A-PDF Split DEMO : Purchase from www.A-PDF.

com to remove the watermark

W A T E R

A N D

E N E R G Y

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

ROCK MASS CHARACTERISTICS

OF UNDERGROUND CAVERNS
H.C. KHANDURI
Sr. Geologist

HARISH BAHUGUNA
Geologist

P.C. NAWANI
Director

Geological Survey of India, Dehradun

Abstract
Construction of underground powerhouse at Tehri was inevitable
because of non-availability of the space on the surface and the huge
excavation (required to accommodate the powerhouse) of the steep
back slopes. Excavation of the two huge cavities of the powerhouse
complex i.e., machine hall and transformer hall was tackled carefully.
Geotechnical assessment made earlier revealed that both these
cavities are located in the most competent rock mass at Tehri dam
site i.e. phyllitic quartzite massive (PQM) and phyllitic quartzite thinly
bedded (PQT) GradeI. Considering the geotechnical parameters
including the in-situ stress measurements, the alignment of these
cavities was preferred in N0209 direction. As the alignment was
also against the dip direction, the excavation in these cavities was
free from any major failure. These gigantic caverns were stabilized
by means of rock bolting and shotcreting barring a patch in the
crown of machine hall where a 5m band of deformed rock mass,
associated with a major longitudinal shear, was encountered. The rock
cover between the two cavities was insufficient (i.e. less than 2D),
because of which problem of convergence was recorded during the
excavation of the bus ducts in the common wall. Multiple bore hole
extensometers (MPBAX) and load cells were installed to monitor the
rate and extent of convergence, and a number of deep cable anchors
(blind and through) were installed to stabilize the area.

1. Introduction
Tehri project is to be developed
in two stages of 1000 MW each.
The stage I, known as HPP, has
been completed and it consists
of an underground Powerhouse
of 1000 MW (4 x 250 MW). The
three main cavities in stage I viz.,
machine hall, transformer hall, and
Special Issue on Tehri Dam Project

CK

expansion chambers of the complex

are located in the available most
competent rocks (PQM). These
cavities run parallel to each other
and are aligned normal to the
strike of rocks. Other cavities in
the complex are draft tubes, bus
ducts, ventilation tunnels, cable
tunnel, drainage galleries, adits
and tail race tunnels etc., beside
water conductor system comprising
84

CK

head race tunnels, pressure

shafts, butterfly valve chamber,
penstock assembly chamber and
penstocks.
The intakes for drawing the water
from the reservoir into the headrace
tunnels (HRTs) have invert at EL
720m. Out of the four HRTs, the
two of 8.5m dia are meant for
serving the machines of HPP
while the other two will carry the
water into four machines of PSP
(Stage-II). The transformer hall
cavity is common for both stages
HPP and PSP. Two TRTs of 9.0m
dia each will take the water back
to the river.
The surface powerhouse was
not viable because of the huge
excavation that was required to
create space on the existing steep
(450-550) rocky slopes in order
to accommodate the proposed
powerhouse complex (Stage I &
II). Such excavation would have
endangered the stability of the
steep slopes. The choice of an
underground powerhouse thus
became imperative.

2. Geology at the Site

2.1 At the Tehri dam site the
folded metasedimentary rocks
of Chandpur phyllites (Pt 3
Proterozoic-III) having variable
proportions of argillaceous and
arenaceous constituents (Nawani,
1994) are exposed. Considering
the rhythmicity of intercalated band
of arenaceous and argillaceous
materials and varied degree of
tectonisation effects in them, the
phyllites at the dam site have
been classified into mainly four
lithological variants.
Vol. 64, No. 1, Jan. - Mar., 2007