HIPL X L&T: A Journey of Pace & Modernity

Built by the top civil construction companies in India, modern superstructures depend on sophisticated and calculated geotechnical solutions such as diaphragm walls and anchoring, providing them with a dependable and long-lasting foundation.

After all, the quality truly pays off! This is a shared belief between Heritage Infraspace (India) Pvt. Ltd. (HIPL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Construction, two leading names among the construction companies in India.

This has paved the way for a journey of modernity and paced engineering. Discover all details about it below.

The Client: L&T Construction, making India futureproof

With operations in over 50 countries, L&T Construction has held a customer-focused and sustainability-conscious approach towards civil engineering for over eight decades.

With expertise in infraspace engineering, L&T Construction provides excellence with its forward and well-researched infrastructure solutions. As a leading construction company in India, they firmly believe in sustainable and top-quality results to make the construction of our civilization forever marvellous.

Mumbai Coastal Road Project, the Central Secretariat Integrated Buildings, Ahmedabad Metro, the Statue of Unity, and the Baha’i Temple are a few gems of the L&T Construction.

The Projects:

With L&T Construction, HIPL took charge of diaphragm wall construction for deep basements and underground metro railway station projects and provided piling and anchoring solutions for the following projects:

Metro Projects:

Ahmedabad Metro

Connecting the four corners of Ahmedabad, this metro corridor runs for over 40.03 km in length, out of which approximately 6.5 km lies under the surface. It took HIPL around 4-5 months for its diaphragm wall construction.

Kochi Metro

With over 300 piles stretching from Aluva to Kalamaserry, the construction work for the Kochi metro project began in 2019. And within a tenure of 6 months, HIPL successfully completed the piling process. A 1000/1200 MM diameter pile was placed in the soil for the project.

DMRC Chattarpur station and Chattarpur Mandir Metro

Under the latest venture with L&T Construction, the DMRC Chattarpur station and Chattarpur Mandir metro are under construction in Delhi.

Deep basement projects:

The Central Vista

Being one of the best diaphragm wall construction companies in India, HIPL was awarded the Central Vista project under L&T Limited.

Where a 600 to 800 mm concrete diaphragm wall that stretched over 1500 running metres, was constructed within a time frame of 6 months. The solutions provided also involve soil anchoring at a differentiation of 2.5 metres.

The Challenges:

The key challenges encountered by the HIPL team while working on these projects were diverse and constantly changing. There is a handful of them listed under the following heads:

Obstacles at the metro construction site:

The biggest concern for any metro infrastructure company in India is that these metro lines are to be built amidst bustling areas of a city. This further impacts smart construction solutions with:

Disturbing traffic

Areas with a high influx of traffic and frequent vehicular commotion are not the best-suited construction site for diaphragm walls, particularly for metros. With regular disturbances from traffic, the transport of raw materials and machinery can be affected.

Likewise securing the entire stretch of the excavation site and diverting the traffic was important.

Underground existing structures

The chances of encountering existing underground structures rise exponentially in the interior parts of a city. Such was the case for the above-mentioned metro projects with L&T.

This range from existing diaphragm walls to drainage pipes. Such a situation calls for smart construction solutions. In most cases, the excavated structure could either be removed or strategically broken down as and when required. While others call for engineering expertise to develop an adjourning diaphragm wall along with the existing structure.

Water leakage threats

Drainage might seem trivial but is among the top challenges faced by engineers of every infrastructure company in India. Since any kind of water leakage can harm the diaphragm wall and the metro structure in the long term, ensuring that the construction is fully waterproof was essential.

Overhead cables

For places like the national capital Delhi, overhead cables turn out to be a major challenge for HIPL. Along with being in the way of the construction and causing delays, they pose the additional threat of accidents.

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Everything Starts With the Soil in Diaphragm Wall Construction

Understanding soil is a crucial part of building a diaphragm wall for deep basements. Civil engineers from some of the best construction companies in India will agree that for a project to proceed, it is vital to ensure that the soil on the construction site can take the load, withstand the pressure with time and not degrade the construction material used in the structure.

As one of the top civil construction companies in India, we have set standards in constructing diaphragm walls in almost all types of soil across the country and worldwide. Read on to know what our civil engineers look for in the ground they work with and the actions they take to ensure a strong foundation is laid for the diaphragm walls to last for the longest time.

Types of soil

A large country like India has different types of soil in different regions as per its climatic conditions and its exposure to various environmental elements like heat, snow, salinity, etc. Being among the leading construction companies in India and having worked all over the country, our engineers have come to define the types of soil below and how they affect deep basement construction:

– Sandy: In the north-western belt of the country, in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana, the top soil strata have more sand in them and are drier because of the excessive exposure to heat. While excavating through them is easier, what’s challenging is ensuring the soil doesn’t collapse.

– Marshy: The coastal belt of India that stretches down south from Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, has a much marshier soil thanks to the high water table in the ground, proximity to the sea and the humid climate the regions have. The construction of the diaphragm wall in such soil conditions also involves shoring activities.

– Sand with Silt: The central parts of the country, like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and some parts of Gujarat have sandy soil, mixed with silt deposits. These occur from the various rivers flowing through these regions. Ahmedabad is one such city.

– Rocky/Gravel: The central and far northern regions of the country with mountain peaks have rocky strata with lots of gravel in their soil. Working in such conditions is a challenge, as engineers have to involve trench cutters to penetrate the layers to excavate further.

Challenges faced by the best construction companies in India

It is never a walk in the park when it comes to constructing a diaphragm wall for deep basements in a country like India, where the soil type changes with every state, cities are densely populated and the soil quality resultantly going down.

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Building Diaphragm Walls for Top-Down Construction & Bottom-Up Construction

Top-down and bottom-up planning methods are two of the most popular approaches used in the construction industry. And building diaphragm walls is one of the most crucial stages of construction in building a deep basement structure using either top-down or bottom-up method.

Heritage Infraspace (India) Pvt Ltd (HIPL) is ranked as one of the best construction companies in India for its deep basement and underground construction services like diaphragm wall construction services in India for both top-down and bottom-up construction methods. Here, we brief you about how construction of the diaphragm wall in dams, metro stations, basement parking, etc. works, on both top-down and bottom-up construction.

What is top down and bottom up construction?

Tall buildings with deep basements and underground constructions like parking lots, underpasses, and subway stations are the two principal types of urban structures for which the top-down technique is applied. The technique has been applied to deep excavation projects where soil movements needed to be kept to a minimum but tieback or anchor installation was not an option. In this way, it is often possible to shorten the entire building period.

Buildings with underground basements are typically created using the bottom-up approach, where substructure and superstructure floors are built one after the other, starting at the lowest level of the basement and working their way up.

Although this traditional approach, often known as the bottom-up approach, is straightforward in both design and construction, it is not practical for large-scale projects with constrained construction time or site conditions.

Diaphragm construction in both bottom up and top down construction

Diaphragm walls help form the perimeter walls of the excavation site and push the surrounding soil back, preventing the excavation site from collapsing. A hydro fraise machine is typically used for diaphragm walls. A special blade attached to the boom arm of this machine allows a bentonite slurry to be pumped down to the cutters, preventing the excavated area for the wall from collapsing.

The cutter descends to the desired level, and the slurry mixture aids in the preservation of the shaft. Rebar cages are then lowered into the shaft to provide reinforcement for the being built wall.

While one wall is being finished by pouring concrete and pumping out the bentonite slurry, the process on the opposite side begins. Depending on the soil quality, it is sometimes possible to build diaphragm walls on both sides at the same time. HIPL has, in the past, achieved this feat, making it one of the trusted construction companies in India. Rebar is lowered into the completed shaft for wall reinforcement once more. Once all of the walls are completed, the excavation site will have a rigid vertical structure to keep the surrounding soil from moving and collapsing into the excavation area.

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