See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/261357494

Engineering and Construction of Tunnel Portals in Chamera, India

Conference Paper · January 2006

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1639.5841

CITATIONS READS
0 1,547

1 author:

C. Richard Donnelly
Hatch Ltd.
116 PUBLICATIONS   127 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Rehabilitation of the Shikwamkwa Dam View project

Development of a new dam safety risk screening tool View project

All content following this page was uploaded by C. Richard Donnelly on 04 April 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Engineering and Construction of Tunnel Portals in Chamera, India

C. R. Donnelly, Director, Renewable Power

Hatch Energy

V. K. Sharma, Consultant
Former Project Manager on Chamera, NHPC, India

Abstract

The engineering and construction of the portals at the Chamera project in India required a
variety of techniques and the resolution of a number of unique problems associated with the
complex and often quite variable geology of the Lesser Himalayas. The engineering and
construction activities were unique in a number of ways including the size of some of the
excavations, difficult access and sometimes unfavourable geology. Also worthy of note was the
use of state-of-the-art tunnelling, excavation and rock support techniques, many of which were
introduced to engineers and contractors working on this project for the first time.

1. Introduction
The Chamera Hydroelectric Project is a run-of-the-river development located in Northern India
in the state of Himachal Pradesh (Figure 1). The scheme utilizes the power potential of the Ravi
River which flows through the Lesser Himalayas in a narrow asymmetrical V-shaped valley. A
total head of 207 m creates a generating capacity of 540 MW from three units at a rated flow of
350 m3/s. The project involves 125-m high concrete gravity dam across the Ravi River,
extensive underground works including a 25m diameter underground powerhouse and
associated facilities, a 9.5-m diameter, 6.5 km long concrete-lined, horseshoe-shaped power
tunnel, a diversion tunnel with flared portals up to 18m in diameter and a 2.7-km long tailrace
tunnel with a flared portal excavated in weak shales up to 12.7 m in diameter. The project
included the introduction of state-of-the-art tunnelling equipment and support technology that
were employed for the first time on a significant scale in India to complete the underground
works.
In this paper, some of the challenges and solutions to the unique problems that were
encountered with the variable Himalayan geology are discussed. Many of these issues were
magnified at the near surface excavations needed for the various tunnel portals. In particular,
issues associated with
 structural geology and slope stabilization for the large diameter diversion tunnel portals,
 soft ground tunnelling requirements and deformation control at the large diameter tailrace
tunnel outlet portal,
 practical access issues associated with the high level power tunnel inlet,
 and other practical construction issues associated with the complex geological conditions
encountered at the power tunnel access adit and cable tunnel are discussed.

1
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
 Figure 1. Project Location

CHAMERA PROJECT

PAKISTAN
NEPAL

INDIA

2. Geological Conditions
Regional Geology
The Himalayas stretch over the northern borders of India in an west-east direction from the
Indus to the Brahmaputra forming an arc that covers a distance of about 2,400 km. They are
among the worlds youngest and most rugged mountain ranges, formed as a result of a
continental collision between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates.

2
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago when the north-
moving Indo-Australian plate, moving at about 15 cm/year,
collided with the Eurasian plate. By about 50 million years
ago the process had completed with the formation of the
Himalayas commencing resulting from the deformation of
sedimentary rocks that had originally settled onto the ocean
floor. The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven
horizontally at 67 mm/year, resulting in the Himalayas rising
by about 5 mm/year.
Today, the Himalayan mountains represent, by far, the
highest range in the world. Outside of the Himalayas, the
highest mountain in the world is situated in the Andes at
6.952m. By comparison, the Himalayan system has over 100
separate mountains exceeding 7,200m. Physically, the
Himalayas form three parallel zones: the Great Himalayas,
the Inner or Lesser Himalayas and the foothills of the
Himalays
Site Geology
The project is situated in the Lesser Himalayas which are
made up of metamorphosed and deformed meta-sedimentary
and igneous intrusive and extrusive rocks. The geology is
complex as a result of thrusting during several major phases of deformation, and late stage
faulting. At the site this has produced variable project geology doth due to the physical scope of
the project itself and the often variable nature of the rock mass within this young mountain
range. In more mature ranges, healing and consolidation of major faults and shear zones can
occur producing a more “homogeneous” rock mass over relatively long distances. In the
Himalayan system, this “healing” process is somewhat less likely to have occurred, resulting in
significant differences in the characteristics of the rock mass over relatively short distances.
Areas of quite poor quality, unconsolidated rocks occur, in general, more frequently, and without
tell-tale advance signs. Such issues were indeed encountered during the underground
excavation works performed for this project.

The Chamera site, in general, can be characterised by four general regions, generally good
quality phyllites with well developed discontinuities at the dam site and the site of the Diversion
tunnel, variable rock types and rock quality along the 9.5 km long power tunnel, metavolcanic
rocks in the powerhouse area and weak shales in the area of the tailrace. Each presented
different problems that required careful designs and continuous on site engineering throughout
the construction of the underground works.

3. The Chamera Diversion Tunnel Portals

The 0.5 km long diversion tunnel was the first underground excavation performed at the project.
It involved the excavation of a 10.5 m tunnel that was completed without incident following a
NATM style approach that was entirely new to Northern India at the time. It was, however, the
enlarged excavations required for the inlet and outlet portals that was of special interest for

3
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
several reasons. As shown on Figure 2, the geology of the site produced the potential for two
types of instabilities.
a) sliding failures, both wedge and planar, that varied in magnitude depending on the height
and width of cut.
b) toppling failures depending on the orientation of the cut in relation to each of the principal
joint sets.

Figure 2. The Diversion Tunnel General Arrangement and

Typical Failure Mechanisms

3.1.1 The Inlet Portal

Design studies indicated that development of the 18.2-m diameter inlet portal was feasible
provided certain requirements were met, including
a) good to excellent quality phyllite was present throughout the excavation
b) blast damage and relaxation of the portal face was limited in order to promote arching
within the rock mass during the underground construction
c) underground support was installed on a round-by-round basis to minimize deformations and
adjusted, if necessary, based on monitoring.

4
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
Neither the contractor, nor the owner, were familiar with controlled the controlled perimeter
blasting techniques that would be needed to achieve the design requirements. In addition, they
were particularly uncomfortable with the NATM style of rock support that was needed to control
deformations, being accustomed to the use of steel arches for the support of underground
openings.

Intake Portal Open Cut Excavation

The Intake portal open cut excavation provided the opportunity to introduce the use pre-splitting
techniques and a systematic approach to the excavation/support cycle for open cut work at the
Chamera project. As indicated in Figure 3, the quality of the results achieved was extremely
good, particularly considering the relatively closely foliated nature of the phyllites. Rock bolting
was accomplished using mechanically anchored rock bolts. No problems were encountered in
installing bolts of this type up to 12 m in length. All rock bolts were installed, tensioned and
grouted as each bench was excavated and before the next stage of benching was allowed to
proceed.

Figure 3. The Intake Portal Open-Cut Excavation

Procurement Issues

In projects such as these, procurement delays can, and do, occur for a variety of reasons
(shipping, customs, material availability and other issues). In the case of the inlet portal, a delay
in the delivery of the specified high-capacity rock anchors resulted in the need to redesign the
support to allow the use of lower strength rock bolts available on site. The actual rock support
that was installed is shown on Figure 4.

5
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
 Figure 4. Intake Portal Rock Support

The Value of Site Supervision

In any underground project, full-time inspection using trained supervisors performing regular
routine checking of rock bolts by means of pullout tests coupled with ongoing performance
monitoring is essential. For the Chamera inlet portal a simple, field-designed, array of single-
point borehole extensometers was installed from a bench above the portal location prior to the
commencement of the underground excavation. The “instruments” consisted of rock bolts,
available at the site, with precise measurements obtained using a commercially available “joint
micrometer”.

The value of these measurements is evident from Figure 5. During the excavation of the central
pilot significant movement was noted and with each subsequent blast “jumps” in the record
occurred that subsequently quickly levelled off. This was monitored but was not considered to
be a problem until a significant relaxation occurred in the excavation that did not immediately
level off. In particular, the rate of response was alarming and suggested that a problem had
occurred that could result in destabilization of the entire mountain side.

6
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
 Figure 5. Intake Instrumentation Response

Inspection of the excavation showed that the shotcrete above the crown of the excavation in the
open cut face and around the centreline of the excavation in the central pilot was cracking. This
prompted a thorough review of the rock support practices that revealed the contractor had, for a
relatively short period of time, not installed all of the specified support. When rectified, further
deformation fell back within the normal and expected patterns and the excavations were
completed without incident. Overall, deformations recorded during the construction period of 7
months were up to 30 mm.
Underground Excavation
Construction of the portal was accomplished by driving a central crown drift to “hole through”
with the main tunnel. This initial pilot drift was subsequently widened to full width through a
series of slashes. The excavation and support sequence involved drilling and blasting followed
by scaling and the installation of 25-mm thick layer of shotcrete from the muckpile. The heading
was then mucked out and rock bolts and weld mesh installed. Finally, 50 to 100 mm of

7
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
shotcrete was applied. In order to minimize the unsupported span, slashing was performed in a
series of parallel strips as shown in Figure 6. In addition, one side of the excavation was fully
widened before slashing of the other side was permitted. This allowed the installation of a
second 100-mm thick layer of mesh-reinforced shotcrete over the entire arch, thus completing
all of the specified support on one side of the portal prior to slashing to full width.

Figure 6. Inlet Portal Excavation Sequence

The end result of the process was an Intake portal with a relatively smooth excavation shape
and minimum of overbreak (Figure 7).

Figure 7. The Inlet Portal Prior to Concrete Lining

8
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
3.2 The Outlet Portal

The topography of the outlet portal area was formed mostly as a result of an extensive wedge
failure located immediately downstream. The wedge was defined by a continuous, planar,
infilled S2 surface which formed much of the valley wall and an S3 plane (for joint orientations
see Figure 1). In the immediate area of the open cut excavation, rock conditions were found to
be extremely poor with detailed geologic mapping showed that the poor rock was confined to a
similar major wedge as the one that had major wedge that was extrapolated to daylight in the
excavation. In addition, open joints and voids up to 1 m in width and 3 m depth were recorded.
Day lighting of the wedge could have given rise to a major failure involving at least 10 000 m3 of
disturbed rock and possibly affecting the site access road located over 100 m above the portal.

A number of possible solutions to deal with the wedge were reviewed, including adjusting the
portal location and complete removal of the poor quality rock. In the end it was concluded that a
combination of excavation and support of the feature best satisfied the various technical,
economic and schedule constraints. As indicated in Figure 8, the extent of the zone of
disturbed rock would have required the use of a considerable number of long, high-capacity
anchors if a uniform distribution of support over the entire wedge was to be provided. Due to
potential problems associated with the drilling long holes in poor quality rock, this solution was
rejected. The alternative of supporting the wedge by means of a concentrated load near the toe
of the feature was explored.

Figure 8. Geology of the Outlet Portal

However, treatment of the lower portion of the wedge alone would be insufficient to ensure the
long term stability of this major feature. Therefore, mechanisms to improve the stability of upper
sections of the rock mass, in addition to pinning the lower section would have to be improved to
prevent surface sloughing and limit surcharge of the lower portion. For this reason, final
treatment of the wedge was performed in two stages.

9
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
a) The materials contained within the upper two-thirds of the wedge were stabilized by means
of a series of small benches excavated to create a flatter and more stable slope and
retaining walls.
b) In the lower one-third of the wedge, support consisted of a 1-m x 1-m pattern of 60-t, 36-mm
diameter, Grade 400, resin anchored Dywidag thread bar rock anchors. Support pressures
were established on the basis that the reinforced wedge at the toe would carry a
surchargefrom the rock mass above. The length
of anchors provided a minimum anchor length of
3 m into the sound phyllites underlying the wedge
and a thick covering of shotcrete was used to
distribute the support loadings.
Initially, over 50% of the anchors initially installed
failed to achieve the required anchor load due to
problems in installing the rock anchors and the resin
anchorage through the disturbed rock mass. This
problem was rectified, simply and effectively, by
installing a rigid tube to the bottom of the hole
immediately following drilling.
The performance of the wedge was monitored by
means of two 12-m long, commercially available 5-
point extensometers. The results of the monitoring
program showed that some movements occurred Figure 9. The Outlet Portal
the wedge was delighted in the open cut excavations with surface movements (to a depth of
less than 2 m) of the order of 8 – 11 mm and a deep seated, re-adjustment of the wedge (as
deep as 7 m) of the order of 3 – 7 mm. These movements quickly stabilized and development of
the remainder of the 15-m diameter outlet portal itself was accomplished without major
difficulties.

4. The Tailrace Tunnel Portal

The tailrace tunnel commences at the powerhouse on the right bank of the Ravi River beneath
the Khairi Hill and about 0.5 km upstream from the confluence of the Sewa River (Figure 10).
The tunnel follows a southerly course beneath the Ravi River Valley where cover decreases to
approximately three tunnel diameters. On the left bank, it turns in a south-westerly direction and
passes beneath the Mahidhar Mountains which provide about 300 m of cover above the tunnel
crown. The tunnel then passes underneath the Simbleu terrace, an extensive floodplain at the
foot of the Mahidhar Mountains, and rises gradually to the outlet portal where cover over the
crown decreases to less than half a tunnel diameter.

Design Considerations
At the site of the tailrace outlet portal the bedrock beneath the Simbleu terrace consists of a
poor quality, weak to very weak shale. As the bedrock surface throughout this area consisted of
a broad, flat plateau, to achieve the desired rock cover (about two diameters) excavation of very
deep, narrow rock trench in addition to considerable overburden excavation would have been
needed. Given the thick, pervious deposit of saturated overburden overlying the rock surface,

10
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
and the volume of rock and overburden excavation, alternatives to this solution were
investigated.

Figure 10. Alignment of the Tailrace Tunnel

For this reason, the design requirements for a portal in the weak shales with approximately half
a tunnel diameter cover were explored. In developing the design the following factors were
considered.
a) The shales would provide a relatively uniform, albeit weak, tunnelling medium.
b) The portal would be confined laterally and, while some stress relief would have taken place
in a vertical direction due to unloading, the in situ horizontal stresses would still be adequate
to promote arching.
c) It was estimated that stand-up time in the relatively cohesive material would be sufficient to
permit the final support to be installed.
d) Provided that an appropriate excavation sequence was adopted, deformations could be
controlled
e) It was essential that the rock be maintained relatively dry as the shales exhibited a
substantial loss of shear strength and stand-up time when exposed to water.

11
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
Validating the Design During Construction
Excavation of the channel to grade confirmed the nature of the rock mass. Blasting was
generally not required with virtually all of the excavation accomplished by means of a Caterpillar
235 backhoe and a D8 bulldozer equipped
with a ripper. This excavation methodology
had the advantage of limiting disturbance
induced in the rock during excavation. The
shales were relatively competent when
initially exposed and dry with support of the
steep sided (1H:6V) open cut slopes
achieved using conventional 6-m long,
tensioned, resin anchored and cement
grouted rock bolts on 2.25-m2 grid.
Immediate application of 100-mm of mesh
reinforced shotcrete as each bench was
exposed was essential to prevent exposure
and progressive deterioration of the rock
mass. Figure 11. The Intake Portal

The portal design assumed that yielding would take place around the excavation and, since the
shales were homogeneous, failure would take place in the centre of the crown. To support the
crown, the rock was reinforced using fully grouted vertical 25-mm diameter dowels installed on a
2.25-m2 and 36-mm diameter inclined dowels on a 3.0 by 1.5 m2 grid from the portal bench to
crown level. A key design component to assist in controlling deformations and to further
distribute loads in the central section of the arch was a 600 mm reinforced concrete slab at the
surface over the first 12 m of the portal with the ends of the vertical and inclined grouted dowels
anchored into the slab in order to simulate increased cover.

In the portal face, tensioned, 23-mm diameter, 6-m long, resin anchored, cement grouted rock
bolts on a 2.25-m2 grid together with a 100-mm thick layer of mesh reinforced shotcrete was
installed. Details of the portal rock support scheme are shown in Figure 12.
The excavation sequence adopted for the portal, and tailrace tunnel generally, was a typical top
heading and benching operation. The top heading commenced with a central crown drift. The
excavation was initially supported by means of an initial 50-mm thick layer of shotcrete and
short, 2-m long, grouted, dowels followed by the installation of a section of the steel arch. The
crown drift was gradually widened and supported in this manner to full top heading width.
During this period, excavation was performed by mechanical means (in this case a pick and
shovel). While this had the advantage of limiting disturbance to the rock mass, progress was
slow averaging less than 0.5 m/day.

12
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
 Figure 12. Intake Outlet Portal Rock Support

Figure 13. The Tailrace Outlet Portal

Excavation rounds were limited to 1.0 m for the first 20 m with steel rib support consisting of
W200x59 steel sections at 500 mm spacing. The ribs were fully blocked and backfilled with

13
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
concrete and tied back to the surrounding rock mass with rock bolts to minimize unbalanced
lateral loading conditions on the ribs.
After stabilization of the first 5 m of the portal on a round by
round basis, the full top heading was excavated using drill
and blast methods. This resulted in an increase in
production to between 1.0 and 1.5 m/day.

Performance
Subsequent to construction some vertical and horizontal
cracks developed to the right of the centre of the portal
face and these spread laterally over a period of 1 month to
the open channel side cuts. Removal of the damaged
shotcrete in the portal face indicated de-bonding from the
rock over about 50% of the area. Inspection of the
exposed rock bolts showed that the faceplates were
deformed and the mesh beneath the faceplates had
yielded. Within the rock mass, a widespread network of
fine cracks was observed. Underground, the ribs showed
no signs of distress but several of the concrete bank bars
between the steel sets were cracked.

The observations suggested that three-dimensional strain

effects were experienced within the portal area over a
period of several months. It is probable that the strain
softening mode of behaviour of the rock (which was
expected at the design stage) was incompatible with that of a stiff layer of shotcrete, leading to
de-bonding and yielding of the layer. However, the rock reinforcement remained intact and the
pre-reinforcement was effective in controlling deformations when combined with the restraining
effect of the concrete slab and tunnel steel ribs. Overall, the portal performed satisfactorily
validating the measures used for the construction of this large diameter excavation in weak, low
modulus shale with very limited cover. Key to the success of this design was a careful
assessment of the anticipated behaviour of the rock mass to the stresses imposed by the
underground excavation and the implementation of suitable measures that accounted for this
behaviour and controlled deformation.

5. Conclusions

The Chamera Project required geotechnical solutions to a variety of challenging and unique
problems presented by the variable Himalayan geology. During the project some notable
successes were achieved including the establishment of the large diameter tailrace outlet portal
in very weak shale with less than half a diameter cover, the excavation of the 18m diameter
Diversion tunnel portal using controlled tunnelling and underground rock excavation techniques
that were new to Northern India as well as a field designed monitoring system that identified a
major developing problem. At the diversion tunnel outlet portal, the identification and cost
effective treatment of major potential rock instability saved the project time and money.

14
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
 In addition to the problems avoided through engineering designs and on site modifications to
deal wit unfolding site conditions, there were lessons learned. In each case where unexpected
problems were encountered the root cause was a lack of attention to simple, but necessary,
components of the methods and techniques needed for effective rock support and tunnelling.
The real lesson of the Chamera experience is that very complex geotechnical problems can be
relievable solved through an understanding of the behaviour of the rock mass and careful
attention to the methods needed to control deformations and deal with the peculiarities of the
geology encountered. This requires initial investigations, careful and considered designs,
appropriately selected excavation techniques and onsite monitoring of the actual conditions that
will invariably be somewhat different than anticipated. Following this approach, geological
surprises, and the attendant cost and schedule increases, can be effectively mitigated. Where
shortcuts are attempted, the rock mass will invariably react often resulting in significant delays
and cost increases.

Authors

C. Richard Donnelly is Hatch Energy’s Director for renewable power for Atlantic and Central
Canada. He has experience in all aspects of the design and construction of dams, underground
structures and rock/overburden excavations. He also has extensive experience in the wind
power sector working on numerous design and environmental assessments. Richard is a
leader in the area of dam safety having assisted the government of Canada and the province of
Ontario in the development if Dam Safety standards and internationally with several major
utilities to develop dam safety standards.

V.K. Sharma is an independent hydropower consultant working in India. He has extensive

experience in hydropower in India and was the project manager for the Chamera Hydroelectric
Development

15
Waterpower XVI Copyright PennWell Corporation, 2009 www.waterpowerconference.com
View publication stats