Brain Storming Session on

Emerging Trends in Geotechnical Engineering

March 26, 2014

under the aegis of

Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)

Department of Science and Technology (DST), India
Organized by

Department of Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mumbai- 400076

Minutes of the Session

Agenda: To identify the futuristic research needs in the realm of geotechnical engineering and in
the process bridge the gap between Academia and Industry.
Panel of the Session:
Prof. Kalyanaraman, PAC, DST
Prof. K.P. Kaliappan, Associate Dean, IITB
Prof. K.V. K. Rao, HOD (Dept. of Civil Engg.) IITB,
Prof. S. Chaudhuri, Dept. of CESE, IITB
Sri M. Kulkarni, DST
Prof. D.N.Singh, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Participants:

The participants who attended this session are listed in Table 1.

Table 1
Name

Affiliation

S. Sreedeep

IIT Guwahati

G. L. S. Babu

IISc Bangalore

Chandresh Solanki

SVNIT, Surat

Narendra Dalmia

STRATA Geosystems (India) Pvt. Ltd.

A. Dalinaidu

IIT Madras

Tejpal Singh

CSIR Bangalore

Vandana Shreedharan

GCE Kannur

Nadim Rouhana

Dargroup, Pune

D N Sharma

Singareni Collieries

S Rajesh

IIT Kanpur

B.N.D.Narasinga Rao

ANITS, Sangivalasa

Sarat Das

NIT Rourkela

Supriya Pal

NIT Durgapur

Pratul Kumar Choudhary

STUP, New Delhi

M. Dutta

IIT Delhi

M. Basha

IIT Hyderabad

Rajesh D. Padhye

Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli

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Uma Shankar

IIT Hyderabad

S. Moitra

Fugro Geotech Ltd., Mumbai

A N desai
Nainesh Dhanani

BTRA, Mumbai
Perfomax Analytical, Mumbai

Kapil Mohan

ISAR, Ahmedabad

V. Pancholi

ISAR, Ahmedabad
Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd., Pune

K. Navneeth Kumar
S. K. Mittal
Sunil Basarkar

CSIR, Chandigarh
ITD CEMENTATION INDIA LIMITED,
Mumbai

Pradipta Chakraborty

IIT Patna

S. S. Chandrasekaran

VIT Vellore

B. Hanumantha Rao

IIT Bhubaneswar

A M Shingarey
Manoj Bagde

Geotech Services, Nagpur

CIMFR, Nagpur

Amit Vidulkar

TechFab India Industries Ltd., Mumbai

Satyajit Patel

SVNIT Surat

Pooja Rao
Dinesh S V

VJTI Mumbai
Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur

S S Bhosale
Govind Parchani

COEP, Pune
RRCAT, Indore

Dr.Sobha Cyrus

CUST, Cochin

Parampreet

AENC, New Delhi

Vikas Thakur

Norwegian Public Roads Administration

Ravikiran Vaidya

Geodynamics, Baroda

S L Chottaraj

IIRS, Dehradun

Subhadeep Banerjee

IIT Madras

V B Maji
Jalindar R Patil

IIT Madras

Anitha G Pillai

Albertian Institute of Science & Technology, Cochin

A Trivedi and

Delhi College of Engg.

RMD Sinhgad School of Engineering, Pune

Vivek Tripathi
Sreevalsa Kolathayar

ISM Dhanbad

Sanjeev Gupta

TCE, Mumbai
Sarathy Geotech & Engineering Services Pvt Ltd.,

C R Parthasarathy

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Bangalore
Suneet Kumar Pandey

Vedanta

C. R. Patra
Shankar Guha

NIT Rourkela

K. Srinivasa Rao
Vidya Bhushan Maji
Neeraj Chadha
Manager Singh
Uday Kulkarni
Prashant B. Daigavane

Simplex Infrastructures Limited, Chennai

Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers and
Consultants Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad
IIT Madras
Complete Instrumentation Solutions Private Limited,
Gurgaon
Archaeological Survey of India, Aurangabad
Noble Geo-Structs, Mumbai
Government College of Engg. & Research, (Avasari
Kh.) Pune

P. Gujar

TICB Mumbai

Mr. Pranav Kapur

Maj Gen S S Sharma (Retd.)

AIMIL Ltd.
Institute of Defence Scientists and Tachnologists,
Pune

Ashish Gharpure

Maccaferri India

Thyagaraj T.

IIT Madras

Sudhir.K.Jain

Reliance Power Ltd., Mumbai

Deepak Raj

Keller Ground Engineering India Pvt Ltd., Mumbai

Deepankar Choudhury

IIT Bombay

P Phale

IIT Bombay

A. Juneja

IIT Bombay

J N Mandal

IIT Bombay

Prathyusha Jayanthi
Asha Latha

IIT Bombay
IIT Bombay

B. S. Patil

IIT Bombay

Sanyam Dangayach

IIT Bombay

Jeevan Joseph

IIT Bombay

Pankaj Pathak

IIT Bombay

Susha Lekshmi.S.U

IIT Bombay

Meenu P. S.

IIT Bombay

Somenath Mondal

IIT Bombay

Nevin Koshy

IIT Bombay

Susmita Sharma

IIT Bombay
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Kannan Iyer

IIT Bombay

A. Mane

IIT Bombay

Giridhhar Rajesh Bande

IIT Bombay

Raghvendra Pratap Singh

IIT Bombay
IIT Bombay

Farahnaz Darikandeh

The inaugural session started at 9.30am, Board Room in VMCC, 4th Floor, IIT Bombay.

Prof. D.N. Singh welcomed the delegates from different parts of the country and
expressed the need for organising this session. He articulated his concern in bridging the
gap between the industry and the academia to explore emerging areas in the geotechnical
engineering discipline. He expressed his concern regarding selection of the presentations
for the session (120 out of 200 including 38 presentations in absentia) with 3mins of
presenting time. For those in absentia as well as the participants attending the session, the
presentations and video would be made available for all in the CDEEP IIT Bombay
website http://www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/events.php

Prof. Kalyanaraman wished the meeting a great success and conveyed his desire that the
outcome of the session would reveal the thrust area in the present day geotechnical
engineering. Further, he enlightened the participants by saying that the consortiated
report of the session would be prepared and sent to the experts in the concerned area for
their possible feedback. He mentioned that the focus of the session is on need based
research related issues with an interdisciplinary approach to cater the requirements of the
society and urged to conduct a National Convention in 2015 with association of
Industries.

Prof. K.V.K. Rao thanked SERB and DST for their immense support, Prof. Kalliapan, for
encouraging this proposal in IITB and expressed his gratitude to Prof. Singh for
developing the Environmental Geotechnical Lab and the brain storming session as well.
He also wished this session good luck and a great success.

Dr. Kalliappan and Dr. S. Chaudhuri wished the session a great success and believed that
the session would generate worthy research ideas with the mutual consensus of academia
and industry which would be benefitting the growth of Science and Technology of the
Nation.
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Mr. Kulkarni presented a brief of the functions of Science and Engineering Research
Board related to funding for research. He enlightened about a scheme called PACE of
DSIR which provides grant to an institute and a soft loan with an interest of 2.5% to the
industry, for research. He has expressed his concern that only 27-30% of the submitted
proposal is being approved under SERB, which necessitates the need of a conference of
this kind.
The dignitaries hoped that the session would cater to the need of the challenges faced by

the industries with their association with the academia. The inaugural session closed at 10.00AM
and was followed by the presentations and discussions among the participants.
Based on the presentations, the points raised by the participants are listed in the following:

The first presentation was by Mr. S. Jain, Reliance Power Ltd., Mumbai on Coal Bed
Methane. He talked about the contemporary issues related to the identification of
contribution from individual Thin Coal Seam in CBM production, to avoid perforating
and hydro-fracturing less potential seams in large number of development wells to
achieve better economics. Further, he expressed his concern on environmental issues
related to hydro-fracturing and water disposal which can be elevated to research level.
Researchers from IIT Bombay (Prof. Singh), IIT Madras (Dr. Arnepalli), and Sigareni
Collieries (Dr. D. N. Sharma), expressed their desire to collaborate with Mr. Jain, for
submitting the proposal on Enhance Coal Bed Methane recovery (ECBM) using carbon
sequestration techniques.

Dr. C. R. Parthasarathy, Sarathy Geotech & Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd., enunciated
the challenges associated with pile foundations in carbonate soils. He has stressed on the
use of sophisticated laboratory testing facility for the characterization of such soils. The
panel of dignitaries have suggested him to collaborate with Mr. Ravi Kiran Vaidya,
Geodynamics, Baroda, for utilizing his expertise on the non-destructive techniques
available with his organization. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha, CISPL, adds: CISPL can also
contribute in this as we not only have advanced geotechnical testing equipment which are
manufactured to the scientific objective of the customer but are also offering Frequency
Domain Pile Tester equipped with TRAP software which is not only used for analysis but
also for checking the mobility and has the simulation module. It can also be used to
assess piles with anomalies by using curve matching in real time. Up to 10 geotechnical
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layers can be input to simulate real ground conditions. Regarding Impedance Log, he
adds, The pile shaft impedance is separated from soil effects and plotted against depth.
This can effectively be viewed as a pile cross section profile. Often, complex time
domain results can be resolved using this method.

Dr. A. N. Desai, Director, BTRA, Mumbai, has stated the significance of smart
geosynthetics for prevention of seepage losses in canal. He has mentioned that 45-60% of
the canal water is lost due to seepage; hence, for detection of such anomalies, fabric
based leakage detection system would be a panacea. Prof. Singh urged the participants of
the session to visit the state of the art laboratory at BTRA for getting an exposure of the
instrumentation related to geosynthetics. Formation of a working group of interested
individuals in this context was also proposed.

Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds: CISPL and NGI have been involved in testing of Dykes for
seepage using Ground Penetrating Radar. Several projects have been done outside India
using GPR which has helped in delineating the weak zones which were strengthened
before the monsoon season leading to savings of millions of dollars and lives. In case any
organization wants to take lead in testing of Dykes then we would certainly be interested
in getting associated with them.

Mr. Ravi Kiran Vaidya, Geodynamics, Baroda, expressed his concern with regard to
development of O-cell and bi-directional load cell in India, in collaboration with the
academia. Presently, these technologies are imported from foreign countries which incur
significant costs and time related issues. Further, he has stressed on the interdisciplinary
approach for a development of this kind. The panel members suggested association of
Mr. Vaidya with Mr. Guha and Mr. Parampreet Singh, to come up with such technology
within a span of 2 years.

Mr. A. D. Gharpure, Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has emphasized on

the major flaws associated with the reliability of geo-investigations and geo-solution
implementations. He elucidated the importance of soil specific parameter for obtaining
the fruitful results using the latest analytical tools.

Mr. M. R. Singh, Archaeological Survey of India, highlighted the need of Geotechnical

studies and methodology for consolidation of ancient sculptures and issues related to their
rehabilitation in the country.
Page 6 of 20

Mr. S. Gupta, Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. stated the utilization of Marine clay and
hinted on dredging and reclamation related issues as well.

Mr. N. Kumar, Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd. suggested the need of research associated with
construction methodology and failure of Polypropylene rope gabions due to abrasion and
material properties. Mr. Gharpure and Dr. Arnepalli further added that UV Radiation is
also an area of research for estimating the durability of the PP ropes. Dr. Desai from
BTRA invited Mr. Kumar to visit his organisation for exploring their facilities.

Mr. N. Rouhana, Dar Al-Handasah Consultants, Pune, wished that academicians would
develop a code for the sustainable geotechnical practices and solutions in association with
the industries. He has emphasized on advanced soil characterization schemes considering
soil non-linearity and anisotropic properties.

Ms. Renu, on behalf of Dr. U. Kulkarni, presented the importance of studying unsaturated
shear strength in the current research arena.

Dr. S. S. Basarkar, ITD Cementation India Ltd., Mumbai, advocated the necessity of
applied geotechnology for efficient and economical execution of deep foundations and
retaining structures. He further added the need of new alternative technologies for pile
bore cleaning and their monitoring for large diameter caissons and focused on technoeconomics issues in high capacity pile load testing arrangement.

Prof. M. Dutta, IIT Delhi, envisaged the importance of environmental geotechnics in the
present scenario. He presented the issues related to the closure of old MSW waste dumps,
sustainable remediation of contaminated soils, new landfilling technologies and
geohazards mitigation using the state of the art technologies. The panel suggested him to
come up with a virtual Centre for Excellence in collaboration with MoEF and DST and
groom researches in this field and mentioned that an interdisciplinary approach is
required for solving such contemporary issues.

Mr. S. Guha, Simplex Infrastructures Ltd., Chennai, put forward his concern about the
lack of guidelines on pile termination criteria for different types of soil and for different
methods of installation of piles which results in enormous cost as well as substantial
additional time of completion of the project. As regards to stone column, he pointed out
that when stone columns are adopted where the sub soil at shallower depths is rocky or

Page 7 of 20

impenetrable, no guidelines are available. Hence these aspects need to be investigated in

detail.

Mr. Bagli (on behalf of Mr. N. Dalmia), Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt Ltd., Mumbai,
highlighted the extensive experimentation on Geocell 3D reinforcement system and
dearth of systematic scientific analytical solutions for the same. The panel suggested him
to get expertize from IITB (Prof. Mandal), IITM (Dr. Arnepalli), IISc (Prof. Shivakumar
Babu), IITKGP (Dr. Das), SVNIT Surat (Dr.Solanki), Siddaganga Institute of
Technology, Tumkur (Dr. Dinesh), IITH (Dr. Sireesh, Dr. B. Umashankar) and Dr. S. S.
Bhonsle (College of Engineering Pune).

Mr. P. M. Gujar, TICB, Mumbai, talked about the effective use of industrial waste
material as a substitute for soil. The panel suggested that Prof. Dutta and Prof. Babu
should formulate a task group with the industries dealing with the construction debris and
industrial wastes.

Mr. S. K. Pandey, Vedanta, opined on stability of slopes/location of development of shear

planes to prevent landslides.

Maj. Gen. S. S. Sharma, SASE (DRDO) envisioned geotechnical issues related to

avalanche in Himalayan range. His presentation focused on methods for strengthening
foundation and exploring new technologies for the cold region. The panel recommended
Dr. Maji, Mr. Gharpure and Dr. Vikas Thakur for coming out with the appropriate
solutions for the same. Prof. Singh requested Maj. Sharma to take up a course dealing
with Cold Region Geomechanics at IITB as a stepping stone. Maj. Sharma has
suggested the following:
1. Any road alignment being planned anywhere in India should be vetted by a panel of
Geotechnologists and their recommendations should be taken into consideration while
planning.
2. A large number of highway and railway projects are under planning in Himalayan
ranges, which will involve construction of a large number of tunnels, bridges and other
structures. It is suggested that Geotechnologists should be involved at all stages of the
planning and other activities. Any pre-emptive action of this nature may result in saving
of a lot of time and money.

Page 8 of 20

3. The Geotechnologists in association with the specialists in remote sensing and GIS
should develop special softwares to identify the potential land slide zones, mud slide
zones, stretches affected by seasonal torrents, and weak strata which are prone to road
sinking, and take protective measures well in advance. As per his knowledge the DTRL,
a lab of DRDO, has done a lot of work on this and they should be involved in this
activity. Director DTRL Dr MR Bhutiani may be invited to further deliberate on this
activity.
4. The DST should approach all the road building organizations like BRO to earmark 1 %
of their budget for geotech research. This will help in developing advance techniques for
defence against land slide and other natural hazards.
5. Geotechnologists should develop working models for estimating geo-weather
interaction of roads and terrain of strategic importance. Collaboration with DTRL will
help. This will have a lot of implications for defence.

Dr. Vikas Thakur articulated the need of cost effective and sustainable solutions for the
contemporary issues related to Geotechnical Engineering through an internationally
recognised National Geo-test site. Prof. Singh mentioned about INNOR, a collaborative
venture between Norway and India for geohazard mitigation.

Dr. M. N. Bagde, CSIR, Nagpur, proposed issues related to health hazards and the
utilization of fly-ash in underground mine backfilling. The panel suggested him to get
expertise from Mr. S. Pal, NIT, Durgapur.

Mr. Md. Aarif, HCC, Mumbai, proposed the need for research on the effect of bentonite
on pile friction in soft to medium stiff clays / loose to medium dense sand. Mr. Rupam
Mahanta, ONGC-IEOT, opined that CPT (Cone Penetration Test) may be used for
continuous probing of the ground for a better quality of soil investigation and assess the
properties of soil more accurately.

It may reduce some uncertainty about the pile

capacity, although the uncertainty in this case is thought to be due to the effect of
bentonite. CPT is not generally being used in the onshore projects in India although it is
used regularly for offshore projects of ONGC. The panel suggested him to get associated
with Mr. Rupam Mahanta, ONGC-IEOT, Panvel, and Mr. Ravi Kiran Vaidya for the
same.

Page 9 of 20

Dr. S. S. Bhosale, CoEP, Pune, discussed about the necessity for extensive utilization of
Geosynthetics in pavements. Further, he talked about the ethical issues related to
pavement construction. The panel has suggested him to be associated with Mr. Narendra
Dalmia / Mr. S. P. Bagli and Dr. Bagde to come up with some proposal in this context.
Subsequently, the 1st discussion started at 11.55 AM and Prof. Sreedeep briefed
the issues related to evaluation of analytical methods and their reliability, development of
code and guidelines for sustainable geotechnical practices, archeological studies, cold
region geo-mechanics, MSW landfill, contamination of the soil mass, dredging and
reclamation, and evolution of artificial materials for construction industry. The panel has
urged the participants to submit their proposals within two weeks to accelerate the further
formalities.

The presentations were resumed and Mr. Deepak Raj, Director, Keller Ground
Engineering, proposed research on understanding the behaviour of vibro-stone columns
in ultra-soft marine clays (SPT N~0). He showed successful application of Large
diameter Vibro Stone Columns for soft clays for more than 20m deep. He also clarified
Mr Guha of Simplex Infrastructures about design procedure of Vibro-Stone Columns in
varying soil strata. He opined about the efficient usage of Electric Cone Penetration tests
to check density of loose sandy strata for evaluation of liquefaction mitigation
techniques. In this regard, Prof. Dutta, IITD, opined the usage of ECPT for identifying
the liquefaction prone area. Prof. Singh suggested Mr. Raj to collaborate with Dr. Das,
IIT KGP, and generate proposals which can be sent to different IITs for perusal. Mr.
Neeraj Chaddha adds: CISPL in collaboration with A p van den Berg, The Netherlands
is providing these equipment and can possibly look at providing services as long as the
project is big enough. We would certainly like to be a part of this and contribute in a
small little way we can.

Dr. A. G. Pillai discussed about the existing agricultural scenario in Kerala and suggested
utilization of soil amendments using naturally available materials such as coir pith, which
would enhance the soil fertility and hence the agricultural productivity. Utilization of
marine clay (disposal of which from construction sites is a serious concern) in
conjunction with coir pith to improve water retention capacity of uncultivable sandy
stretches and finding the best possible means of irrigation is the need of the hour. Prof.
Page 10 of 20

Singh requested her to collaborate with IITB and Keller for submission of a proposal on
the same.

Mr. N. Chadha, Complete Instrumentation Solutions Private Ltd., Chandigarh, has

deliberated issues related to pro-activeness in seismic analysis. He familiarised the
audience with the instrumentations on seismic hazard analysis for improvisation of
geophysical models. The panel recommended him to initiate an alliance with Dr. S.
Banarjee, IIT Madras, Dr. Mittal, Dr. Maji, Mr. Tezpal and Mr. Chattoraj.

Dr. B. N. D. Narasinga Rao, ANITS, proposed for development of laboratory equipment

for determination of shear parameters of the soil for the estimation of safe bearing
capacity and allowable bearing pressure through full-scale in-situ load tests on footings,
simulating the soil exploration, construction and loading conditions, coupled with
suitable instrumentation for in-situ stress determinations. The in-situ tests will be
supplemented with suitable laboratory tests on undisturbed soil samples to finally
fabricate suitable laboratory equipment for measurement of shear strength parameters.
The panel has asked him to club with Dr. Solanki, SVNIT, Surat, and Dr. Parthasarathy
for a proposal.

Dr. B. Umashankar, IIT Hyderabad, coined the importance of sustainable geotechnics

implicating the generation of alternate materials for backfill. Prof. Singh advised him to
focus on a full scale demonstration project instead of laboratory model studies and also
have partnership with Mr. N. Dalmia / Mr. S. P. Bagli and Dr. Solanki for development
of geosynthetics reinforcement pavement and a codal provision for the above mentioned
case.

Mr. S. L. Chattoraj, IIRS, Dehradun, explained the case studies conducted in Uttarakhand
on numerical simulation and modelling of debris flow events and its vulnerability
analysis. The panel has opined him to team up with Mr. Gharpure, Mr. Kumar and Dr. C.
Ghosh, NIDM, New Delhi.

Mr. K. S. Rao, Aarvee Associates, Hyderabad, questioned the methodologies related to

pile foundation and remedial measures for subsoil strata prone to liquefaction. The panel
suggested him to seek advice from Prof. D. S. Murthy, IITB.

Mr. Parampreet Singh, Avantech Engineering Consortium Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,
illustrated the fundamentals and state of art instrumentation of unsaturated soil. The panel
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suggested Prof. Babu, Dr. Sreedeep, Dr. Thakur, Dr. Rajesh, IIT Kanpur, Dr. Thyagraj,
IIT Madras and Ms. Renu to conduct a conference on unsaturated soil mechanics in
association with Mr. Singh. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds CISPL and Wille Geotechnik,
Germany have developed several advanced testing equipment for several German
Universities for testing in unsaturated conditions and substantial work has been done in
this regard. Will certainly be interested in being a part of this group.

Mr. P. Kapur, AIMIL Ltd. focused on cost effective, indigenous automated

instrumentations and online systems for geotechnical tests.

Mr. R. Mahanta and Mr. S. Bandopadhyay, ONGC-IEOT, put forward their view that
there is a need for research in India on new concepts of deep water foundation such as
torpedo anchor which has the potential for being a cost effective solution that is not
only cheaper but also relatively easy to install. They enquired if centrifuge modelling can
be of help in carrying out research for such foundation and also for research on problems
related to the behaviour of calcareous soils of Indian offshore having a lot of
uncertainties. The panel advised them to explore the facilities of research with IIT
Bombay and IIT Madras. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds Our principals M/s A p van den
Berg, The Netherlands and NGI have done substantial work in the area Offshore Soil
Investigations. Can certainly get associated in case required.

Prof. J. N. Mandal underlined the importance of testing, design, construction and

specification of geosynthetics. He proposed fabrication of transmissivity apparatus with
loading system to evaluate high flow capacity geocomposite drains for vertical and
horizontal drainage in case of roads and highways, railways, ports and harbors, water and
waste management.

Dr. Rajesh, IIT Kanpur, visualised the importance of unsaturated soil mechanics, waste
management and long term performance of geosynthetics. The panel recommended him
to get associated with Prof. Dutta for development of the virtual Centre of Excellence.

Dr. D. N. Arnepalli, IIT Madras, pronounced the need of isolation and disposal of
greenhouse gases into geo-environment, and the design of buffer material for disposal of
hazardous wastes. The panel recommended him to submit a proposal on studies related to
gas diffusion in association with Dr. D. N. Sharma.

Page 12 of 20

Dr. Sreedeep, IIT Guwahati, addressed the utilization of geothermal sources, advanced
instrumentation and data interpretation, disaster management and long term performance
assessment for alternate materials. The panel requested him to submit a proposal on the
geotechnical issues related to various Geotechnical issues in North East. Moreover, he
was advised to join hands with Dr. Mittal for advanced instrumentation and data
interpretation. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds CISPL is actively involved in exploration of
geothermal resources and offers complete services in this area. We are also working with
NGI in this area in India. So if it is appropriate, we can be associated in this project.

Dr. B. H. Rao, IIT Bhubaneswar, presented the need for simple handy instrumentation for
monitoring the stability of weak slopes and coined the term smart instrumentation in
this regard. He also pointed out the utilization of fly ash and red mud and necessity to
develop a large-scale field experimental set up for coupled process in nuclear waste
materials. The panel has requested him to submit a proposal for the use of geosynthetics
for problematic soil in collaboration with Dr. Umashankar, IIT Hyderabad.

Dr. T. Thyagaraj, IIT Madras, talked about the behavior of Bentonite and Bentonite
Enhanced Barriers with an emphasis on shrinkage and physico-chemical factors. The
panel advised him to seek help from other expertise in the area of unsaturated soil
mechanics.

Dr. V.Sreedharan, GCE Kannur, illustrated the significance of sustainable practices viz,
green remediation, improvisation of the functional

barrier systems, promotion of

localized low cost technologies (life cycle analysis) and the need for establishing a code
of practice on the use of recycled and waste materials in barriers in geo-environmental
engineering and their anticipated outcomes. Prof. Singh asked her to submit a proposal
regarding the same to DST.

Dr. S. K. Mittal, CSIR-CSIO Chandigarh, pronounced the need for the indigenous
development of efficient and cost effective technologies for advanced research in the
country and proposed a Centre for Geotechnology for the same. Keeping in view his
expertise, the panel suggested him to provide required Instrumentation support in the area
of Geotechnology, to the geotechnical fraternity of India.

Dr. D. N. Sharma, The Singareni Collieries Co Ltd., has focused on the geotechnical
studies related to both underground and open cast mines. He proposed the assessment of
Page 13 of 20

horizontal stress field and preparation of hazard maps of various mining blocks blocks
through geotechnical mapping, hydro-fracturing tests and lineament analysis with
Landsat imageries. The panel urged him to join hands with Dr.Shovan of IIRS, Mr.
Dalmia and Dr. Maji for the same. Additionally, Dr. Sharma expressed his desire to
collaborate with Dr. Thakur, NGI, Norway.

Dr. Tejpal Singh, CSIR, Bangalore, explained about the crustal deformation processes
and proposed seismic hazard analysis, tectonic and climate coupling interaction.

Dr. B. M. Basha, IIT Hyderabad, discussed the concern about the lack of confidence on
reliability based design due to non-availability of codal provision. The panel advised him
to submit a proposal along with Prof. Babu and Dr. D.S. Murthy, IITB for the same.

Prof. G. L. S. Babu, IISc Banglore deliberated about the risk and reliability based design
and analysis procedures in Geomechanics and contaminated landfills. He talked about the
need to conduct a session on reliability analysis.

Dr. K. Mohan, ISR, Ahmedabad, emphasized on the assessment of seismic hazard on

micro scale which requires the input from geology, geography, geotechnics and seismotechnical details. The panel suggested him to collaborate with the expertise from IITB,
IITM and IIT Patna for Geotechnical support. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds CISPL offers
comprehensive solutions in terms of equipment and services for microzonation studies.
So we would certainly like to be associated with such a project.

Dr. P. Chakraborty, IIT Patna, proposed the geotechnical investigations related to the pile
foundation in heterogeneous cohesionless liquefiable soils. The panel asked Mr. S Guha
to get associated with him.

Dr. S. Banerjee, IITM, expressed his concerns related to underground vibrations in urban
environment viz. tunnel boring and traffic vibrations and site response analysis of treated
soils.

Prof. C. R. Patra, NIT Rourkela, addressed issues related to soil contamination by various
sources and its detection and remedial measures.

Dr. A. Shingarey, Geotech Services, Nagpur, talked about the utilization of natural
materials viz. paddy straw for natural geonets and use of enzymes for stabilization of
Black cotton soils. He has suggested the following:

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1. DST must accommodate funding for new Indigenous equipment development, which
will enable R & D done at laboratory to take it in to field. These equipment may
be available outside India but it's cost and capacity both, does not fit to our
requirements. Till this date we don't have an appropriate mechanical auger to carve
out correct sized under-ream for friction piles. And piles keep on failing for
inappropriate bulb. Ultimately client goes for Raft foundation even for small
structure. So design fails for want of good equipment.
2. Same is true for drilling for investigation OR utilization of Fly Ash.
3. Funding for NABL accredited labs at concessional interest rates through SIDBI or
other banks for instrumentation required for R & D.
4. DST can assess labs it's potential, before sanctioning such schemes.
5. DST must look beyond educational institutions for R & D to transfer Research in to
Technology.

Prof. A. Juneja, IITB, talked about the anisotropic behavior of the materials and its
dynamics and emphasized the importance and interpretation of routine laboratory results
in advanced geotechnical models other than Mohr Coulomb. The panel has advocated Dr.
Parthasarathy to get associated with him.

Dr. S. Cyrus, CUSAT, talked about the significance of desiccation cracking of clay liners
and risk related to their long term performance. The panel advised her to get connected
with the researchers working in this area of geotechnical engineering.

Prof. S. Das, NIT Rourkela, has emphasized on the improvisation of geotechnical

characteristics of industrial wastes (viz. fly ash and red mud) using biopolymer and bioorganisms. The panel suggested him to conduct a thematic workshop in collaboration
with IITB, as Biogeotechnics is becoming an emerging area in the current scenario.

Dr. V. B. Maji, IIT Madras, proposed geotechnical investigations related to the long term
performance of tunnels. The panel has advised him to join hands with Dr. Parchani for
the same. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds CISPL and Wille Geotechnik, Germany are ready to
develop any special equipment required for advanced geotechnical testing for long term
performance of tunnels.

Dr. S. S. Chandrasekaran, VIT University, Vellore, talked about the necessity for
alternate remedial measures for frequent landslides in Nilgris, specifically at three sites
Page 15 of 20

(Achanakal, Coonoor and Aravankadu). Further, he stated the importance of full-scale

instrumentation for investigating the lateral response of pile groups in field. The panel
advised him to get associated with Dr. S. K. Mittal, CSIR-CSIO Chandigarh, Mr. A. D.
Gharpure, Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd and Dr. V. B. Maji, IIT Madras
to submit a project proposal on remedial measures and instrumental monitoring of
landslides. Mr. Neeraj Chaddha adds CISPL is forging an association with Aachen
University for real time monitoring of Landslides. Can get associated with this project if
so desired.

Mr. S. Pal, NIT Durgapur, proposed studies on contaminated land reclamation by electrokinetic mechanism and photo-catalytic treatment. He has also proposed to undertake
investigation on contaminants attenuation potential of some fine grained soil.

Prof. A. Trivedi explained about the uncertainties in multi-scale modelling (viz. damage,
deformation and conductivity) of rock mass.

Through a presentation, Mr. V. Nigam, Wazir Advisors Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, has addressed
the need of R&D and advanced instrumentation related to North East development plan
related to Assisting the government of India in implementing the Technology Mission
on Technical Textiles, launched by Ministry of Textiles.

Dr. G. Parchani, RRCAT Indore, discussed about the necessity of seepage analysis for
exclusion of subsoil water.

Ms. P. Rao, VJTI, Mumbai, talked about the causes, challenges and existing techniques
for evaluating ground subsidence, giving importance on numerical methodologies.

Prof. S.V. Dinesh, SIT, Tumkur, elaborated the importance of post liquefaction studies
and seismic vulnerability analysis. He also expressed the need of design guidelines in sub
grade for improving the performance of pavement. The panel requested him to get
associated with Prof. Babu.

Dr. J. Patil, RMD School of Engineering, Pune, focused on computational tools for
design of pile foundation and prediction of its load settlement behaviour. The panel
recommended him to collaborate with Dr. Basarkar, ITDC, Mumbai, for the same.

Dr. P. B. Daigavane, GCE, Pune, mentioned about geosynthetics and geo-foams and their
importance.

Page 16 of 20

Ms. F. Darikandeh, IITB, coined the development of a concept called Smart soil
utilizing nanoparticles and bio-particles.

Ms. J. N. V. Prathyusha, IITB, talked about the application of micro-materials for

stabilization of fine grained soil against its shrinkage and cracking. She has also
emphasized on the creation of an engineered soil (enhanced properties) by application of
sustainable materials.

Ms. S. Lekshmi, IITB, discussed about the advanced instrumentation for soil moisture
content determination and development of sustainable agricultural land.

Mr. N. Dhanani, Perfomax Analytical, Mumbai, showcased the advance instrumentation

facilities being marketed by him related to soil characterization.

Dr. S. Kolathayar, ISM, Dhanbad, talked about the utilization of fly ash for civil
engineering purposes, use of natural geosynthetics in pavements, seismic site
characterization and scope for geotechnical engineers in mining areas.

Dr Varun Joshi, GGSIPU, New Delhi emphasized on use of bioengineering and

engineering measures in stabilization of landslides in NE region. This is very effective
technique in NE region as the weather is very conducive for this activity. This technique
is also implemented in some of the landslide in western Himalaya and came out with a
very useful geotechique for shallow slides.
The list of the presentations by the delegates www.civil.iitb.ac.in/~dns/BSS.zip who

could not attend (Table 2) the meeting was also presented.

Table 2
Name

Affiliation

Neha Jain

Kautilya Inst. of Engg & Tech., Jaipur

Dilip Karandikar

Karandikar Associate

V. Padmavathi

JNTU, Hyderabad

N. Raghavan

IIT Madras

M K Agarwal

Man Infraconstruction Ltd. Mumbai

McLarens Young Loss Adjusters & Surveyors India Pvt.

V. SRINIVASAN

Ltd.

R. K. Mittal

BITS Pilani

Page 17 of 20

N.C. Nainwal

HNB Garhwal University, Uttrakhand

Varun Joshi

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi

Amit Prashant

IIT Gandhinagar

Aniruddha Sengupta

IIT KGP

P.V . Surya Prakash

Pydah College of Engineering, Kakinada

Debasis Roy

IIT Kharagpur

A. Boominathan

IIT Madras

S. R. Pathak

COEP Pune

K. M. Nithya

VIT Chennai

Anbazhajan P.

IISc Bangalore

Lalit Thakur

Babaria Institute of Technology, Varnama, Vadodara

D L Shah

MSU Baroda

Rajagopal Karpurapu

IIT Madras

Sima Ghosh

NIT Agartala

Ashish Trivedi

Oceanking Survey Services FZC, Sharjah, UAE

S. Krishnaiah

JNTUA CEK, Anantapur

Dr. Pusadkar

Govt. College of Engineering, Amravati

Shantha Kr.

VIT Vellore
Director Global Engineering And Management College,

Rajiv Khatri

Jabalpur

Kedar Birid

Toto House

B. B. Das

NICMAR Goa

Rajay balwan

Govt. Polytechnic, Karad

B. Jha

Dr. B.B.A. Govt. Polytechnic, Karad, (DP)

Khan, Sajjad IN KWA SL

Siemens, Mumbai

Manoj verman

GEODATA India (P) Limited, New Delhi

Amitava Ghosh

CBRI

Amol Maskar

SBPCOE, Indapur.

C. Ghosh

NIDM Delhi

Page 18 of 20

Subsequently, the wrap up session started at 4.00 PM. Prof. Kalyanaraman opined that it is
apparent that research gaps have not been addressed properly and emphasized that the
originality, novelty and basic mechanisms should be given prime importance for
developing research proposals and submitting them to the DST, SERB. He briefed the
audience about the proposed National conference Civil Engineering Research Scholars
meet under the aegis of DST at Nagpur, for disseminating knowledge, technologies and
professional practices among the research scholars. Mr. Kulkarni, DST, New Delhi, tried to
highlight the importance of internship for bachelors and for inculcating research culture. He
also suggested for a dedicated website for technology transfer on the realm of geotechnical
engineering.
Prof. Singh reminded the audiences to form their respective research groups and submit
good proposals to DST, SERB, at the earliest.
Finally, he has expressed his gratitude towards the panel as well as the participants for
participating in day long deliberations and making the session useful and successful.

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