Well Foundations
for Bridges are Obsolete!!!
S.A.Reddi, Fellow Indian National Academy of Engineering
Introduction
Bridge foundations are the most
complicated and difficult to
construct. Unexpected difficulties
cause delays, extra costs and
revision of designs due to altered
situations. Loss of human lives was
normal rather than exception. In the
Sixties, more than 50 lives were
lost due to the accident during
pneumatic sinking operations for
well foundations of Mahanadi bridge
in Orissa. For Kali Bridge at Karwar
in Karnataka, pneumatic sinking
was required for inspection of the
founding surface of the wells. Apart
from delays and extra costs, large
number of workers suffered caisson
disease. Due to difficulties in well
sinking, two contractors left the job
and the third took more than 5
years to complete the well
foundations. Alternative construction
techniques and equipments have
emerged. With the introduction of
advanced piling equipment, large
diameter piles up to 3.5 m dia are
easily realized at a fast rate, with a
significant reduction in cost and
material quantities. Bridges
elsewhere are now constructed with
pile foundations.
148
Pre-cast RC bored piles of
2.5m diameter was first successfully
realized in India for the old Thana
Creek Bridge constructed in 1960s.
For the 13 Km long Saudi–Baharain
Causeway large diameter pre-cast
pre-stressed bored piles were
adopted. By 2005, piles of 2-3 m
dia, upto 120m deep are extensively
used in the rest of the world. These
new techniques eliminate
complicated weather-dependent
and risky operations in water. They
have reduced the delays
considerably and minimized the
technical and financial risks. The
development of modern techniques
has considerably reduced quantities
of materials used for foundations
as well as energy consumption and
environmental impacts.
Well Foundation
Problems at
Brahmaputra Bridge
at Tezpur
The bridge was more than 3 km
long with 26 spans of 120 m and 2
shore spans of 70 m each, founded
on 12m dia Wells. Sinking well No.2
to full depth was not possible due
to bouldery strata Despite best
efforts, the well only went down by
35.25 m after three seasons and at
extra cost! The well was plugged at
RL 32.075 m and 5 nos 1.5 m dia
RCC bored piles (25-35m) were
provided to anchor the well, one in
the middle through the dredge hole
and 4 outside at the four corners.
Further a launching apron of crated
boulder 3 m thick was laid making
a circle of 60 m dia around the
well, at RL 61.00. These extra works
caused further delay in the comp-
letion of the substructure works.
Well foundations on
sloping rock:
Brahmaputra Bridge at
Jogighopa (2.28 km)
The wells of main span were 11 m
x 17 m double ‘D’ type. Foundations
17 & 18 were resting on hard rock
at steep incline of almost 1:1 slope.
It was not possible to rest the
foundations partially on two types
of strata. Hence to found these
wells, 1500 mm dia anchor piles,
12 nos for each foundation were
provided through the body of the
steining, extending to about 10 m
below the cutting edge.
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Figure 1: Brahmaputra bridge foundations
No. 17 & 18
Figure 2: Pile foundations for Jamuna bridge
Figure 3: Completed view of the Jamuna bridge
Due to the steep incline, part of
the cutting edge was resting on the
rock while the other parts were
overhanging. In order to contain the
bottom plug, two rows of jet grouted
piles were introduced around the
periphery of the well steining which
acted as curtain wall (fig.1). 1500
dia piles also driven up to hard
rock along the periphery through
the steining. The completion of the
project was extended by 3 years.
150
Additional cost was several
crores. Effective use of Pile
Foundations - Jamuna River
Bridge in Bangladesh (figs.2
&3).
A 4.8 km long, four lane
road bridge with 100 m spans
was constructed in the 1990s
on the Jamuna river
(Brahmaputra in India). The
foundation design was
challenging. Very deep wells
are extremely slow to construct,
costly, increasing the total cost.
Various alternatives were
considered including caissons,
driven precast piles and driven
steel tubular piles. The only
viable option was large
diameter tubular steel piles
driven at a rake (fig.2). The
piles were fabricated in Korea,
shipped to site and installed
by hydraulic hammer. The
diameter of the piles ranged
between 2.5 and 3.15 m and
the steel tubes were filled with
concrete. Maximum pile length
was 72 m below bed level.
During one working season
from October 1995 to June
1996 all the 121 main work
piles plus two full scale trial
piles were driven.
This optimization resulted
in overall reduction in the
bridge costs by more than
50%. This solution also
reduced the use of resources
(concrete and steel)
considerably and was
beneficial to environmental
impact. The piles were
installed in 8 months; the well
foundations of three bridges across
the same river constructed in India
have taken 3-5 years each to
complete.
Damages During
Construction - Ganga
Bridge at Bhagalpur (4.6
km)
The well foundations consist of
single circular wells 11.6 m dia.
The calculated maximum scour
depth was 36 m below water level.
The soil strata were sandy up to
about 30 m followed by hard stiff
clay. During construction, the wells
started tilting and the problems
continued right through the sinking.
Despite extensive chiseling, the rate
of sinking was painfully slow.
Well 2 - The founding level was
64.7 m below the water level.
The rate of sinking through clay
was about 1.5 - 2 cm/hr. 3500
crane hours were used to sink
the well.
Well 17 - The well shifted by 1.86
m. The piers were to be retained
at the original position; resulting
in excessive moments in the well.
To counter the moments
counterweight was provided in the
form of a dummy well sunk to a
depth of 20 m in the adjacent
area and connected to the main
well through a common well cap.
Well 32 - The well shifted by
1150 mm. A similar solution as in
well 17 was adopted.
Well 4 - During concreting of
curb, sand leaked from the island
and the entire curb tilted and sank
by 4.5 m. A new sheet pile
cofferdam had to be erected and
a new well curb was cast. The
total delay was one month.
Well 9 - the total height of the
steining except last 2 m was
completed with 7.5 m balance
sinking. Due to presence of stiff
clay, 8 m sump was made to
facilitate sinking. After several
weeks, the well suddenly jumped
by about 9 m with the top of
steining below water level. Work
resumed after monsoon. A
temporary RC cofferdam was
constructed and the sunk well
dewatered to expose and build
up further steining. Time loss:
about 6 months.
Wells 3 & 4 -Wells were sunk by
about 44 and 37 m before the
monsoon season in 1996. The
wells were toppled due to scour
and disappeared during the
floods. Based on a number of
NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2010
 trial bores well No.3 was found
tilted along the bridge axis. Well
No.4 was found on the upstream
side along the direction of current.
These wells weighing up to
9900 t could not be restored and
were abandoned. New wells were
cast and sunk by changing the
span arrangement. Floating
caissons were used.
Extra cost and time - The cost on
completion was Rs.106 cr against
accepted tender cost of Rs.55 cr!
The time overrun was 5 years!
Tilts and Shifts in Well
Foundations - Vasai
Creek Bridges Near
Mumbai
Bassein Creek road bridge near
Mumbai (1970) faced problems of
heavy tilting of the well foundations.
Two of the foundations no.4 & 6
tilted very heavily and all attempt to
correct the tile failed. The
foundations were abandoned and
the design of the bridge was
changed to accommodate new
foundations and longer spans. The
project was delayed by six years
with termination of the first contract,
arbitration, litigation.
Despite previous histories of
two bridges built across the same
creek that faced problems with well
foundations, the same were again
adopted for another Vasai Creek
Bridge. During construction, heavy
tilting of wells was observed. The
corrective measures for one well
alone took almost two years
delaying completion of the
foundations; costing about Rs. 2
crores.
Sudden Jumping of Wells
During Sinking
Sometimes the well sinks suddenly
due to excessive sump or weak
soil layer and the steining
disappears below water level,
making it difficult to continue further
work on the well steining.
In one of the well foundations
in a bridge across river Ganga, the
152
total height of steining except last 2
m was concreted. The well was in
the final stages of steining, with
about 7.5 m to reach the founding
level. As the well was stuck up in
stiff clay, efforts were made to sink
the well by creating a sump of about
8 m below the cutting edge. All of a
sudden the well sank suddenly by
about 9 m and the top of steining
was below the water level by about
3.5 m. Rectification measures were
very expensive and time consuming.
Ganga bridge at Varanasi: Very
stiff clay was encountered at 25 m
below and sinking of well
foundations No. 3 and 5 was very
difficult, did not move for three
months. Then well No.3 jumped by
several meters without any warning
when two workers and one
supervisor were taking sump
sounding. The tragic accident killed
all the three people. The well No.5
also jumped by about 5 m and
was submerged in the water by
1m.
Artesian Conditions
During Construction of
Well Foundations
Nepal Bridge (Kohalpur /
Mahakali Section )
Artesian conditions were
encountered during soil
investigations for the Shivganga
bridge (8 spans of 32 m). At
locations P-4 and P-5 artesian head
of about 4.3 m was encountered at
about 17 m below ground level.
The well was redesigned with
foundation terminating above the
artesian layer, resulting in shallow
foundations resting on clay. Due to
founding the wells at shallow depth,
it was necessary to provide
adequate bed protection so as to
prevent scour. The bed protection
consisted of :
Upstream and downstream
aprons
Cut-off walls, upstream &
downstream
Concrete floor
An Expensive
Solution Indeed !!
The completion was delayed by
more than one season as the
solution was based on an Expert
Committee investigation and report.
This led to delay in finalization of
the designs and drawings for the
foundation well and necessity of
issuing variation orders to cover the
items of cut-off walls and bed
protection works which were not
envisaged in the original contract.
Ganga Bridge, Patna
The 5.6 km long bridge comprises
of 46 spans of 120 m each resting
on 56 m deep well foundations
(12m dia.). Two of the wells in the
midstream (Nos. 41 and 45)
encountered artesian conditions
during the final stages of sinking
There was continuous sand
blowing filling the dredge hole to 5-
6 m above the cutting edge. Months
of efforts to sink the well proved
futile. A technical advisory committee
took about a year for arriving at a
solution. Temporary steel cofferdam
was built enveloping the well and
an artificial head of about 6 m of
water was created to counter act
the sand bubbling. Delay: two years
Cracking of Well Steining
During Construction
Cracking of well steining is one of
the serious problems faced many
times in the construction of well
foundations, resulting in time and
cost overruns. The causes are
usually:
1. Blasting, Dewatering
2. Insufficient steining thickness
3. Jumping due to excessive sump
4. Sand blows
5. Surcharge due to dumping
dredge material close to well.
6. Failure of cutting edges.
When such cracking occurs, at
least one season is lost for the
investigation, developing remedial
measures, approvals of the same
etc. In the last 45 years, the author
is aware of more then 200 cases
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Figure 4: Pasighat Bridge, AP
of bridges constructed by various
construction agencies, where the
dredge hole of well has to be filled
with concrete due to cracks in
steining.
During well sinking of Tapi
Bridge, Maharashtra, hard strata
was met. Due to blasting, extensive
cracks developed in steinings New
steinings had to be constructed
inside the wells. The original
contract period was four years.
Attempts were made for five years
to sink the wells. Work was
suspended for five years for want
of decision to revise the founding
level. An expert committee ultimately
recommended raising the
foundation level of wells by more
than 20m The bridge was
completed after fourteen years. The
contractor suffered losses due to
the delays. The owner suffered
substantial losses due to time
overrun. Delay: 10 years.
Extraordinary Delays in
Construction of Well
Foundations Pasighat
Bidge, Arunachal
Pradesh, 703 m long
The project started in 1987 and the
construction of well foundations
continued for the next 20 years! As
per the design, based on
misleading soil data, six wells were
to be sunk to about 50 m below
bed. The actual strata met with
during sinking were hard
conglomerate with densely
compacted and very large boulders
(fig.6) were found right from the
154
Analysis by the Federal
Highway Administration
(FHWA), USA
More than 100,000 bridges would
be constructed during the next two
decades. Foundations represent
about 30% or more of the cost of
the highway bridges. The
predominant type of foundation
Figure 5: Pasighat Bridge, Boulder system used for the highway
dredged during well sinking
bridges in the US is pile. Many
bridges can tolerate significant
beginning of sinking. After 15 years magnitudes of a total and differential
of struggle to pneumatically sink vertical settlement without becoming
the wells to RL – 50 m, the seriously over-stressed
designed founding level was
drastically raised by 22m in 2002. Appreciation
The Indian Bridge Engineers are by
Major Bridges and large mentally tuned to
(Worldwide) on Pile providing well foundations for
bridges as a reflect action; whereas
Foundations
it is very necessary to analyze the
Su Tong Bridge, China : The 6 km
comparative merits and demerits,
long Cable-stay bridge crosses
construction time frame and cost of
Yangtze river near Shangai will carry
construction of bridges with well/
a six lane highway with emergency
pile foundations before finally
lanes, with a record 1088 m main
choosing the type of foundation. An
span and 300 m high concrete
analysis of the history of well
pylons. Each tower is supported on
foundations during the last five
131 cast-in-situ bored piles 120 m
decades indicates innumerable
long and 2.7 m diameter. Due to
difficulties, delays and cost overruns
strong currents, significant scour is
in a majority of the cases.
expected around the foundations,
Realization of well foundations
and suitable scour protection is
requires special skills and
provided around the pylons. The
experience which are gradually
central span has a clearance of 62
dwindling.
m for container ships to pass
Developments have taken place
through. The bridge used 200,000 t
in respect of large diameter pile
of steel, 1 million cum of concrete.
foundations as well as equipment
Stonecutters Bridge, Hong
Kong: The 1600 m long
for the same. The time and cost
advantages of opting for pile
Stonecutters Bridge Hong Kong with
foundations have been amply
cable-stay span of 1018 m is one
demonstrated worldwide and to a
of the longest in the world. The
bridge is founded on 3.0 m dia
limited extent in India. Piles up to a
diameter of 3m and depth of up to
piles, up to 90 m deep, socketted
120m have been realized for a
into rock. Bandra Worli Sea Link
number of major bridges
Mumbai: The sea link consists of
worldwide, with cost saving of up to
5.6 km long, 8-laned bridge with
40% when compared to well
cable stayed portion of 600 m. The
foundations.
bridge is founded on 1.5 m
There is currently no restriction
diameter bored piles. Concrete for
in the IRC Code regarding use of
the piles is M50 grade and for pile
pile foundation. However, many
caps is M60. Silica fume and fly
Owners impose restrictions in the
ash are used for concrete
tender documents, without any
preparation.
NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2010

Figure 6: Chenab Bridge at Akhnoor-Longest Span Cantilever PSC Bridge,
eliminated wells
justification. The example cited
above concerning the problems of
well foundations amply justifies a
second look on the choice of
foundations. In fact, the use of well
foundations for bridges should be
an exception rather than the rule.
Chenab River Bridge at
Akhnoor Near Jammu
The project was started in the early
Seventies. A .scheme for a 231m
long bridge with 5 spans
(3x46+2x46.5) upstream of existing
steel bridge was originally
conceived. The scheme involved
construction of five well foundations
in the volatile Chenab River, to be
sunk through difficult strata – hard
conglomerate, in spite of
insurmountable difficulties
elsewhere under similar
circumstances. Two successive
contracts and 30 years later, the
impossibility of sinking wells
through such strata was realized.
Based on lateral thinking, it
was decided to abandon the partly
Figure 7: Chenab Bridge, Giant
Bearings
158
sunk wells and go for a scheme
with longer central span, eliminating
the water foundations altogether.
With a 160m central span, both the
main pier foundations were located
in the dry on the banks, resting on
raft foundations. These foundations
were completed in months instead
of decades earlier in unsuccessful
attempts to sink wells in water. The
abutments consist of hollow box
and piers consist of hollow
rectangular section on raft
foundations.
The superstructure was
designed and constructed as a
continuous cantilever of 280m
length, with a central span of 160m
(longest in India at the time). Two
pairs of cantilever gantries were
deployed. The bridge with the new
layout eliminating well foundations
was completed in 20 months
Other Records: The Chenab
bridge deck was constructed with
the shortest time cycle of 6 days
consistently achieved for the
construction of each pair of
Figure 8: Chenab Bridge Hydraulic Earthquake
Dampers
segments. This was made
possible by an high early strength
concrete which enabled pre-
stressing at 60 hours after
concreting. Fe500 steel
reinforcement bars were used for
the first time in India in a cantilever
construction bridge. The huge
Bearings with anchors were located
among highly congested
reinforcement; normal concrete
placement, vibration was
impossible. Special Conbextra
Grout replaced normal High
Strength Concrete below bearings.
Self–compacting concrete (S.C.C)
was used for the first time for
concrete below the bearings.
Segments on both sides of the
Pier were concreted simultaneously
balancing the weights. When the
22nd segments were facing each
other and the shuttering of the 23rd
segment i.e. the linking segment
was to have been placed there was
no level difference and the levels
matched on both tips to the nearest
millimeter both in plan (centre line)
as well as in elevation. This was
possible because every day the
levels were maintained by a team
of surveyors with the help of total
station. These levels were sent to
the Design consultant who
monitored these personally. In fact,
after the concreting of each pair of
segments the levels as actually
measured and as envisaged by the
designer fitted almost like a ‘T’.
This proves that the parameters
fixed by the Design consultant and
the parameters as actually achieved
during execution were
complimenting each other. The
cables were so placed that almost
all the cables were straight and
without any curve. Thus
prestressing results were exactly as
shown in approved drawings both
in terms of extension and gauge
pressure.
The author was Value
Engineering Consultant for the Fast
Track Project.
NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2010