well of course used to
sink down suddenly. In the design, designers used to design
the well considering half the permissible tensile stress as
specified in the IRC-78 to meet these eventualities . As
stated earlier the method specified by the author for the
design of a well three dimensionally can meet such a
situation of sudden sinking down of a well.
However, due to sudden sinking down of a well there
may be catastrophic consequences, hence such method
of continuous grabbing is not recommended. Instead the
method which will directly break the clay layer and
remove the bearing below the kerb was adopted. This
was done directly by cutting the stiff clay layer by a jet
of water through a pipe using a high pressure pump.
This pipe was supported on a circular frame. Actually 4
vertical pipes were fixed at 4 quadrants as shown in Fig.
2. The central area was kept free in order to facilitate
grabbing.
The water was pumped through pipes using one high
pressure pump for one pipe. Two high pressure pumps
were used at one time and water was injected at two
diagonally opposite points at a time. After some time,
the other two perpendicularly placed pipes were used
for pumping water. After some time the frame was
lowered and water was injected in order to cut the stiff

ELEVATION OF WELL AND PIPE LINES

Fig. 2. Showing clayey strata below well kerb and

layout of pipe lines

HIGHLIGHTS
THE 178TH COUNCIL
MEETING
THE SINKING
OF WELLOF
FOUNDATIONS
IN DIFFICULT
SITUATIONS
out with normal grabbing.
(ii) When they are cemented but not very firmly then
underwater blasting may be effective.
(iii) When the boulders are very firmly cemented and
the thickness of the steining of the well is quite large
then pneumatic sinking may have to be resorted to.

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method is stated briefly here below :How to achieve the condition that the weight
of the well will be resisted through outside frictional
force only.

In case of bouldery strata, the proper soil

investigation should be done and what method of
sinking is to be adopted must be decided. The design
of the well must be done for such a condition. At
least provision for limited blasting must be made and
a three dimensional finite element analysis should
be done for eccentric blasting force. The steining of
the well must be designed not only in the vertical
direction but also in the transverse direction providing
appropriate design reinforcement. Steel strakes must
be provided in such condition. It should be noted
that in the past many well steining cracked due to
blasting. The wells of Varanasi Bridge of 13 m dia,
2.5 m thick steining and up to 67 m deep were
analysed for eccentric sand below condition by using
3-D Finite Element analysis by the author1. This
became helpful to take care of adverse situation
during sinking of wells.
Formation of Heaves in the Dredge Hole even after
the well reaches the Designed Founding Level.
When a well passes through soft strata over a
considerable depth, the upward resistance acting on
the outside surface of the well is less than the weight
of the well. In that situation the well sinks down and
quite often a heap is formed inside the dredge hole
as shown in Fig 3. When the formation of heaves
takes place after the well reaches the designed
foundation level, then the engineers face the problem
of laying the bottom plug. If the bottom plug is laid
inside the dredge hole then the very purpose of laying
the bottom plug is defeated, since the load from the
well is transmitted to the foundation through the well
steining and the bottom plug which lies just below
the well steining.
The author had developed a method to overcome
this problem. In a number of well foundations where
large heaves were formed inside the well, the author
used this method and the formation of heaves was
stopped. Thereafter the bottom plug was laid within
the well kerb region. For the benefit of readers this

Fig. 3. Showing the formation of heave

It is reckoned that no further concreting of the well

steining should be done and sinking should be continued.
In that case, the weight of the well will remain nearly
same and the frictional force outside the well will increase
very fast, the founding strata being in good soil. It is
thought that the equilibrium of the well will reach with
shorter depth of sinking below the designed founding
level.
The following method is used to evaluate the
approximate depth of further sinking and also the height
of water to be considered for the design of the cofferdam
along the outer perimeter of the well at top.
When the heave develops in the dredge hole, the
equilibrium of the well takes place as per the following
equation :
W = F+qa

Eqn. ... (1)

F = frictional force in the vertical direction along the

outside surface of the well.

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q = bearing pressure of soil.

depth of further sinking.

a = area of the well supported over the heave i.e.

over the distance X, Fig. 4.
X = tan A.

fl = p x (coefficient of friction)
p = (pl + p2)/2

h = height of heave.

pl = active earth pressure at a depth H below the

existing water level or ground level whichever is higher.

A = angle at the tip of well curb.

The component qa is required to be balanced by the
additional frictional force over the outside surface of the
well, which will develop by sinking the well deeper.
Thus fl al = qa

Referring to Fig. 4

Eqn. (2)

Where fl = the frictional force acting on the outside

surface of the well over depth of further sinking of the
well per unit area which is evaluated below.
al = area of the outside surface of the well over

p2 = active earth pressure at a depth H + h1

h1 = depth of further sinking.
Substituting p in fl and fl in Eqn. 2 as shown in Fig. 4,
hl can be evaluated.
4. FEW OTHER MEASURES WHICH CAN HELP
RELATIVELY TROUBLE FREE SINKING OF WELLS

(i) Appropriate choice of cutting edge and adoption of

(a) POSITION OF WELL AT DESIGNED FOUNDING LEVEL

WITH HEAVES IN DREDGE HOLE

(b) POSITION OF WELL AFTEER ADDITIONAL FURTHER

SINKING WITH NO HEAVE IN DREDGE HOLE

Fig. 4. Showing additional sinking without any further concreting of steining

HIGHLIGHTS
THE 178TH COUNCIL
MEETING
THE SINKING
OF WELLOF
FOUNDATIONS
IN DIFFICULT
SITUATIONS

129

proper detailing
Two types of cutting edges are of use for well
foundations as shown in Fig. 5 (a) & (b) of IRC
78 : 2000. The angle iron cutting edge works well
when the well passes through alluvial soil strata
without any hard obstruction. There are instances
when the cutting edge met some hard obstruction, it
became dislodged and caused obstruction to the well.
Compared with the angle iron cutting edge a V type
cutting edge is more appropriate in meeting various
obstructive situation provided correct detailing is
adopted. The inclined plate should be stopped about
25 mm above the bottom tip of vertical plate and the
welding of the joint between the vertical plate and
the inclined plate must be done as shown in Fig.
No.5(b). The vertical and the inclined plates must
not meet at the bottom most point and consequently
the welding must not be done at the bottom tip. The
author is aware that in many bridges in the Himalayan
region where the strata are full of boulders the
welding at tip came off and the plates were bent out
and caused lots of obstruction to sinking leading to
various problems including delay in progress of
construction. Hence it is advised to adopt detailing
as shown in Fig. 5(b).
(ii) Adequate no. of Borelogs must be taken in the
location of each well

Fig. 5 (b) :Typical details of V-shaped cutting edge

As per the present practice only one Borehole is

taken at each foundation location. The soil properties
of various strata are available along the depth. To
obtain the complete information of the existence of
type of soil/rock or large boulders if any covering a
part of well foundation at least 3 boreholes should
be taken. If the diameter of well is large, then at
least 4 bore holes should be taken. With this
knowledge the span arrangements be made so that
wells can be sunk smoothly. Soil properties should
be taken of one borehole for the design of
foundations whereas the other boreholes will present
information on the type of strata, locations and their
depths. Presence of very large boulder covering a
part of the well at some depth in the bridge over
third Brahmaputra at Jogighopa and similar type of
problems including sudden change of bed profile are
encountered in various rivers in India for which a
very expensive time consuming measures were
adopted. This can be avoided if enough information
of the soil strata is available at the time of design.
(iii) Floating Caisson Sinking
When the depth of water at the location of a well is
more than about 5 m then construction of well on
temporary sand island is not only difficult but also
uneconomical. In this situation steel caisson is
fabricated on the bank and floated in water either
by tilting platform or by a gantry. If the caisson is
very large and very heavy then tilting platform is
more convenient. In other cases normally the caisson

Fig. 5 (a) :Typical details of angle iron cutting edge

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SAHA ON
installed dead anchors at least at 6 locations as
shown in Fig.6 with ropes with adjustable device.
Each anchoring should also be done at 2
locations in elevation. By pulling or releasing the
anchor rope the tilt and shift can be eliminated.

is brought to the water using a gantry. However, the

choice of tilting platform or a gantry or by some
other means should be made as per the locally
available resources and convenience.
After the floating caisson is brought to the designed
location of the well, further building up of caisson is
done. This work together with concreting inside the
caisson to the designed depth is done till the cutting
edge reaches the bed level of the river. This is a very
critical stage. There is every possibility of tilt and shift
occurring, since the caisson is subjected to
unidirectional flow of water. In several projects, large
tilt and shift occurred which subsequently created a
lot of problem with that project. The tilt and shift must
be checked very thoroughly before grounding and
suitable corrective measures must be taken if any tilt
or shift occurred. Some measures are suggested here
below which if adopted judiciously should minimize
the tilt and shift of the caisson.
(a) For large diameter caissons

Steel piles may be driven inside the dredge hole

at 4 corners after ensuring the correct position
of the well.

(b) For caissons with sinking sets

The barges should be located towards upstream and
downstream of the river and anchored at least at
the locations as shown in Fig.7 with the device for
adjustment so that the well can be positioned at the
designed locations. The caisson is placed between
the barges with very small clearance between any
two barges and the caisson so that with the water
current force acting on the caisson below the barges,
tilting of the caisson is restrained. However, in case
of any tilt or shift occurring the same is controlled
by pulling or releasing the anchor ropes appropriately.

After taking the caisson to the designed location

the caisson should be anchored to the already
WINCH WINCH
WATER LEVEL

WATER LEVEL
WINCH WINCH
WATER LEVEL

WATER LEVEL

RIVER BED LEVEL

RIVER BED LEVEL

ELEVATION

ELEVATION

DIRECTION OF
RIVER FLOW

PLAN
PLAN

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

HIGHLIGHTS
THE 178TH COUNCIL
MEETING
THE SINKING
OF WELLOF
FOUNDATIONS
IN DIFFICULT
SITUATIONS

131

5. CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On this paper a list of difficult situations, which bridge

engineers normally encounter during sinking of well
foundations, is presented. In some cases the author
himself devised some solutions to some perennial
problems, which have been described in this paper. The
problems like the formation of hump inside the dredge
hole of a well foundation or wells cracking due to sand
blow, or in a stiff clay layer wells becoming stationary
and not sinking down are quite common situations. In
several major projects where such situations developed
the author as the Technical Head of that organization,
developed methods and adopted them to overcome those
problems and these methods are presented in this paper.

The author is indebted to Dr. T N Subba Rao for

making many valuable suggestions by sparing his valuable
time, to make this Paper more complete.
REFERENCES

1. Saha G.P. Analysis and Design of Varanasi Bridge

Well Foundations A Conceptual Approach Journal
of Indian Roads Congress Vol. 54-2. Paper
presented in the Annual Session of IRC in November
1993.
2. Saha G.P. Method of Stopping the Formation of
Heaves Inside the Dredge Hole of a Well
Foundation Indian Highways, June 2002.