For official use only

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

GUIDELINES ON
TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT RESTORATION
OF EMBANKMENT
AFTER BREACHES/ WASHOUTS

Report No. GE: G-7

JULY-2005

Geotechnical Engineering Directorate

RESEARCH DESIGNS & STANDARDS ORGANISATION
LUCKNOW-226011

PREFACE

This report has been prepared on the basis of field experience &
literature survey. The views expressed are subject to modification from
time to time in the light of future developments on the subject. The views,
as such, do not represent the views of Ministry of Railways (Railway
Board), Government of India.
This report is the property of RDSO and is meant essentially for
official use. It may not be loaned, reproduced in part, or in full, or quoted as
an authority without the permission of Director General, RDSO.

(Nand Kishore)
Executive Director/GE

CONTENTS
S.No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Description
Introduction
Scope
Reasons for washouts/breaches/slips
Type of damages
Materials available for restoration work
Temporary repair methods
Permanent repair methods
Conclusion
References
Annexure

Page No.
1
1
1
2
4
8
11
13
15
17

GUIDELINES ON TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT

RESTORATION OF BANK AFTER BREACHES/WASHOUTS
1.0

INTRODUCTION
Washouts/breaches of railway embankment during floods is a
commonly occurring phenomenon, especially in monsoons. There are
various direct and indirect losses due to washouts or breaches of the
embankments. Main reasons behind the washouts/breaches are
detailed in para 3.0 below.

2.0

SCOPE
This report contains a theoretical study on temporary and permanent
repair methods for washouts/breaches of railway embankments. The
report is based on field experience, previous studies done by RDSO
& literature survey. The recommendations of this report will help in
quick restoration of traffic on a washed out railway formation.

3.0

i)

REASONS FOR WAHSOUTS/BREACHES/SLIPS

Main reasons for washouts/breaches are enumerated belowContinuous Rains- Banks situated in heavy rainfall areas are
subjected to slips and breaches. When there is a continuous rain or
continual interceptive rain for prolonged period, there is lot of
infiltration of rainwater into the bank. This leads to decrease in
cohesion of soil and drop in the shear strength. Further, it increases
the gravitational forces acting on the bank & leading to slips in the
bank.
In the year 2004, many washouts/breaches of bank took place on
account of heavy rainfall in Lummding-Badarpur hill section of NF
Railway.

ii)

Floods and Receding Water- Floods are natural phenomenon caused

by rains. Flash floods in hilly terrain result in washouts. Plain areas
are also subjected to rapid flow of water due to heavy floods. During
major floods, the water carries a lot of debris and it either erodes,
scours, leads to submergence of bank and/or even overtops it,
resulting in washouts. Slips occur in banks when flood water recedes.
Such floods occur mainly in delta region & alluvial plains, where the
rivers are wide, shallow and meandering type.
1

Primary cause of meandering is excess discharge during floods, due

to which high turbulence is developed. Basic factors controlling
process of meandering are:a)
b)
c)
d)

Discharge
Stream load
Valley slope
Bed and side resistance

Doab area between river Ganga and Son is heavily flooded in

monsoon causing formation breaches in Eastern and EC Railway.
iii)

Vertical Sag (Bad Bank)- Many a time during the rains, vertical sags
occur in railway track. Such sags develop due to inadequate/poor
bearing capacity of soil. Vertical sags are quite common where a
good portion of bank is made of ash, cinder or black cotton soils etc.
Poor or inadequate compaction of newly made banks may also lead
to vertical sags.

iv)

Inadequate Openings- Railway banks act as a barrier to the natural

flow of water in plains especially, where such plains acts as drainage
path for wide spread catchments areas lying many miles away. When
heavy rain occurs in the catchment areas, water gushes out to the
plains all of a sudden.
At times, openings provided in railway banks may prove inadequate
to bear this excess amount of water, resulting in washouts. A clear
difference in height of water level on either side of opening is seen in
such cases. To get over the problem, additional openings across the
track could provide a solution.

v)

Scouring Damages- Scouring may cause damage to bridge

foundation as well as to other nearby structures such as end
embankment, retaining walls etc.. If scouring exceeds a certain level,
it can result in collapse of bank.

4.0

TYPES ON DAMAGES
Washouts/breaches may result in following types of damages:
i)

When the damage is limited to cess of embankment.

2

DAMAGE IS LIMITED TO CESS

ii)

When the damage is extended to center of track.

DAMAGE IS EXTENDED TO CENTER OF TRACK

iii)

Rupture extends to foundation subsoil and original shape

of embankment is not maintained.

ORIGINAL SHAPE OF EMBANKMENT DISTURBED

iv)

Embankment is deformed in a way generally similar to

uniform settlement.

UNIFORM SETTLEMENT

v)

Embankment behind bridge abutment is settled and cracked.

EMBANKMENT SETTLED AND CRACKED BEHIND BRIDGE

5.0

MATERIALS FOR RESTORATION WORK

i)
Cinder
ii)
Boulders
iii) Sand bags
iv) Local earth
v)
Stone dust
vi) Fly ash and Bottom ash
vii) Sal balli/released rails

i)

Cinder- Cinder used to be easily available in the past when steam

locomotives were in vogue. Therefore, it was used in restoration work
in an extensive manner on railways. Now, with the progressive
decline in steam locos over the years and currently no more in use,
availability of cinder has become scarce. Hence, the option to use this
material is no longer available.

ii)

Boulders- Boulders can be procured from nearby stone quarry/river

bed. Use of boulders in embankment may require heavy compaction
machinery, which is generally not used in our country. Therefore, in
absence of heavy compaction machinery, use of boulders for
restoration purpose may not be advisable except for pitching the
slopes at later stages of restoration.

iii)

Sand- Sand is easily available in most of the areas and it can serve as
a useful restoration material. Ordinary river sand filled in cement
4

bags can be stored in advance at convenient points for quick restoration

of traffic. Embankment restored with sand may require erosion control
measures later on.
iv)

Local earth- Utilization of local earth offers the simplest and fastest
method for restoration of embankment. However, the following soils
must be avoided:

Peat and Organic soils

Chalk etc. which are likely to disintegrate
Poorly graded sands with Cu less than 2.
Clay and silts of high plasticity (CH & MH) in top 3 m of
embankment.

For this purpose, it would be better if borrow pits within railway area are
identified well in advance.
v)

Stone dust- Stone dust is normally available in ballast quarries as a

byproduct. It can also serve as a good blanket material, if due attention is
paid during manufacturing of ballast. Stone dust may be stored in advance
at convenient locations.

vi)

Fly ash and Bottom ash - About 1000 million tonnes ash is produced in
India every year by thermal power plants and is available free of cost
from the plants. In most of the power plants, bottom ash and fly ash are
mixed in slurry form and is disposed of to ash ponds in slurry form.
Fly ash is a waste product of
thermal power plant where it poses
problem of disposal. Generally, both ashes are available in huge
quantities in thermal power stations.
Fly ash is a finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of
pulverized coal in the boiler and collected from electrostatic precipitation.
It is a pozzolanic material which in the presence of water reacts with lime
and form cementitious materials.

Typical geo-technical properties of Fly ash

Parameters

Range

Specific gravity, G
Plasticity
M.D.D (gm/cc)
O.M.C (%)
Cohesion (KN/m2)
Angle of Internal Friction,
Coefficient of Consolidation,
Cv (cm2/sec)
Compression index, Cc
Permeability, k (cm/sec)

1.90- 2.55
Non-plastic
0.9-1.6
18.0-38.0
Negligible
30-40
1.75 105 2.01 103
0.05 0.4
8 106 7 104

Particle Size Distribution (% of

materials)
Clay size fraction
1 10
Silt size fraction

8 85

Sand size fraction

7 90

Gravel size fraction

Coefficient of Uniformity, Cu

0 10
3.1 10.7

Bottom ash is collected at the bottom of boiler furnace as a resultant

of coal burning activity. This is comparatively coarser material
characterized by better geo-technical properties and therefore,
promises to be an excellent material for fill embankment.
Test results of bottom ash from NTPC Ltd. Ramgundam, Jyothinagar,
Andhra Pradesh, as obtained in GE lab, RDSO are tabulated below:

Gravel
(%)

Sand
(%)

05
03

89
80

Silt Clay
(%) (%)

06
17

%
Passing

00
00

Classification

06
17

P.I.

SP-SM
SM

NP
NP

Cu

3.78
4.00

Cc

1.31
0.74

Physical properties of bottom ash as supplied by NTPC for its various

units are tabulated below-

Physical properties of Bottom ash

S.
No

1
2
3

Material

Unchahar
Korba
Vijayawa
da
4 Badarpur
5 Dadri
6 Ramagun
dam
7 Neyveli
8 Farakka
9 Kahalgoa
n
10 Rihand

Sp.Gra
vity

Clay
(%)

Silt
(%)

Sand
(%)

Gravel
(%)

Cu

Cc

L.L.

1.66
2.15
1.82

1.0
0.5
-

12.0
8.0
22.0

87.0
91.0
71.0

0
0.5
7.0

7.8
4.7
9.4

3.7
2.1
1.1

92.6
77.0
53.5

1.95
2.01
2.08

1.0
1.0
1.0

12.0
40.0
12.5

87.0
59.0
76.5

0
0
10

9.1
7.5
8.0

1.0
1.4
1.6

47.4
48.0
65.1

2.08
2.16
2.17

3.0
2.5
1.0

5.5
8.0
14.8

91.5
78.5
65.9

0
11.1
18.3

5.2
14
8.8

2.1
1.5
1.3

104.1
70.9
45.0

2.19

13.6

75.8

10.6

6.5

1.2

57.0

Bottom ash is non-plastic with silty sand material. Its particles are
spherical in shape and uniform in size. Due to this property, it is 5 to 10
times more permeable than soil having the some effective grain size. The
permeability coefficient, k is in the order of 8.3 x 10 -5 cm/sec. Bottom
ash is predominantly granular in nature, it behaves much the same as a
cohesive soil with respect to consolidation. However, a notable
difference between them is that, the bottom ash consolidates much more
quickly then a clay soil because it is more permeable.

Compacted bottom ash achieves its most of shear strength from its
interlocking of particles, expressed in terms of angle of internal
friction. It also exhibits some apparent cohesion when moist due to
surface tension in the pore water.
Density of bottom ash fill is an important parameter which determines
the strength, compressibility and permeability characteristics of the
fill. M.D.D. of bottom ash is on the higher side upto 1.88 gm/cc.
As compared to fly ash, bottom ash is a coarse grained material (high
%age of sand), has high value of MDD and specific gravity. Due to
these properties, bottom ash is superior material to fly ash.
vii)

Sal balli/Released rails - Though these materials are readily

available in plenty with the railways, however, they have a limited
use in restoration work when used alone.

6.0

TEMPORARY REPAIR METHODS

Various methods for temporary restoration of bank are as followsi)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)

Ballah/Rail piling
Filling with cinder
Filling with sand bags
Filling with Fly ash and Bottom ash
Filling with local earth

Temporary repairs methods are described below:

i)

Ballah/Rail Piling - In railway banks, where there is likelihood of

slip occurring, ballah/rail piling offers the best solution in the short
term. No other solution will serve the purpose at that moment of time.
Ballah/ rail piling proves to be effective solution in following cases(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Where the movement of trains must not stop or even if it stops,

it should be for minimum possible time.
Where equipments and ballah/rail piling can be mobilized in
very short period of time.
Where the banks are very high and there is slope failure and not
the toe failure.
where the minor slips have already occurred and immediately
restoration of track is required.
8

It supports the slipped/ disturbed soil and immediately takes up

the load and stabilizes the disturbed area. It also removes the chances
of any further slip in this disturbed region and provides stability to the
soil.

ii)

Filling with cinder - The washed out bank can be rebuilt with putting
the cinder into the bank. However, these days cinder is not easily
available in railways which was collected in the past from steam
locomotives.

iii)

Filling with sand bags - The washed out bank can be rebuilt by
dumping sand bags already stored in advance along the bank. The
sand bags should be half filled to minimize void spaces in between
the sand bags.

iv)

Filling with Fly ash and Bottom ash - The washed out banks can be
rebuilt with fly ash or bottom ash, the latter being preferable
material. Fly ash is a cohesionless material and is highly erodible in
nature. Liquefaction generally occurs when fly ash is deposited under
loose saturated condition during construction of embankment. In
view of this and properties earlier discussed, special procedure such
as Sandwich Construction or by Earth Cover is required for
construction of embankment with fly ash.
Sandwich Construction:
Intermediate soil layers are often provided in the fly ash
embankment for ease of construction, to facilitate compaction of
ash
and to provide adequate confinement. Such layers minimize

liquefaction potential also. Embankment with intermediate soil layers

can be adopted in case height of the

Typical cross section of embankment showing sandwich Construction

embankment is more than 3 m, otherwise Earth Cover method

can be adopted. The compacted thickness of intermediate soil
layers shall not be less than 200 mm. One or more layers shall be
constructed depending upon the design requirements. The vertical
distance between such layers may vary from 1.5 to 3 m. The top 1
m of embankment should be constructed using selected earth to
form the subgrade.
Earth Cover:
The fly ash embankment should be covered on the sides and top
by soil to prevent erosion of ash. Good earth suitable for
embankment construction can be adopted as cover material for fly
ash embankment.
For successful compaction of fly ash, self-propelled, pneumatictired rollers and self- propelled or towed vibratory rollers can be
used.
v)

Filling with local earth - The washed out bank can be rebuilt by
putting the soil from borrow pits which should be at a minimum
distance of H+3 m from the toe of the bank, where H is the height
of embankment. Proper compaction of the soil should be ensured.
10

7.0

PERMANENT REPAIR METHODS

Permanent repair methods for bank restoration are as followsi)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)

Provision of blanket
Provision of culvert/bridge etc.
Boulder pitching
Toe wall
Slope flattening
Retaining wall
Provision of sand layer
Turfing

Permanent restoration methods are described below:

i)

Provision of blanket- If it is not possible to provide blanket during

temporary restoration of embankment, then blanket layer of adequate
thickness conforming to stipulated specification must be provided a
the time of permanent restoration. For this purpose, any method as
described in RDSO Report no. GE-39 can be used for laying of
blanket.

ii)

Provision of culvert/bridge etc- If damage or washout of

embankment occurs due to level difference in water level on both side
of embankment as already discussed, suitably designed culverts /
bridges at appropriate locations should be constructed.

iii)

Boulder Pitching - In situations where railway banks remain

submerged in water for considerable period during rainy season or
otherwise, boulder pitching should be carried out upto appropriate
level.

iv)

Toe Wall - When bank is high, soil is plastic in nature, slope are
inadequate and water remains in borrow pits by the side of toe of
banks, such banks are prone to slips. Cross level variations and
difficulty in maintenance of track are regular feature of such banks
during the monsoon. Toe wall of boulder crates with re-profiling of
slopes/sub banks can be probable solution at such places for
stabilization of banks up to 6 m.

11

When bank height is more than 6 m and bank slope profile

shows signs of bulging, distorting or flattening with passage of
time, cross level variation, movement of TP post and trees away
from the centerline of track with every passing year, during
rains, severe slips may occur in such banks. In such type of
banks, toe wall with Ballah/ Rail piling at toe of sub-bank could
be good solution.

v)

Slope flattening Slope stability analysis should be carried out

and if existing slopes are found to be steep, then flatter slope
should be provided with or without berms/sub-bank in keeping
with the results of analysis.

12

vi)

Retaining wall If adequate slopes as determined from slope

stability analysis can not be provided at site due to various
constraints, retaining wall may be constructed at toe of the
embankment.

vii)

Provision of sand layer In case, water table remains high at the

breach site, 30 cm thick sand layer may be provided at bottom of sub
bank when slope of embankment has to be stabilized by constructing
a sub-bank. In such cases, it will be preferable to provide sand layer
below main bank also at the time of temporary repairs. Sand layer
will facilitate a lowering of water table and in quick dissipation of
pore water pressure.

viii) Turfing - Turfing is suited for soil with some clay friction. Method
consists of preparing slope area by grading it for sowing seeds or
planting root strips of locally available creeping grass. Its root goes
up to 50 to 75 mm deep into the slopes serving as a soil anchor and
offering added resistance to erosion. Some typical species of grass
which develop good network of roots and considered suitable are
listed below:
-

Doob grass
Chloris gyne
Iponea gorneas (Bacharum Booti)
Casuariva and goat foot creepers etc.
Vetiver grass (vetiveria zizanioides)

8.0

CONCLUSION

8.1

Material for repair of embankment should be chosen keeping in view

the availability of same in the near by area.
Depending on past history and experience, vulnerable stretches of
embankment can be identified and approximate quantity of material
may be worked out.
As far as possible, estimated quantity of material may be stored at
convenient locations. If this is not possible, then reliable sources for
material procurement should be identified well in advance. Possible
borrow pit area in railway land may be identified and demarcated.
If damage is large and permanent repair requires a long time,
temporary repairs to a satisfactory level for restoration of traffic

8.2

8.3

8.4

13

8.5

8.6

8.7

should be made immediately and permanent repairs made

subsequently.
If damage is small and permanent repair is not difficult, repairs
done initially should be of the permanent repair type. If
possible all of the permanent repairs should be completed
during the temporary repair period.
The selection of temporary repair method for embankment will
depend on conditions of the damaged embankment. In
selecting the temporary repair method, it is necessary to
consider the outline of the permanent repair so as to avoid the
repetition of the same work during the permanent repair.
The repair level at the temporary repair stage will depend on
the overall level of damage in the area and the time allowed for
the repair work. The general procedure will depend on the
degree of damage.
Factors to be considered for temporary repair include the extent
of damage, the work schedule, the level to which the formation
will be restored, the scope and process of the work and its
priority.

8.8

8.9

Crack, swelling, movements, and other signs of instability of

slopes or cut slopes should be watched carefully in this period
and until permanent repair is made, because of the danger that
delayed effects may cause another disaster.
In selecting proper permanent repair methods, the original
structure of the embankment, the scale and mechanism of the
damage and the possibility of secondary damage should be
considered. This selection can be made with use of the
information on patterns and level of damage, damage
mechanism and ground conditions that may be obtained in the
investigation for temporary repair.
At the time of permanent repair of damaged bank, slope
stability analysis should be carried out and new slope should be
provided as per results of slope stability analysis.

-----------------------

14

9.0 REFERENCE :-

1.
2.
3.

4.

5.
6.

7.

Guide lines for Earthwork in Railway Projects, GE:G-1, July

2003.
Slope Stability and formation treatment of Malda Division.
IPWE Seminar Dec. 2001, Secunderabad,
Comprehensive Report on Natural Disaster Reduction for
roads, - Permanent International Association of Road Congress
1995.
Technical paper title Design and Construction of eastern
approach embankment using fly ash for second Nizamuddin
Bridge, New Delhi , CRRI, New Delhi- 110020 in 2nd
International Conference on Fly ash Disposal and Utilization.
Guidelines for use of fly ash in road embankments- IRC
specification publication, New Delhi 2001, IRC: SP: 58-2001.
A report on Caol Ash- An environment friendly material for fill
and embankment construction, NTPC, Lodhi road, New Delhi,
July,2002, Part I.
Guidelines for use of fly ash in Railway embankments
Published by NTPC, Lodhi Road, New Delhi March 2003

15

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Guidelines has been prepared by

1.
2.

Shri A. K. Singh, Director/GE

Shri G. Nageswara Rao, Director/GE
under guidance of Shri Nand Kishore, Executive Director/GE with
assistance of

1.
2.
3.

Shri S.K Ojha, SRE/GE

Shri R.S Meena, SRE/GE.
Shri Susheel Kumar, JE-II (Design)

16

ANNEXURE
List of NTPCs Coal Based Thermal Power Stations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Singrauli super Thermal

Power station
Korba super Thermal Power
station
Ramagundam Super Thermal
Power Station.
Faraka Super Thermal Power
station
Vindhyachal super Thermal
Power station
Rihand super Thermal Power
station
National Capital Power
station
Feroz Ghandhi Unchahar
Thermal Power station
Badarpur Thermal Power
station
Kahalgaon super Thermal
Power station
Talcher-Kaniha super
Thermal Power station
Talcher- Thermal Power
station
Tanda Thermal Power station
Simhadri super Thermal
Power station

P.O. Shaktinagar Distt Sonebhadra,

U.P. 231222
P.O. Pragati Nagar, Korba (West)
Distt. Korba, CH.-495450
P.O. Jyoti Nagar Distt. Karim Nagar,
A.P.-505215
P.O. Nabarun, Distt. Murshidabad,
W.B. 742236
P.O. Vidhya Nagar Distt. Sindhi, M.P.
- 486885
P.O. Rihand Nagar Distt. Sonebhadra
U.P. - 321223
P.O. Vidyut Nagar Dadri Dhaulana
Road Distt.Gautam Budha Nagar U.P.
201008
P.O. Unchahar, Distt. Rae Bareilly,
U.P. 229406
P.O. Badarpur New Delhi 110044
P.O. Deeptinagar, Kahalgaon Distt.
Bhagalpur, Bihar 813203
P.O. Kaniha, Distt. Angul, Orissa759147
P.O. Talcher Thermal Distt.Angul,
Orissa 759101
P.O. Tanda Distt. Ambedkarnagar,
U.P.
P.O. Simhadri, Distt. Vishakhapatnam
A.P. 531020

17