U-Turn Retrievable Ground Anchors

to Support 19m Deep Excavation at

Proposed New Delhi Station for
Airport Metro Express Line

Introduction
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), in a plan to
connect the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport with
the New Delhi Railway Station, is constructing an
Multi-level exclusive Airport Metro Express Line (AMEL). As part of
car park
these plans, an underground metro station and multi level
car park are being constructed (see Figure 1 for plan
layout), which requires 11m to 19m deep excavation. The
Station designed retaining wall system for the proposed
Building excavation includes soldier pile wall in combination with
60T U-turn retrievable ground anchors at different levels.

Figure 1: Layout showing Station Building
and Multi-Level Car Park Locations
Site Stratigraphy
The site in general consists of silty clays with depth of
bedrock varying from as low as 5m to as deep as 20m.
The rock can be described as weathered to hard
Quartzite.

U-Turn Retrievable Ground Anchors

U-turn retrievable ground anchors facilitate the removal of
anchor strands after construction of the intended wall. The
steel strands are covered with PVC jacket, turned over a
U-loop (U-turn saddle) at the bottom and connected to a
Figure 2: Typical Fabricated
reinforcement rod (see Figure 2). In addition, each loop
Ground Anchor has grout pipe for secondary grouting. The ground anchor
is fabricated with combination of three individual U-loops
(i.e. 6-strands at the top) of different lengths, spaced at
Client predetermined design spacing.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)

Main Contractor
The steel strands used are 12.7mm diameter (7ply) LRPC
Alpine-Samsung-HCC JV conforming to IS: 14268 1995, which has an ultimate
tensile strength (breaking load) of about 187kN. The
Project details anchors are designed to withstand a working load of 60T
Site No. 76/187/714
350 nos. of U-turn Retrievable Ground Anchors and a test load of 66T (i.e. 1.1 times the working load).

Execution Period Site Execution

August 2008 to January 2009
Executing Branch
Keller Ground Engineering (I) Pvt Ltd.
305, Best Arcade Building,
Plot-3, Sector-12, Dwarka,
New Delhi, India, PIN 110075.
Tel. +91 11 2803 2268
Fax +91 11 2803 2280
E-mail info@kellerindia.com
www. k ellerf areas t. c om
In general, site execution constitutes of drilling, grouting
and stressing followed by retrieval of anchor strands at
later stage.
Drilling
Hydraulically operated Casagrande C6 rotary drill rig is
used for drilling a cased hole of 152mm diameter to a
length of 22m at an inclination of 30deg with the
horizontal. The hole is then washed for the possible loose
material / slush at the bottom of the drilled hole. Figure 3
represents typical drilling in progress.

Figure 3: Drilling in Progress using
Casagrande C6 Rig
Figure 4: Typical Cross-Section of the
Ground Anchors
Figure 5: Anchor Stressing in Progress
U-Turn Retrievable Ground Anchors
to Support 19m Deep Excavation at
Proposed New Delhi Station for
Airport Metro Express Line
Grouting
The grout mix is prepared with appropriate water-cement
ratio and special additives to inject the primary grout
followed by secondary grouting under high pressure. The
high pressure secondary grouting enables the fracturing
of primary grout and formation of effective bond with the
surrounding soil.
As part of the systematic quality control on site, operating
parameters (such as flow rate, grout pressure and total
grout volume) for each grouting stage is recorded. Typical
schematic cross-section showing the two levels of ground
anchors is shown in Figure 4.
Stressing
The installed anchors are then allowed for curing period of
about 10 days. In the mean while, the waler beam is fixed
to enable the stressing activity at the end of curing period.
After the curing period, the each and every anchor is
tested / stressed using a multi strand pre-stressing jack of
requisite capacity. This multi strand pre-stressing jack
enables to stress all loops / strands together.
The anchors are stressed to a test load of 66T (i.e. 1.1
times the working load of 60T). After stressing to a test
load, the anchors are locked at the pre-determined design
locking loads. Figure 5 and 6 represents typical stressing
activity in progress and overall site view, respectively.
Figure 6: Overall Site View with Completed Anchors