,
CONSTRUCTION I FREIGHT CORRIDORS
Harimohan Gupta
Chief General Manager, DFCCIL. NOlda
Bridging faster and better
Many br id ge const ru ct ion industries
prefer worki ng with we ll-established
ways of con-structioll, with activ ities to
be exec ut ed in series . For bridge
projects, this involves the creation of
large ground suppo rting system (OSS),
large working platfomls with tempo-
rary stmchl res and li fting & fi xing of
each rebar at the cast in situ site. The
need to cOIll -plete the works efficien tly
in minimum time, keeping quality and
safety at pa r, has ne-cessitated the
adoption of an innovative modular
construction method. DFC has adopted
an u n usual seq ue n ce fo r pie r cap
construction that eliminated the GSS,
reduced resource needs , removed
critical safety challenges, improved the
quality of rebar cage and saved about 30
days in eac h pier cap construction. Thi s
method separates various activities into
sub-activ ilie s th at were executed in
paraliel, accelerating the comprehensive
schedul e of constructi on.
DF CC IL's Noida unit showed an
ambitious interest in developing
pioneering ways to accelerate ongoing
constru ction. After the detai led planning
with the design and build contractor
(IIS- L&T Co ns0l1ium), the unit came
up w ith an innovative method of
executing the binding & fi xing of pier
cap works , right at the grou nd surface
and not at the top of the pre-consh'ucted
piers as conventional m ethods would
require. The apprehensions we re for
providing the bottom support to the pi er
cap, need of specia ll y designed jigs &
fi xtures for assemb ly of reinforcement
II
cage at ground , procedure for lifting &
placing the 35 t rei n forceme nt cage of
pier ca p in place (that cal led for
spec ially des igned lifting gears , reaction
arrangement & liftpJan)attopofthetwo
pi ers. Any elTorwh il e lifting and plac ing
the cage of pier cap wou ld invite severe
complications and time impact on the
project schedule.
The ZMT 4 team
Th e field PM C and d esign team s
investigated various cons traints and
suggested mitigations requi red for
executi on and supported this method .
II S- L&T Consortium with the help of its
technica l ex p er ti se successfull y
co mpleted the li ft ing and placing of the
rebar cage at pier top with two 75 t
heavy-duty cranes working in tandem.
This modular construction method of
pier cap is an excellent exampl e of va lue
engineering that can be lIsed as a case
study for the budding civil eng ineers.
The contract was for design &
co n stru c tion of three s pec ia l stee l
bridges over exis ting rail lin es &
.,.
--
Yamuna & Hindon rivers, covering th e
bridge s tru c tur es , approaches in
embankments, gu ide blinds & protection
works, in clud in g testing &
commiss ioning. Th e design-bui ld lump
sum pri cecontrac t (Spec ial wor k s
contract package - 15C) on the Rewari -
D adri section covered construction of 13
pi er cap s, ten on a Yamuna Bridge and
three 011 a Hi ndon Bridge. T he pier caps
measure 19 x 3.0 x 2.0 m, consuming
110 CU . I11 . MAO concrete w ith 35 t
reinforcement over 124 sq. m. shu ttering.
Conventional in situ method
In most such co nstruct ion proj ec ts,
usually th e trad iti ona l method followed
is for construction of pier caps on GSS in
w hi c h hu ge s upportin g systems
( te mp ora ry stru cture s) a re created
ground up fo r fixing bottom shutters an d
for working platfonTIs. Each rebar is
lifted from the ground and fixed in the
cast-in-situ location above the cast piers.
Thi s method requires all110st 45 days for
this activity, lIses a lot of resources, faces
criti ca l sa fe ty chall enges & quality
concern s. All the operations in thi s
November 20 J 9 I
 CONSTRUCTION FREIGHT CORRIDORS
Aft er
with a special hydr aulic syste m.
pi er. it acts
stress ing both B I bea ms with
pi er for
as a single en ti ty with the sa me
to the
tra nsfe rring a load of pie r cap
Furt he r hori zont al bea ms
found ation.
sses we re e rec ted to
a nd vert ical tru
te r, as the base o f
support the bott om shut
The base
the pi er cap is not unifoJ111.
me nt
shutt er plac ed over thi s arra nge
fo r
requ i red a wor k in g plat form
shutt erin g, mad e with the supp
ort of ProdUcf
these beam s. .:. Co mp
Jig fabr icat ion
ly and .:. Air Br
This process start s s imu ltan eous
h the
ind ep e nd e ntl y a lon g wit .:. Dis c E
beam
con stru ctio n of pi e rs and th e
rt. A stru c tural base cage
e recti on pa .:. Tre ad
grou nd le ve l near the
1:1bri cated at the
a base j ig &
app li c abl e co d e pro v i s ion
s, pi er loca tion acte d as CUIll
.:. A ir Sl
onl y,
met hod are e xecu ted in se ries mo dify in g th e fi xture for asse mb ly o f reba r cage .
s. ne ces s itat ing
w hi ch has high dire ct & indirect cost
rein force men t draw ings.
Ass emb l y of reb ars on th e base .:. Da mr
Inno vati ve mod ular assembly d stru ctur e Beam Asse mbl y and com
-
Brin g in g abou t spec iall y des igne
the th e .:. Bra kl
In an ou t o f th e box solu t ion, jigs & fi xtur es to ass emb l e pl eted reba r cage
rcem e nt cag e wa s the grou nd .
com p let e rein fo rein force m ent cage at Lift ing Arra nge me nt: a s pec ia
ll y
at resp ectiv e .:. Au tol
asse mbl ed a l the grou nd of designed lifte r was pl ac ed at the top
jigs & Rev iew des ign & prep ara ti o n
pie r loca ti on in spec iall y des igned of asse mbl ed rebar cage, conn ec
ted
exec uted spec iall y designed lift er. .:. He at
fixtures. A ll th e ac..;t iviti es were with the rein-I'o rcem cnt cage a t 28
cap
in para llel mod e, e.g. cage of pier A s p ec ial ri g ging team to
be
loca ti ons thro ugh spec ia ll y des igne
d
.:. Sw it '
was read y as the respective piers were
j bei ng cast. The rei nforcem ent cage
wa s lifte d and
of3 5
plac ed
mobilised and trai ned.

Pro pe r mon it orin g o f liftin g

th e
lifti n g ge ars , and cou pl ed w
e mbe d-d ed heav y -dut y (hor izon
ith
- .:. Wi p
t over a 19 m lcng th pipe s.
cran es rein force ment cage as per appr o ved tall y & verti cally fix ed)
in to its position with two craw ler
lift plan. .:. Pla t
in ta nd e m li ft in g , acc ord ing to a Lifting Ope ration: per the appr o ved
ly
s pec ia ll y d es ig ned li fte r a nd
with
Pro pe r mon itori ng o f p lac in g
& lift plan , th e cage was lift ed slow
r an fix ed bott om .:. Gol
various uniq ue li ft ing gea rs unde lowe rin g o f the rein forc emc nt cage a nd placed it over the
st
approved lift plan . The li ft ing oper ation
into the dense dow els of cast pi ers. shutter. This process, one of the mo
ent criti cal activ ities in thi s mod ular
wa s con du c ted und er th e st ring ely
cia l s o f a ll Thi s meth odol ogy save s ap prox imat cons truc tion , takes arou nd 3 hours
.
s up erv is i on of offi of piers, bott om .:. Tra
ng. This one mon th as the cast ing
depa rtme nts with proper pl anni cap wor ks, and Ba lanc e rein fo rcem ent: Onc e
the
s hutt erin g for pier
modul ar meth od of pi er cap cons truc
tion
ortin g prep arin g of entire rein forc eme nt
cage cage is plac ed ove r the bott
o m Our
e limin ates com pl ete ground supp ent
ur ces , of pier cap at th e grou nd was
don e shutte r, the bala nced rein -for cem
sys te m (GS S) , redu ces reso ng of is com plet ed and m isce ll aneo us
ica l safe ty chal l enge s, s imu lta neou sly, elim inat es lifti
e limi na tes c rit s of bea ring
and rebars. Thu s a 45 days cycl e for in sit\.l re bar requ irem ent
mai ntai ns qu ality of reba r cage
in each wor ks was com pres sed to abou t 15 days . pede stal, O HE mas t etc. are inse rted.
finally save d the time of 30 days is
Thi s bala nce re in forc eme n t
pier cap cons truc ti on . Construction sequence main ly on side s.
pier
The challenges Bea m erec tio n : Dur ing the Shu tt er in g a nd co nc ret in g: sid
e
cons truction , spec ia l holes of 70 111111
re of
Met icul ous plan ning a nd prep arat
ion
pier . shutterin g sta rted from the cent
plet e sche me w ith the diam e ter wer e mad e in eac h th e pier cap afte r com peti -ti on of
the
of the com thos e
tim isin g re s ourc es Mac alloy bars were inse rted in pie r cap rein forc e men t case . Volu me
co nt ract o r op Two B 1-
holes a wee k afte r pier cast ing. m.
ava il able at grou nd leve l. of the concrete: 110 cu.
d on both side s of the
beam s were e recte
k,
A deta iled revi ew of the sche me
by
piers acro s s the alig nm ent of the brid ge Afte r the compl etion of f0n11 wor
r
PMC & its design team & in-d epth
and attac hed to Mac a ll oy bars with a set star t pou ring of conc retin g afte
r com pl ete all
coordina ti on with the site team . of faste ners . Inse rted Mac allo
y bars eng inee r and emp loye
h end
and were stres sed up to 75 t from eac chec ks.
A deta iled stud y of the draw ings

ilMI,mi4mm I November 2019