[metaslider id=10235]Reinforced Earth India Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Soletanche Freyssinet Group, adopted its Reinforced Earth technology to construct high retaining walls along a flyover or grade separator as part of the Ghat-Ki-Guni tunnel project in Jaipur. Rajasthan.

Ghat-Ki-Guni with heritage rich buildings on both sides is the only eastern entry and exit points in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It was a highly accident-prone area. Traffic pollution was damaging the heritage within a 2 km range of the vicinity. This was a concern both to Government of India and Government of Rajasthan. The expansion of Jaipur city towards NH-1 was also affected. To find this solution, a tunnel was proposed. Along this tunnel a flyover or grade separator had to be built so as to match the FRL of the tunnel. Reinforced Earth technology was adopted for construction of retaining walls, especially for the walls having higher heights.

Jaipur Development Authority awarded the work to Rohan-Rajdeep Tollways Ltd through the competitive bidding system of the state. After being appointed as the contractor for the work, Rohan-Rajdeep contacted RECo India for a suitable solution for the retaining structures. RECo India presented its concept design along with the technical capabilities. The concept was convincing to the client and Rohan-Rajdeep assigned RECo India as its system provider for Reinforced Earth structures.

Challenge
The location of this project is in desert area and also on the valley of a hillock. Any sort of rainfall would result in waterlogging. Challenge was to design the Reinforced EarthR wall, which can sustain the temporary flood condition during construction. Also, at the same time we required to work out a methodology and planning to construct the wall during the monsoon period. Reinforced EarthR wall also had to sustain toe erosion during upcoming flood.

Solution
In a detailed design process, RECo India used in-house technical knowhow to design the Reinforced EarthR wall using GeoMegaR System using GeoStrap5 as soil reinforcement. Traffic surcharge load for the design was considered as per IRC 6. Since the height of the structure was quite significant (13m), special attention was given to design the Reinforced Earth wall for such a tall structure. Well graded fill material having angle of internal friction (U) 32o and coefficient of uniformity (Cu) 5 was used as reinforced and retained fill material, which is available in this area.

The other challenge was to execute the Reinforced EarthR structure during summer. The temperature in this area is as high as 50o C during summer season. We had to alter the working hours accordingly to meet the project schedule.

Advantages
The construction of the Reinforced EarthR wall greatly reduces the overall cost of the project as it served as a replacement of proposed conventional retaining structure. This also helped in saving overall project duration and easing the construction process even during monsoon period. This was only possible due to use of precast elements for construction. Reinforced EarthR technology was found to be best solution for working in waterlogged areas.

This technology is also environment friendly because it requires less steel and cement, which reduces carbon dioxide emission substantially.

Outcome
* Time and budget expectations of the client were met successfully.
* Reinforced EarthR wall proved to be economical and a time saving alternative as compared to conventional cast-in-situ walls.
* Manpower requirement was not very high, which is a strong motivation for similar projects in the future.
* RECo India successfully proved that Reinforced EarthR walls are better alternative for areas which are prone to flooding.

Source: Reinforced Earth India Pvt. Ltd
SALIENT FEATURES

RE wall type
GeoMega with TerraTee panels
Owner
Jaipur Development Authority
Designer
Reinforced Earth India Pvt. Ltd
Contractor
Rohan-Rajdeep Tollways Ltd
Construction
2011-12
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
Structure
Reinforced Earth walls
System
TerraTee
Panel type
RCC (1.6m x 2.0m x 0.1m)
Area
4,168 m
Maximum height
13m
Design live load
22kPa
Design life
100 years
Soil reinforcement
GeoStrap5 with GeoMega connector

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