International  No-­‐Dig  2014  

32nd    International  Conference  and  Exhibition  
______________________________________________________  
 
Madrid  
13-­‐15  October  2014

Paper  126  

MICROTUNNELLING IN INDIA
Paul Nicholas
Executive Director – Geotechnical, AECOM India

ABSTRACT: The paper outlines the history and equipment in use on microtunnelling projects in India. One
ongoing project includes the laying of 55km of interceptor sewers along 3 major drains for reduction of
pollution of the River Yamuna at New Delhi. The paper will cover the design, value engineering and
construction of the works including problems and solutions. The second project is a JICA funded 250km sewer
collection system with around 9km of microtunnelling for DN150 to 600mm gravity sewers. For this project
AECOM as DDC recommended the use of guided pilot tube microtunnelling with the first use of DN150 RC
pipes in India, cast without over sizing.

1. INTRODUCTION

The History of Microtunnelling generally used for construction of gravity sewers started in Japan in the 70’s
developed in Europe in the 80’s and in the 90’s extended to SE.Asia and USA. Microtunnelling was used
generally for diameters less than DN900 as larger sizes were installed by man entry pipe jacking tunneling
methods. Early microtunnelling developed with auger and slurry based systems for drive lengths generally less
than 80m. In the 90’s the size and range of microtunnelling systems increased to 2m and now 3m systems are
common. The length of installation for these larger sizes has increased to over 500m with the longest drive ever
at 2.8km. In India all the initial work was completed with slurry based systems as the variable ground conditions
in Mumbai were not suitable for auger based machines. More recently where ground conditions are suitable
Pilot tube or GBM type machines have been used successfully for small diameters DN150 to 600.

2. MICROTUNNELLING IN INDIA - HISTORY

Microtunnelling in India started in1998 by the City of Mumbai issuing a tender for around 3.5km of small 900
and 1200mm crossings, many under rail tracks and roads. The contract was awarded to a Middle East contractor
with an Indian partner using standard slurry machines. The ground is very difficult in Mumbai with changes
from sands and clays to weathered and hard rock and boulders. This project had many ground related problems
due to the occurrence of rock and boulders but the 3.5km was completed.
As a better understanding of the variable ground conditions was gained and a local contractor with a German
equipment supplier developed the tooling and techniques to better use the technology in Mumbai’s ground
conditions. Today this contractor has completed around 20km of microtunnelling with slurry machines in
Mumbai out of a total of 25km. In Mumbai there is around 5km of work outstanding waiting for budget
approval.
In Delhi the first microtunnelling was in 2008 and here the ground conditions are very suitable for slurry and
GBM methods. The initial projects in Delhi consisted of 8km of slurry microtunnelling of DN1000 -1500 and
3.5km of GBM DN400-600.
In 2009 a large interceptor sewer project was tendered consisting of 57km of microtunneling of DN600-2400
(Detail of this project follows)
In Cuttack in 2012 a sewer collection system was tendered consisting of 250km later extended to 400km of
sewer pipes mainly DN100 &150mm house and alley connections The project included 10km to be constructed

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by trenchless technology DN150 – 600 and as the ground was primarily unconsolidated sands the GBM method
was approved for use.
Other projects have been completed in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Assam and Goa the total microtunnelling completed
in India is around 100km and there are around 25 MTBM in India. At present there is about 8km of work under
construction in Kolkata and the same in Mumbai, in Delhi the interceptor work is ongoing.

3. MICROTUNNELLING METHODS IN INDIA

 
Following are the main methods used for microtunnelling in India.
a) Slurry Microtunnelling
b) Guided boring method (GBM) & Pilot tube (PTM)

Slurry Microtunnelling: Fig 1&2. First developed in Japan in the 70’s for their sewer collection systems in
cities the term is misused sometimes in India where HDD and open face excavated tunneling have been
described as microtunnelling. For this paper the ASCE definition will be used, briefly described as a method of
installing pipes by Pipe Jacking, to an accuracy of 25mm line and grade over any distance, using a remote
controlled closed face MTBM which provides support to the ground and is capable of controlling ground water,
spoil is removed by an automated system and no man entry to the tunnel is required for normal operations.
There is no size limit.
Microtunnelling was originally used to describe non-man generally sizes below DN800 but in recent years the
definition has become method based not size limited. Two types of microtunnelling systems are in use in India,
GBM and slurry based. For larger diameters slurry is the dominant method but there are also EPB screw auger
systems available.
Microtunnelling has many advantages it is still the only practical method of construction for small diameter
pipes in variable and unstable ground conditions with high permeability and head of water over 3m. The slurry
method is capable of working in most ground conditions including mixed face, rock and highly unstable ground
conditions with high water head without external ground control and capable of installing the pipe accurately to
line and grade in a one pass operation.
The disadvantages are the high cost of construction due to the high investment required in equipment and
personnel. Over the last 10 years we have seen the method most commonly being used for pipe sizes DN1200
and larger and increasing use recently for the DN2000 and up. These larger diameter projects allow the capital
investment to be recovered more quickly and we are seeing more equipment being written off on single large
projects as is normal in larger diameter transport and hydro tunnels. The use of small diameter microtunnelling
DN600 and below is being replaced by newer systems designed specifically however all these methods have
ground and water head limitations so making slurry microtunnelling the only universal method suitable for
nearly all ground conditions. Slurry microtunnelling is the method of choice for 90% of microtunnelling in
India.

Figure 1: Microtunnelling system Layout Source –Microtunneling. Inc

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Figure 2: Microtunnelling site 30m deep 27m head of water Source: Author

b) Guided Boring Method (GBM) also known as pilot tube microtunnelling (PTM). First developed in Japan
for small diameter <500mm short drives <15m under roads with an angled steering tip to provide steering
ability. The system was developed further by Soltau in Germany in the 80’s as a house connection system for
gravity sewers which became known as the “Berlin method”. The early GBM systems were designed for house
connection sewers of up to 25m length for DN150 or 200 pipes. The GBM has been used in India on a limited
basis notably projects in Delhi DN400, 500 &600 and presently Cuttack where the ground conditions are
primarily weakly consolidated silts & sands. This system has been developed by several manufactures over the
last 20 years to now be capable of installing main line sewers up to DN1000 and for lengths of up to 150m. The
GBM process differs from conventional microtunnelling in several ways. The process is a multi phase method
first installing a pilot tube Fig. 3 to an accuracy of 25mm and then reaming using an auger system and finally
installing the product pipe by pipe jacking Fig.4.Line and grade are established using an optical system,
generally a Theodolite, digital camera and display screen viewing a target mounted in the lead pilot tube which
has a slant face to enable steering. The pilot tubes are installed by displacement of the ground only and rotated
only to provide steering via the slant face. Figure 3.

Figure 3: GBM Ist phase pilot tube installation Source: Akkerman Inc.

Once the pilot tube is installed on line and grade various auger reaming methods are used to install the required
product pipe normally by pipe jacking short 1 or 2m pipe sections Fig. 4. however pull back of flexible pipes is
also possible. The lower capital cost of the equipment and faster installation time reduces the overall project cost
per meter. The disadvantages are the method is limited by ground conditions as the pilot tube phase is by
displacement therefore ground over “N” 50 , rock, ground with stones and cobles are not suitable for the
method. There are ground also ground water limitations of between 3 and 5m depending on the ground type. In
the last 10 years this method has greatly expanded in use for DN150-600 sewer pipes for drives of around 100m.
The latest state of the art systems are capable of installing up to DN1000 pipes for 150m to an accuracy of

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25mm or less and with up to 5m head of water. This flexibility allows them to be used in a greater range of
projects and replacing the more expensive slurry systems.

Figure 4: GBM reaming and installing product pipe Source : Akkerman Inc.
With regard to water table the standard slurry microtunnelling systems are able to handle high heads of water to
30m however due to the machine weight in very soft ground of “N” <3 steering problems may occur and ground
improvement may be required to maintain the grade of the drive.
For the standard GBM 3m head of water may be handled and in fact the GBM is able to handle softer ground
due to the low weight of the pilot tube and its displacement method which tends to compact the ground. The
new powered cutter (PCH) and powered reaming heads (PRH) Fig.5 along with water control augers used for
reaming to the product pipe size, which have independent control of auger and cutter rotation, water heads of up
to 5 m may be handled.

Figure 5: Powered Reaming Head (PRH) DN200 Figure 6. Compact GBM set up in shaft Cuttack
Source: Michigan Construction

4. FACTORS OF INFLUENCE IN THE USE OF MICROTUNNELLING IN INDIA

The use of microtunnelling in India has not expanded in the way it might have been expected, without the 50Km
project in Delhi the average is only 3-4km a year. We have seen in other parts of Asia the expansion in use of
trenchless construction is generally initiated /assisted by government support. Critical factors that control the use
of microtunnelling is that there is no accountability for social costs also there is no regulation for excavation in
newly surfaced road carriageways. In India most of the major sewer projects that are specified for
microtunnelling are federal government sponsored and in many cases with outside financial support from ADB,
JAICA or World Bank, these sponsors require that construction social implications to be considered in the
design and construction of the project. Construction cost is another factor, in developed countries the cost breaks
down to 50:50 labor : plant and materials, in India its closer to 20:80. Due to the low labor cost there is little
pressure to reduce labor man hours and use mechanization. Accompanied with this issue the total taxation on
imported equipment can reach 35%, so making capital return on the investment more difficult to achieve.
The main driving force for microtunnelling in India is social pressure from the local population, the congestion
that any form of construction may cause in housing areas due to the high population density also roads are very

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congested with parked vehicles, people, rickshaws, auto rickshaws hand carts, bicycles and motorbikes all
sharing the same narrow roads Figure 7. Authorities generally want their construction completed at the lowest
cost and closing roads and disruption to the local population does not figure into this equation also reliance on
construction by small local contractors who are unable to invest in mechanization plays an important role.
For these reasons only large projects generally with outside financing and specified solely for construction by
microtunnelling are able to support the cost of modern microtunnelling systems purchased by large construction
companies.
For these reasons the expansion of microtunnelling is slow but over time pressure from the population to reduce
congestion due to construction and increasing salaries for construction workers will drive the use of
microtunnelling. In particular the lower cost of sewer construction by GBM will increase the projects that are
financially viable for microtunnelling.

Figure 7: Typical narrow congested streets in India Source: Author

5) CASE STUDIES
 
i) Delhi Jal Board Project - Delhi:
The interceptor project consisting of 57.6km of sewer by microtunnelling, 16km of rising main, 132 Interceptor
chambers and 6 pump stations was bid in 6 packages on a design, construct and operate (10years) basis.
The objectives of the interceptor Sewer System is to:
a) Trap and intercept Dry Weather Flows (the large amounts of sewerage and wastewater flows) at the
sub drains (smaller storm water drains outfalling in the three main drains), at the same time allowing
flows due to rainfall (Wet Weather Flows) to overflow into the main drain as it occurs.
b) Convey intercepted Dry Weather Flows to Sewerage Pumping Stations via Interceptor Sewers laid at
depth.
c) Pump Intercepted Dry Weather Flows via associated rising mains to existing Sewerage Treatment
Plants under operation by DJB for treatment.
The project, the largest ever undertaken in India, will benefit about 70% of the Delhi region by helping to clean
the river Yamuna water for non-potable purposes, which will then be used extensively for horticulture and
cleaning purposes. Once the three main drains running through the city - Najafgarh, Shahdara and
Supplementary - are intercepted, the biochemical oxygen demand of the Yamuna, an indication of its pollution
levels, will come down from a massive 40 parts per million (ppm) at present to about 12 ppm. The main
objective of the project is to direct the untreated sewage to the existing Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and
allow only treated effluent into the three drains.
A 57-km-long interceptor sewer at the depth of 6 to 18 meters will be laid by microtunnelling at a cost of
US$320m . Part of the project is to contain pollutants being released into the river by the three major drains. The
Interceptor Sewer is being laid along these major drains -Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahdara to intercept

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sewage flowing from the subsidiary small drains. The sewage will be pumped to the nearest Sewage Treatment
Plant (STP) and to ensure that only treated sewage is discharged into the river. Sewage from 1,600 unauthorized
colonies, clusters and rural villages will be trapped by the interceptors which will eventually also function as
trunk sewers themselves. Work has been divided into six packages, all of which started simultaneously.
There were over 20 bidders; one of the first issues to arise was in the qualification requirements for the
microtunnelling. The requirements did not allow for any experience gained as a sub contractor to be applied for
the required technical qualification. Since throughout Asia most microtunnelling is let on a subcontract basis
most of the very experienced specialist microtunnelling contractors were eliminated from taking part in the bid
process. This caused some imaginative JV’s to be formed with local general contractors who had little or no
experience in microtunnelling.
Another interesting part of the bidding was the use of an online reverse auction after the technical bids were
qualified the financial bids were opened and released. There followed an auction on the internet where the
qualified bidders could bid down the price to become low bidder. This process reduced prices by some 20%
below engineers estimate. It also meant that only 2 of the 6 contracts were awarded to an Indian contractor with
microtunnelling experience in India. The total bid value for all 6 contracts was $323m.
AECOM was appointed as DDC for 2 contracts P2 &3 valued at $185m to the JV of Prathibha Industries –
Mosinzhstroi (Rusia). The Project packages among other ancillary works entails installation of approximately
34 kms of interceptor sewers of diameters 600 mm to 2400mm using microtunneling including provision of
launching and receiving shafts as per requirements, provision of Interceptor chambers and manholes, laying
HDPE lined RCC NP4 jacking pipes,. There are four pumping stations in the project, located at Nilothi,
Keshopur, Coronation pillar and Bharatnagar constructed using Diaphragm wall by top-down method. AECOM
is providing Civil and structural design of the microtunnelling alignment and shafts, interceptor chambers,
manholes, and 4 sewage pumping stations (SPS) which also includes all mechanical, electrical components. The
design of the rising mains from SPS to the inlet chamber of Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) including two 100m
steel truss pipe bridges. One of the contractors requirements was value engineering to reduce construction costs.
a) Alignment
The alignment on P2&3 interceptor sewer (IS) along the Najafgarh and Supplementary Drains in the area of
Nilothi, Keshopur, Coronation Pillar and Bharat Nagar Figure 8. The tender alignment generally ran on one side
of the drains with interceptor chambers removing trash and flows being directed to adjacent manholes of the IS.
During survey of the alignment it became clear that numerous obstacles existed, which included illegal
habitation, road and rail bridges, waste disposal tip, a twin 1800mm water pipeline on support piles running
alongside the proposed route. Late in the process it was found a metro line would also run on the same route for

Figure 9: DJB Interceptor sewer P2 & 3 Source: AECOM India

Figure 8: Plan of P2 and P3 Interceptor Sewer – Source DJB - Delhi

about 2km. The alignment at tender allowed for jacking and receiving shaft locations on an average of 125m.
Pipe diameters included 600,900,1200,1600,2000 &2400. The solution to many of the obstacles was frequent
crossing of the drain away from obstacles so zigzagging down the alignment and substantially increasing the

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drive lengths in particular on the larger dia (1600-2400) which went up to 300m. However the location of
outflows to be intercepted complicated the issue, this solution was eventually approved by the client.
b) Shafts
Shafts were originally located at 125-150m regular intervals along the drains, most shaft positions were to have
manholes where flows from the interceptor chambers would be captured. It worked out that the number of small
chambers was higher in the small and medium (600,900 &1200) sections of the IS were drive lengths varied
from 60 to 180m. Shaft sizes were set at 3.2, 3.7, 4.5, 6, 7, 8 & 9m dia. Fig.9
The ground conditions were fairly consistent with primarily silt with sand and clay the water table varied
dramatically from dry weather and monsoon rains period in general the water table was 3 to 7m below ground
level, potentially all shafts would bottom out in ground water. Since the ground was fairly stable with reasonable
standing when dry when wet it was unstable and readily flowed, for this reason all shafts were designed as
Caisson shafts. The designs were fairly standard including a steel toe with overcut and guide wall with bentonite
lubrication. In Delhi numerous sub contractors have experience in construction of caisson shafts and went ahead
without guide walls or bentonite this worked out for the smaller diameter shallower shafts but some were more
than 1% out of vertical. This method started to cause problems for larger diameter deeper shafts with many
hanging up and tilting. The causes were due to no guide wall or bentonite being used. The remedial actions for a
stuck shaft or tilting was to excavate on the outside of the shaft and to add kentledge on the “high” side of the
shaft wall in an effort to straighten the shafts. In general the shafts were sunk eventually. For the large 8&9m
shafts which went down 20m due to this construction process the shafts were delayed and some took a year to
complete so delaying the project.

Figure 9: 6m dia. microtunnelling jacking shaft – Delhi Source: Author

c) Microtunnelling
The Contractor realized early on that they had no experience in microtunnelling and his “experienced” JV
partner was unable to give assistance. In negotiations with two MTBM suppliers MTS and Herrenknecht for the
equipment the contractor insisted on technical support not just for the commissioning of the equipment and
training of operators, the contractor required key personnel from the suppliers including operators service
technicians and skilled labour. This was an unusual situation and one of the first times the MTBM manufactures
would be close to being a sub contractor on the job. The contractor required as a condition for a machine order,
the required personnel to be supplied. This resulted in the order for equipment being split between the two
suppliers. The equipment ordered consisted of 7 MTBM’s 1x DN600, 1 x DN900, 2x DN1200, 2x
DN1600/2000 & 1x DN2400. Along with the order for the equipment each supplier negotiated a labour supply
contract based on meters of pipe actually installed this allowed the general contractor to fix his cost for the
microtunnelling. This fairly unique arrangement allowed the actual microtunnelling operations to generally
proceed without major problems associated with contractors new to the method. The problems encountered
initially and ongoing was availability of shafts to start the microtunnelling operations other problems have
generally been related to unidentified obstacles some requiring a realignment of the IS. Microtunnelling is about
70% complete with larger diameters ongoing.

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d) Pipes
Jacking pipes for microtunnelling in India have been notoriously problematic with regard to quality and
consistent supply. To this extent contractors have been forced to set up their own pipe casting yards to ensure
timely supply. On this project the client specified pipes with stainless steel collars and cast in place HDPE lining
to be welded at each pipe joint after installation. The contract also required pipes to international standards
which included third party testing and inspection at the factory before delivery. This high specification of pipe
was not available in India at the time and with an onus on meeting the pipe requirements one RC pipe supplier (
KK Spun Pipe) made a commitment and purchased state of the art pipe manufacturing equipment from Europe
and was able to gain the entire pipe supply for the entire 57Km of microtunnelling. There have been some initial
quality issues mainly
on the spigot ends of the pipe requiring repairs but generally there have been few problems and supply has kept
up with demand. This supplier will be a benefit to the industry in India into the future and is one of the positive
results of this project.

e) Value Engineering
The Contractors requirement for value engineering was satisfied in many ways the primary savings:
i) Reduction of Jacking and reception shafts reduced from the tender 309 to 174 by optimization
of drive lengths and alignment.
ii) Reduced the zone of influence for possible settlement from 150m to less than 10m by using
established calculations to indicate the zone of influence and settlement prediction for shaft
and tunnel.So greatly reducing the cost of instrumentation and monitoring as required in
tender.
iii) Tender required several large diameter vortex type man holes due to the design drop in the
manhole, these were all eliminated by step dropping upstream to within the tender standards
so making a considerably saving.
iv) Since the number of Jacking/reception shafts were reduced so were the number of manholes
and all intermediate manholes were eliminated
f) Summary
The Delhi DJB project is ongoing there has been an additional MTBM rented for the DN2400 as the shaft delays
have caused a long delay on this part of the project. At the present time the 4 pump stations are being excavated
after D wall design was adopted, the pipe bridge foundations are under construction, interceptor chambers and
manholes are 50% complete, microtunnelling is 70% complete by length. The project time as per tender was 3
years which was highly optimistic and it will most likely extend to 5years before its operational.

CASE STUDY 2
ii) Cuttack – JAICA assisted Odisha Integrated Sanitary improvement Project
Cuttack Sewerage district with financial support from JICA intends to construct an integrated sewerage
collection system. The first phase includes approximately 255km of sewer pipeline, including rising mains,
manholes, house connection sewers and chambers. It includes design and construction of approximately 10km
of sewer construction by trenchless Technology. The construction is mainly within Cuttack Sewerage District I,
II &III.
The Scope of the Trenchless work:
a) 8607m of Street gravity sewers from 150mm to 600mm
b) 800m of crossing by Trenchless Technology
The proposed sewerage system in Cuttack comprises seven sewerage zones. Out of the seven, zone III,
comprises the old central city. There are many narrow and heavily trafficked streets, concrete passageways and
paved alleys in this zone where laying of sewers by open trench excavation will be difficult and expensive.
Trenchless construction is proposed for these areas.

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Figure 10: Cuttack Microtunnelling Routes Source: Odisha WS&S Board

Altogether 16 gravity sewer routes Fig. 10 of diameters from DN150 to DN600 are proposed along these narrow
heavily trafficked streets. Amongst them 15 routes are in zone III and one in Zone II. In addition there are 12
sewer crossings across railways, canals and roads in different locations to be installed by Trenchless
Technology.
a) Outline
This project where over 95% of the work is small diameter pipe being constructed by open cut. The
microtunnelling is limited to the 16 routes as indicated . These routes were chosen for trenchless technology due
to depth and the surface congestion.
AECOM was contracted by L&T construction to assist at the bid stage and suggested the use of the Pilot tube
method of construction against the specified trenchless technology which most bidders assumed to be slurry
method. Michigan engineering the only contractor in India with GBM equipment (see 3b) was introduced by
AECOM as a subcontractor for the trenchless works.
Typically pipes of this diameter 150-300mm are supplied as VC pipes the nearest supplier was in Malaysia
which resulted in very high pipe costs. the cost saving in locally produced RC pipes along with the GBM
method helped in L&T being the successful low bidder.
One of the reasons a contractor employs for a relatively small microtunnelling project the services of a design
consultancy is these projects supported by overseas funding require the client to have a PMC and has a very
high requirement of documentation, calculations and submissions on all aspects of the project including
alignment, shafts, method, pipes, manholes etc. The submission and approval by the PMC takes several months
before construction is able to start.
b) Construction
The ground conditions are generally silt clay with sand layers, when dry it stands fairly well but when wet is
unstable and flows. The water table on the various routes varies from 1m to 16m below GL. But is seasonal. The
majority of the pipes have invert of less than 4m. Due to this it was decided to construct the majority of shafts
by the caisson method. Jacking shafts were all fixed at 2.5m Dia. Fig.12 and receiving shafts at 1.8m. The small
size of these shafts is a considerable advantage in the congested streets Fig.12,13,14.

c) Pipes
As referenced above the pipes normally used for small diameter microtunnelling are VC (vitrified clay) or PC
(polymer concrete). Since for this project many sizes of pipes were required DN150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400,
450, 500 & 600 the importation of VC or PC pipes would be high due to freight and import duties of 35%.KK
Spun Concrete made a commitment to open a factory close to the job site for the open cut pipes and to invest in
new machinery to make the small diameter pipes required for pipe Jacking as they had done for the Delhi

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project. It is believed this is the first time worldwide that DN150 & 200 RC pipes will be supplied with the same
outside diameter as the equivalent VC and PC pipes for pipe jacking.
d) Microtunnelling
The method choosen is the GBM method and shaft distances were fixed by the man hole requirements of 60m
for DN150-250 and 80m for DN300-500. Longer drives are possible but it was decided not to max out the
equipment capability. The GBM method is well described in 3b above as a method used in India. This is the
largest project to date in India to be constructed by GBM.
The first two drives of DN200 have been successfully completed (June 14)

Figure 11: Cuttack microtunnelling site Source: Michigan Construction

Figure 12. Cuttack DN200 RC Pipes Figure 13. Cuttack First DN200 RC Pipe
Source: Michigan Construction Source: Michigan Construction

e) Summary
The project is ongoing a further 150km of sewer has been added to make a total of 400km at this time only 9km
is designated for trenchless construction. There will be two GBM systems with the PRH and PCS systems being
used for the various diameters. As usual some initial quality issue were seen in the first pipes mainly to do with
the spigot end of the pipe. The supplier improved on these issues. The pipes have performed well jointing in the
shaft and passing leak tests. The project is due to continue for another 3 years but the microtunnelling should be
completed in the next 12months.

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