Nathpa - Jhakri Hydroelectric Project, Himachal Pradesh, India

View of Nathpa dam reservoir in Satluj valley INTRODUCTION: The 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric is one of the largest run-offthe-river schemes in the world. It is designed to generate 1500 MW of power. The project is located at a distance of 150km from Shimla and it is approachable by NH-22 HindustanTibet road. The project is over a distance of 50 km along the highway between Nathpa village in Kinnaur district (dam site) and Jhakri in Shimla district (Power house site) of Himachal Pradesh. Geological Survey of India has been associated with the Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project since 1967 when reconnaissance for the project was carried out. Twenty two officers and thirteen supervisory officers remained associated with the geotechnical studies during different stages of the project till its commissioning in 2004. Construction of the project commenced in March 1993 and was commissioned on 18th May 2004. The results of the investigations carried out during this period have been compiled and brought out as GSI publication entitled Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project A Geotechnical Study Bulletin: Series B, No. 60 (2007).

Geological Survey of India

General layout of Nathpa Jhakri H.E. Project.

Salient features: The project is unique in the sense that it involved the construction of some largest structures of its kind in the world. Details of salient features of the project are given below. Dam Desilting Chambers Head Race Tunnel Surge Shaft Pressure Shafts Power House Transformer Hall Tail Race Tunnel Turbines Design discharge Design head 62.5 m high concrete gravity 4 Nos., egg-shaped, each 525 m x 27.5 m x 16.31 m to remove particles down to 0.2 mm (world's one of the largest underground complex for power generation). 10.15 m dia, 27.395 km long, circular (one of the worlds longest power tunnel) 21.6m dia, 301m deep (one of the worlds deepest of its kind) 3 steel lined, each 4.9 m dia, 571m to 622m long Underground, 222 m x 20 m x 49 m Underground, 196 m x 18 m x 27.5 m 10.15 m dia, 982 m long, circular 6 Nos. Francis, each of 250MW capacity 405 cumecs 428 m

Geology: The area exposes mainly unfossiliferous metamorphic rocks with basic and acidic intrusions belonging to Jeori Wangtu Granitoid. The rocks exposed in the project area are mainly of two types gneiss and schist with amphibolite, granite and pegmatite. In the
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Geological Survey of India

project area, where dam complex, desilting chambers and HRT up to about Ch. 15km is located, different types of gneisses with some schist and amphibolite bands have been met. Down stream of HRT Ch.15 km to the powerhouse complex, largely quartz mica-schist with its variants occurs. Explorations for various engineering structures of the project was carried out by detailed surface and subsurface explorations involving geological mapping on scales varying from 1:10,000 to 1:500, 3-dimensional logging of 16 exploratory drifts (cumulative length 3308m) and drill core logging of 77 holes aggregating 7000m length. As the project is located in the one of the most active seismic region of the world, i.e. the Himalaya, detail seismotectonic evaluation of the project and its surrounding area was carried out and after detailed studies PGA (peak ground acceleration) of 0.23g has been adopted in the design. The construction activity started on 13th April 1989 however full scale construction work started in 1993. The project was fully commissioned in 2004. DAM AND INTAKE: At the dam and intake site, gneiss and augen gneiss, trending nearly parallel to the E-W flowing river, with thin amphibolite and schist bands occur. These rocks are intruded by pegmatite. The dam is founded on jointed gneiss/ augen gneiss with schist and amphibolite bands intruded by pegmatite. Weak schist bands and thin shear seams have been treated by usual dental treatment whereas reinforcement has been provided over the sheared and fractured pegmatite. Dam stripping and 8.5m wide dam top approach road on left bank dip slope was likely to create major rock slope instability along foliation. In order to stabilize the rock slope, 166 cable anchors of 200T capacity each were installed prior to the stripping of the left abutment. The lengths of anchors vary from 38 to 42 m including a grouted fixed length of 10 m. The anchors have been installed at an angle of 15o from the horizontal. These are generally spaced at 3 m c/c in a staggered arrangement. Consolidation as well as curtain grouting in the dam base area has been done down to 10m and 45m depth respectively. On the basis of detailed discontinuity analysis by GSI, the designers adopted the bearing of grout holes as N 125o (S55oE) and the angle as 70o from the horizontal. In the plunge pool area, model studies by central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune indicated the scour level to be around El.1434 m (riverbed El 1450m) for semi-erodable bed with uniform operation of sluice gates and deepest scour level was calculated to be El 1414 m. However, neither method considered geological conditions of the site where competent bedrock (gneiss) occurs. GSI suggested an arbitrary scour depth of about 5m, i.e. down to El 1425m, in such competent rock and the same has been adopted for the design of rock slope protection measures between 90m-150m downstream of dam axis. On this basis, 200T capacity cable anchors have been installed above El 1455m on both banks. The Intake structure extends from about 40 m to about 110 m upstream of the dam axis. For accommodating four intake tunnels about 26 m wide horizontal bench was excavated in rock in front The intake structure faced rock slope stability problem due to day lighting of foliation joints (45o-55o:N10oE to N10oW) in the cut slope design. In order to stabilise the potentially unstable rock mass, 289 cable anchors of 200 ton capacity each have been provided after rigorous analysis and adopting c and as 1 ton /m2 and 41.9o and Factor of Safety as 1.1.

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Geological Survey of India

Geological cross section along dam axis.

A view of exposed dam foundation

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Geological Survey of India

Portals of four intake tunnels with cable anchors for slope stabilisation.

DESILTING CHAMBERS: An underground desilting arrangement, one of the largest underground complex for hydro-power has been constructed in the left flank of river Satluj to remove silt particles down to 0.2 mm size. Four egg shaped desilting chambers of 525m x 27.5m x 16.31m dimensions, aligned N32oES32oW in parallel arrangement at 45.60 m c/c, are housed within augen gneiss under a rock cover of 150m to 500m. Design and construction of huge underground chambers was a stupendous task and a challenge to the engineers and geologists alike. The chambers posed several problems during investigation, design, and construction. The detail geotechnical investigations were carried out by exploratory drifts aggregating a total length of about 1190 m. and rock mass classification was provided as basic geological input for wedge analysis, numerical modelling and design of gigantic chambers. Parametric values adopted in the numerical model are given below. Geological Strength Index UCS (c) Material constant (mi) Modulus of deformation Cohesion (c) Internal friction angle Vertical stress Max. horizontal stress Min. horizontal stress 63 average 52.89 Mpa 12.4 13.33 Gpa 2.03 Mpa (rock mass) 46o 8.21 12.97 Mpa 8.89 12.27 Mpa 6.11 8.94 MPa

General support provided comprises systematic rock bolts of 6 to 7.5m length and 100150mm thick steel fibre reinforced shotcrete (SFRS). High overbreaks, cracking and
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detachment of SFRS and rock failures constituted major problems during construction. Shotcrete and rock failures occurred in all chambers except Chamber-1. These rock falls involved maximum failure of 100 m3 to 150 m3 of rock mass.

Underground desilting chamber with mobile gantry at middle beam level. In view of large rock failures detailed wedge analysis of all chamber walls using the observed discontinuity data while numerical studies were conducted by National Institute of Rock Mechanics (NIRM), Kolar, India. In general, the wedges were of 3-5m deep with few deep or large ones. In view of these instabilities, strengthening of pillars by three rows of cable anchors with RCC beams uniformally for all chamber walls was provided. The cable anchors (20m long) of 60T have been installed along all chamber walls at 7.5m c/c at three levels (near spring, middle level, and just above hoppers) through RCC beams. On the beams, rails have been laid for installation of mobile overhead gantries for repairs in future, if any. After the construction of top and middle level beams, development of fresh cracks and widening of existing cracks including some falls of SFRS was noticed. Complete cast concrete lining of chambers besides installation of additional cable anchors was provided as additional support to stabilize them. Jalote et al. (2002) suggested Dywidag rock bolts of 30T working load and replacement of damaged SFRS. NGI (2003) recommended additional rock bolts and replacement of cracked and deformed SFRS. Finally, only local repairs were carried out by scaling the cracked and debonded SFRS wherever possible and installation of additional bolts of 6m to 12m length. HEAD RACE TUNNEL: The 27,394.5m long head race tunnel (HRT), one of the longest power tunnel in the world, to carry a design discharge of 405 cumecs has been constructed. A number of HRT alignments were studied from the geological and engineering point of view before the final selection. The initial proposal of HRT was aligned to keep the rock cover less than 1000m. The HRT length was 28.7 km with a siphon and an aquaduct to negotiate a deep cross drainage, Manglad khad. Most of the alternatives were variations of this proposal to avoid the siphon. The proposal that has been adopted for construction avoided

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Geological Survey of India

the siphon by increasing the tunnel gradient from about 16 km onwards and passing it just below the bedrock level in the khad. The Geological Survey of India conducted the geological investigations by carrying out detailed geological mapping on 1:10,000 scale, various geophysical surveys, about 2575m of drill core logging of 24 drill holes, 3-dimensional geological logging of 7 exploratory drifts aggregating 735m length, classification of the rock mass expected along the tunnel, etc. These investigations led to the assessment of geological conditions along the tunnel route that are briefly given below.

Geological map of the project area with general layout and explorations. The HRT was expected to pass through folded metamorphic rocks comprising gneiss, quartz-mica schist, amphibolite and some granite and pegmatite. Mainly gneiss and augen gneiss was expected in the initial tunnel length of about 15 km followed largely by quartzmica schist with some biotite schist, chlorite schist and sericite schist in the remaining downstream portion. Amphibolite and pegmatite occurs both in gneiss and schist. On the basis of overall assessment of rock mass quality along the entire length of HRT, the tunnel was predicted to encounter Very Good excavation conditions in 12.6%, Good in 26.3%, Fair in 42.3%, Poor in 17.5%, Very Poor in 1.1%, and Squeezing in 1.3% with a deviation of 20% from the predicted tunnel length in each category of rock class. Three geothermal zones along the HRT were predicted on the basis of surface manifestations of hot springs and the study of geothermal gradient in a number of drill holes. Temperatures of more than 40oC were expected between Wadhal and Manglad adits. High rock pressures were anticipated where foliation ran nearly parallel to the tunnel and in the axial regions of synclinal folds. The tunnel section between Nigulsari and Wadhal adits where the rock cover exceeds 1400 m in about 400m length, higher rock pressures were anticipated to cause popping, slabbing, etc. A major shear zone, Daj Shear, was expected to be encountered towards the end of HRT where squeezing and flowing conditions were expected. The observed percentages of rock categories II, III, IV were is more or less within the deviation limit of 20% of predicted lengths, which together constitute about 91 % of the total tunnel length. Major variations were in rock categories I, V, and VI, which together constitute about 9% of the tunnel length Excavation of the HRT has been carried out through 7 adits, viz. Nathpa, Sholding, Nigulsari, Wadhal, Manglad, Ratanpur and Face-6 by heading and benching using drill and

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Geological Survey of India

blast method. The maximum and minimum tunnel length excavated between two adits is 6475m (Wadhal-Manglad) and 2311m (Ratanpur-Face-6) respectively and the maximum tunneling from one end was 3821m on the downstream of Wadhal adit. The rock support varied with the category of rock mass encountered. However, the general support system comprises 25 mm dia 4-4.5 m long rock bolts (at places, 6m long) and shotcrete with or without wire mesh. In poor reaches, steel sets have been used. Self-driving rock bolts have been used in soft ground. The entire tunnel is concrete (40-60cm thick) or steel lined. Various problems were faced during the HRT excavation and major ones are described here. Major shear zones: Though number of thick shear zones intersected the tunnel, most have been tackled by normal tunnelling techniques except Nathpa and Daj shears. Nathpa Shear of over 40m width intersected the Nathpa Adit and has been negotiated by multiple drift method. Daj shear, where sheared rock zone was anticipated to be 120m wide between Ch. 26,000m and 26,450m, branched into several smaller shears. It was intersected at Ch.26139 m (Ratanpur d/s heading) where flowing conditions were encountered with heavy ground water flow and was associated with a 30-40 m thick very soft rock zone. Daj Shear was tackled by using DRESS Methodology (drainage, reinforcement, excavation, and support solution), a special method employed in tunnelling through sheared and flowing media. Low rock cover zones: In the area of cross drainages, Manglad and Daj khads, where minimum rock cover was 8m and 80m respectively internal rock pressures were expected to exceed the in-situ rock stresses and was estimated to vary from 2.01-2.20 MPa under static conditions and 2.77-3.08 MPa under dynamic conditions. It was apprehended that such high pressures might cause dilation of large rock mass on account of hydraulic jacking due to leakage of high-pressure tunnel water into the rock joints during operation of the pooject. Therefore, these reaches of the tunnel with inadequate rock cover were preferred to be steel lined over the reinforced concrete lining. The length of steel liner in Manglad and Daj area were 710m and 375m respectively. Converging ground: The Ratanpur u/s heading of HRT had to negotiate Highly converging ground conditions due to high ground stresses were observed between Ch. 24438 m and 24745 m (rock cover of 600-700m) where quartz-mica schist striking sub-parallel to tunnel were encountered which were reflected in the form of cracks in shotcrete, bending and buckling of ribs and reduction of tunnel section. Tunnel closures were of the order of 300mm with a maximum of 500mm. This problem was tackled by over excavating the tunnel by 300mm and supporting by steel ribs of suitable size. High temperature with hot water: Two geothermal zones, Nathpa-Sholding (2.5 km long) and in Wadhal-Manglad (3.37 km long) sections, have been encountered along the tunnel route. In the NathpaSholding section (Ch. 1600-4100m), hot water (34.5oC-50.7oC) was encountered locally at some places. The temperatures were generally below 40oC, except at few locations. Hence, this section did not pose any serious tunnelling problems during construction. The Wadhal - Manglad geothermal zone (Ch. 17067 m and 20440 m) began with a major hot water blowout (54oC; 90-100 l/s) that flooded the tunnel to about 300 m from the heading as the tunnel gradient did not permit natural drainage. High temperature and humidity made it almost impossible for the tunneling crew to work.. Augmenting the ventilation system, efficient pumping out of hot water, and placing 15-20 m3 of ice per day at the tunnel heading to bring down the ambient temperature within bearable limits tackled the situation.

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Geological Survey of India

SURGE SHAFT AND PPRESSURE SHAFTS Surge shaft: The 301 deep and 21.6m diameter surge shaft has passed through varied geological materials, i.e. 22m thick overburden, 11.5m weathered quartz-mica schist and 13m thick sheared rock zone in the top portion followed down by fresh and hard quartz-mica schist with bands and lenses of biotite schist. The surge shaft has been geologically investigated by geological mapping and three drill holes totaling 413m drilling whereas the penstock slope has been explored by 293m of drifting (three drifts).

Excavation of surge shaft in progress. Circular heavy steel sets (300 x 140 mm) at 1.25 m c/c embedded in RCC lining of 600 mm thickness were installed as supports from top of surge shaft (El 1579.6m) extending down to 3.5m into the sound rock. Shear keys were also provided for the 2nd stage concrete lining. The support system for sound rock comprised 5.5-6 m long grouted anchor bars and 6.5-7.5 m long bolts at 1.0 m to 1.75 m c/c with 50-100 mm thick shotcrete with wire mesh where needed. A cavity, 2-3m outside the shaft periphery from 9-10m depth to the surface, developed during construction due to erosion by groundwater which was treated by filling it with lean concrete. Drainage holes were suggested to avoid recurrence. In order to avoid settlement and formation of cavity, unsupported stretchs were reduced from 2.5m to 1.25m, by constructing ring beam at the bottom at 3.75m interval, doing excavation in 4-8 segments (two opposite segments at a time), installation of 32, 3 m long anchor bars at 2 m c/c, and providing drainage holes. These measures were continued down to 55 m depth (El. 1524 m) without further failure and settlement. Three drainage galleries encircling the surge shaft have been provided at three different levels to drain the area around the shaft to ease the hydrostatic pressure around the surge shaft and improve the stability of overburden covered slope. Three penstocks of 4.9m diameter have been constructed in the quartz-mica schist without any significant problem.

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Geological Survey of India

POWER HOUSE COMPLEX: The power house complex consists of a machine hall transformer hall, long tail race tunnel, and an outfall with an intake for downstream Rampur project. Other structures include access tunnels, adits, surge gallery, bus ducts, draft tubes, etc.

3-D view of the layout of surge shaft and power house complex. Machine Hall cavern: Aligned N-S, it lies within quartz-mica schist (striking across alignment) under a rock cover of about 300m. The excavation was taken up with a main central drift of 7m diameter along long axis at crown level and widened into full cavern span of 20m. Bench lowering was done in 9 stages to reach the bottom at El 982.5m. At various levels there are 23 tunnels opening up into the cavern. The rock mass for the major portion was found to be Fair with short reaches of Poor and Very Poor as per Q-value data of central drift.The support design was finalized on the basis of data gathered from the main central drift and detailed wedge analysis by Geological Survey of India and numerical modelling by NIRM. Different parametric values adopted in the model are as follows. Modulus of elasticity E Poissons ratio Cohesion (c) Friction angle Uniaxial compressive strength Vertical principal stress Max. horizontal stress Min. horizontal stress 10 GPa 0.2 3 MPa (1-3MPa) 45o 35 MPa (dry), 25 Mpa (saturated ) 7.64 Mpa 10.7 Mpa 5.12 Mpa

Based on these studies, the final support system comprised alternate rows of 6m and 8m long rock bolts at 1.5m c/c and 100mm shotcrete with weld mesh for the roof. Also, 11 m long bolts were installed between RDs 60-90 m and RDs 165-180 m to take care of predicted deep wedges. In the walls it comprises alternate rows of 7.5m and 9m, including 9m and 11m long bolts in the middle third portion, staggered at 3m x 1.5m spacing with 100mm thick shotcrete.
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Geological Survey of India

Machine hall (power house) cavern after completion of excavation.

Machine hall (power house) after completion of project.

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Transformer Hall: It is parallel to the machine hall at 63m horizontal distance with its invert at El. 1042m. This cavern is located within the moderate northerly dipping quartz mica schist and biotite schist under a rock cover of about 200m. Initially it was designed to be supported by rock bolts and shotcrete. Later, on encountering a predicted thick sheared rock zone between RD 20m and 40m during construction of central drift along the cavern, steel ribs at 0.5m c/c were incorporated in the design for 40m length of the cavern roof. However, during construction, it was decided to support the entire cavern roof by steel ribs after a major rock mass failure occurred in the central drift at around RD 120m due to the presence of soft mica schist (sheared at failure location), which continued further south in the western half of the cavern. The cavern crown is supported by ISBM steel ribs of 320mm x 140mm at 50cm c/c. Shear zone in the initial 40m reach, has been stitched by long directional rock bolts in addition to replacing the sheared material with reinforced concrete up to 1.5m into both walls. In general, 6m and 7.5m or 8m and 9.5m long bolts in alternate rows are provided on the walls with 100mm shotcrete with weld mesh. Tail race tunnel: The 10.15m dia and 982m long tail race tunnel (TRT) has been driven through the rock mass similar to machine hall, i.e. quartz-mica schist. Though some failure did occur during construction, the TRT has been constructed without any major geological problem. Tailrace outfall: This structure is 90 m long with a 26.5 m wide crest weir and an open channel. A power intake structure had been incorporated in the design and constructed to divert the tail water to a future hydel scheme known as Rampur Hydroelectric Project.

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