July - September 2005

Quarrying & Crushing

IN THIS ISSUE
Vol. 28, No. 2
July - September 2005

- An Overview

Quarrying & Crushing

The Art & Science of Quarrying Stone

Mobile Crushers

10

Construction Blasting

12

Blasting Operations Adjacent to

Oil Pipelines

17

Chikhli Quarry For Shell Hazira

18

Tunnelling through Al-Hoti Caves

22

Rock Excavation for Kuttiyadi Hydro

24

Fragments of ECC Quarry touch

international audience

26

Stone revetment for Sai Ganga Canal 29

Hi-tech Blasting for HITEC City

30

Kaleidoscope
230/115kV GIS energized

32

Blast Furnace 4 at RSP

33

Chairman's Speech at 60th AGM

35

New Orders

38

Subansiri Rescue Act

40

L&T - Indias Superbrand

43

Management Man of the Year

44

Focus
As leaders in Engineering and
Construction, L&T is one of the largest
consumer of aggregates and sand for its
various construction activities. The Quarry
and Crushing Operations Dept. which
takes care of this function, is fully geared
to meet the ever-increasing needs of
aggregates mainly for road construction and
other infrastructure development projects.

The Construction Industry is the

largest consumer of aggregates /
sand, the major raw material in road
building and construction projects.
Aggregate materials are produced
from a finite natural resource. Once
easily available, these materials have
now become a scarce commodity
owing to depletion of resources and
restrictive mining policies. Added
to this, producers of this raw
material are all in the unorganized
sector and
they resort to
unscientific and indiscriminate
exploitation of available scarce
stone deposits. In urban areas they
form cartels and manipulate the
market price. The present
aggregate scenario is the result of
low priority accorded to this
material when compared with other
construction materials like steel or
cement. The day is not far off when
aggregates/sand will become the
costliest input for construction.

Quarry Operations
Way back in 1968 ECC felt the
need to have its own quarries for
meeting the requirement of quality
boulders and aggregates for civil
construction projects in and around
Madras and a small beginning was
made in this direction by forming a
Quarry
Department.
The
Department has since then grown
by leaps and bounds, spreading its
wings all over India and
neighbouring countries like Nepal
and Bhutan.
In quantitative terms, with a base
of 0.085 million-ton aggregates
during the late 1960s to 2.00 million
tons in the year 2000 and over 6.5
million tons at the end of 2004-05
ECCs production capacity has
recorded phenomenal growth.
Some of the landmark
structures built during 1968-1972

Sophisticated equipment, state-of-theart technology and a team of young and

talented engineers are meeting this
challenge. In the following pages, we are
bringing to you the evolution, growth and
activities of this technical department of
crucial importance.

Editor
V.S. Ramana
Editorial Team
K. Sridharan
Alexander Benjamin
V D S Prasad
V. Ramesh Kumar
Ashwin Chand
V. Eswar
Subha Anand
Photography
V.S. Natanavelu
Cover Design & Layout
Sanka Graphics Pvt. Ltd., Chennai-18

Boulder production in progress at a stone quarry

and Project Seabird are some of the

major sites where our specialized inhouse blasting services proved a
major advantage in project execution
with high quality and timely delivery.
As examples, we would like to
highlight salient features of two
major projects executed by us
recently:

HCL-Malanjkhand Project
For Asias biggest opencast
copper mines at Malanjkhand
(Madhya Pradesh) for Hindustan
Copper Limited, ECC executed rock
excavation and removal of
overburden. The open-pit mining
extended over a length of 2.2 km
View of a stone crushing plant under erection

with our own aggregates are

Madras Fertilisers Ltd., Madras
Refineries Ltd., Devi Cinema Complex,
Adyar Gate Hotel (the present Park
Sheraton Hotel & Towers).
To cope with the mega road and
infrastructure development projects
in the last decade, our quarry &
crushing activities were stepped up
with specialized services in blasting,
viz. rock blasting, road cuts, utility
blasting, precision controlled rock
blasting, demolition blasting,
blasting for underground caverns,
power house excavation, trench
blasting, tunnel blasting and armor
stone quarrying for breakwaters and
open pit mining, apart from rock
quarrying operations.
Khandla-Bhatinda Pipeline,
Atomic Power Projects at
Kalpakkam, Kaiga, Kota and Tarapur,
RPL-Jamnagar,
Mumbai-Pune
Expressway, Prashanthi Nilayam
campus of Sri Sathya Sai Central
Trust, HITEC City, demolition of
bridges and culverts at RaniganjBarakar Road Project, National
Judicial Academy-Bhopal, Bangalore
Water Supply Scheme, Tala Hydel
Project-Bhutan, HCL-Malankhand
Drilling in progress on a complicated quarry face

was quarried for the project, within

a period of 32 months, transforming
the hill into a 30 ha plateau to serve
as a helipad for the Indian Navy
helicopters.

Explosives Engineering
Construction blasting by its very
nature is risky and hazardous work.
In terms of the hazards they pose,
explosives are next to nuclear /
biological weapons, but their use in
right proportion, at the right places
and with safety provisions is an Art
and Science which we have mastered
over a period of time. Following are
some of the projects, where most
critical construction blasting was
carried out by ECC:
Various grades of stones dumped in sea as a part of breakwater construction
at Project Seabird, Karwar

and is approximately 600 m wide.

The work involved 3 million bank
cubic metres (BCM) of rock
excavation by drilling, blasting and
removal of overburden from semihard and hard formations of granite
and quartz. It also included hauling
the rock / incidental ore and
dumping it at pre-determined
locations.

Front view of Malanjkhand open pit mine

Project Seabird
For the breakwater construction
at Project Seabird for Indian Navy in
Karwar, over 8 million tones of rock
mass was quarried from the
Aligadde Hill within the project site,
on the basis of 1 metre of
breakwater consuming approximately 1600 tons of stone.
Approximately 4 million cu.m. of rock

Sidhpur (Gujarat) Sanganer

(Rajasthan) Petroleum Product
Pipeline of IOCL Tight controlled
hard rock trench blasting adjacent
to existing twin charged oil pipeline
HITEC City Hyderabad Tight
controlled blasting adjacent to
sensitive IT structures
Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparhi
Controlled rock blasting around
critical monumental structures

UB City, Bangalore Controlled

rock blasting adjacent to existing
public buildings
Mumbai-Pune Expressway
adjacent to existing dwellings,
railway lines, roads
Khandala-Lonavla Bypass very
challenging in terms of terrain and
alignment passing through busy
highways, resorts, houses, etc.
Judicious choice of eco-friendly
blasting techniques helped in
achieving safe working and targeted
progress.

Looking to the future

Although once plentiful,
aggregate sources are diminishing at
much faster rate because of
increasing demand. Aggregates
shortage is becoming common and
stone quarries have become hot
properties.
In view of this situation we took
a conscious decision to become
quarry owners ourselves by acquiring/
blocking potential quarries. We have
now our own quarries in Bangalore
and Hyderabad regions, which have
immensely helped our ready mix
concrete operations in these regions.

View of aggregate production from a crushing plant

To meet the increasing demand for

aggregates for RMC operations in
other Regions, we have initiated
action for putting up quarries and
crushing plants in other metros as
well.
At our operating sites we now
have 20 crushing plants, of capacity
ranging from 50 TPH to 300 TPH.
With an average production per
month at 0.6 Million Tons we are
geared to meet the peak demand

of 0.9 Million Tons per month from

various existing and forthcoming
projects by the end of 2005.
Our crushing plants are most
modern and are manned by a
motivated and skilled work force.
Our focus is on improvement in
technology,
processes
and
optimization of resources.
While we are orienting ourselves
towards modernization process, a

need was felt to upgrade the existing

inventory of plants in a cost-effective
manner to meet select requirements
at competitive cost. With the
experience gained over the years, we
have systematically built up a highly
reliable stone-friendly combination of
crushers and systems which meet
various fraction requirements of
different project portfolios, be it
roads, ports or hydel projects, in the
shortest time possible and with
minimal cost.
To extend maximum life for the
wear parts, which account for a
substantial part of the operating
cost, we have developed a knowhow to match the stone
characteristics with the metallurgical
properties of wear components.
Apart from leveraging the
accumulated experience and
technological know-how available
in-house, we needed capable people
to take our vision forward. We have
successfully inducted well-qualified
professionals with mining and
mechanical engineering background

Rock quarry face developed for stone production

to strengthen our quarry and

crushing operations. We are also
imparting continuous training/
orientation to upgrade their skills
and equip them to meet the future
challenges and contribute to the
growth of ECC. The quarry &
crushing team consists of over 100
qualified
and
well-trained
personnel.

Full view of stone quarrying operation below ground

A multi-pronged strategy to
outsource technology, ensure worldclass quality and production, safety
and economy has been adopted.
This is monitored at H.Q. level, which
guides and motivates the staff to set
targets and achieve them.
P.K. Govindaswamy
Sr. DGM & Head
Quarry & Crushing Operations

Quarryology
The Art & Science of Quarrying Stones
Aggregate industry is in a state
of growth sparked by the demand
of infrastructure developmental
projects. Aggregates are used in
nearly all residential, commercial and
industrial buildings and in roads,
highways, bridges, railway ballast,
dams, airports, water and sewage
systems and tunnels.
Construction of One Kilometre of
four lane National Highways requires
40,000 Metric tons of aggregates.
Many house owners realize that
construction of an average 3
bedroom house requires 50 tons of
aggregates and construction of one
average size hospital or school
requires 15,000 tons of aggregates.

acquired professionalism and

respectability through our successful
efforts over a period of time to
attract, induct and retain qualified
and capable mining engineers. With
appropriate on-the-job training, this
new breed of professional mining
engineers has transformed the stone
quarries into safe and enviro-friendly
operational sites by adopting
scientific and safety-oriented
practices.
The life, profile and planning of
quarry operations are determined

by the requirements of a project.

The location could be remote or
very close to the product-end-use
site. Often there is no gestation
period and at short notice we are
required to identify and establish
quarries and produce aggregates.
The size of the quarry could be a
small hillock or a vast stretch of
rocky area.
The geological
occurrence, topography and
accessibility, therefore, play a very
major role in a successful quarrying
operation.

With the growing demand for

aggregates, the stone quarries have
come under the watchful eyes of
investors. For a construction major
like L&T, the price of aggregates often
plays a major role in losing or winning
mega civil projects. Long range
planning is therefore necessary to
help ensure adequate economical
supplies of quality aggregates. The
day is not far off when the price of
aggregates could become the
deciding factor in any project.
Quarrying for aggregates, being
in the unorganized sector, poses
many challenges unknown to large
captive mines in the organised
mining industry. Veterans in the
mainstream mining profession look
at L&T with awe and admiration for
the fast track mining we carry out
to meet our project requirements
with absolute safety and with the
least adverse impact on environment.

Quarry operations
The

quarrying

profession

Aggregates and stockpiling of boulders

Stone quarry under development stage

Safety regulations with regard to

noise, vibration and dust generation
in notified safety zones are stringent
and vary from state to state. These
concerns are all addressed at ECCs
sites with the in-house expertise
developed over a period of time and
it is now possible to control the blasts
to the desired level of safety and
even carry out bigger blasts in
conformity with environment
protection norms.

Crushing operations
The process is simple - make big
rocks into little rocks. With the

Aggregates stockpile

opening up of the economy and

easing of import regulations,
producing aggregates has become
easier due to the availability of
sophisticated high capacity mobile
and
semi-mobile
crushers.
Contractors have now access to
latest knowledge as well as modern
equipment and are in a position to
meet high quality standards and
supply aggregates at a competitive
price.
Crushing technology is becoming
more and more advanced with
sophisticated controls, accurate
measurements and maintenance free

designs. Automation and enabling

software have helped in enhancing
process efficiency and minimising
waste and non-value-added
activities.
While we are orienting ourselves
towards modernization processes,
we are also upgrading the existing
inventory of plant & equipment in a
cost-effective manner to meet our
project requirements while
maintaining optimum possible asset
utilization ratio.

RMC
Construction industry has taken
a giant leap forward with the
advent of city-based ready-mix
concrete (RMC) plants catering
mainly to office/commercial
complexes and industrial projects.
Captive quarries with crushing plants
have become an essential support
facility for RMC plants to prevent
manipulation of aggregate prices by
some unscrupulous suppliers and to
ensure quality and steady supply. We
have successfully established such
quarry and crusher facilities in
Bangalore and Hyderabad and are

in the process of setting up similar

facilities in other metros to meet the
requirements of our RMC plants.

Crusher Sand
Non-availability or restricted
availability of river sand is becoming
a major area of concern for
contractors in big cities. Crushed
stone sand has become an accepted
substitute for river sand and we are
the first in the industry to introduce
impactors to produce it in our
captive crushing plants in Bangalore
and Hyderabad .

Looking ahead
In line with the Managements
long term strategy, we have chalked
out plans and initiated steps to
acquire additional quarry areas
wherever possible. We are scouting
for and blocking potential stone
deposits not only for RMC plants but
also for prospective mega projects.
With increasing transport leads to
plants, operational efficiency at the
quarry and processing need constant
fine tuning and it has become a must
for us to manage quarries within
accepted norms and efficiencies.
Further, in view of depleting stone
resources and increasing difficulties
in getting clearances, we have to

A rock processing plant

necessarily exploit the existing

potential to the fullest extent. We
are also looking at alternative mining
systems like going to lower depths
with in-pit crushing, bench lift and
high angle conveyor system of
mining.
Managing an aggregate facility
is no longer the simple task it used
to be. It calls for high calibre
managers with skills to deal with
tough and complex situations in the
production of aggregates, meeting
tight delivery schedules without
compromising on safety, quality and
cost. Focussed attention is paid to
identify and nurture such qualities

in our engineers through

appropriate placement, assessment
of leadership potential, performance
appraisal and training.
With the above basic philosophy
of management, backed by a pool
of experienced and talented
engineers and managers, we are
confident and well placed to take
on future challenges.
P.K. Govindaswamy
Sr. DGM & Head
Quarry & Crushing Operations

B.S. Ananthamurthy
Regional Quarry Manager, Hyderabad

View of stone crushing plant with aggregate storing bins

Mobile Crushers
Going places producing aggregates
Stationary primary crushers, as
the name suggests, are crushers
permanently located on site, often
some distance from the quarry, mine
or workplace, and serviced with rock
by a system of transportation
through trucks or lorries. However,
there is a problem with this type of
installation - that is the cost of
transportation, which can sometimes
exceed more than half of all costs
(drilling, blasting, loading, crushing,
etc).
With a need to increase efficiency
and reduce costs, mine and quarry
owners have, rightly, seen
transportation as an area where cost
reductions are possible. These
savings have been achieved by
moving the permanent primary
crusher into the quarry/pit, thereby
reducing the haul distance, and
replacing the conventional methods
of transportation with newer ones.
This triggered the thought, Why
not eliminate the haul (and the
haulers) altogether? which paved
the way for mobile crushing
equipment.

View of mobile crushing plant

10

The main advantages of mobile,

track-mounted primary crushing
plants are their ability to maximize
productivity and reduce operating
costs while at the same time
increase safety and reduce
environmental impact. Though the
concept of mobile and semi-mobile
primary crushers was considered
quite some time back, many of these
were so heavy (upto 1,500 tons) and
needed so much planning to move
them that they were seldom
relocated, making them once again
effectively permanent facilities.
Mobility is no substitute for
effective crushing, and tracked
mobile crushers were designed to
meet the same basic criteria as
stationary plants. Mobile crushers
have the ability to crush the largest
lumps to the desired size coupled
with easy-to-use system and maintain
higher productivity and longer
durability.
The basic components of a mobile
tracked crushing plant are almost
the same as for a stationary one but

with the added advantage of

complete mobility even up slopes
as steep as 1-to-10 incline. But it
doesnt have to be just the primary
crusher that is mobile, but it can be
built with two, three or even four
different crushing and screening
stages. While it is true that in terms
of spares and maintenance for
mobile crushers there are more
hydraulics, engine and electronic
components, these are generally
well supported by the crusher
manufacturers themselves.
But track-mounted crushing
systems have a clear edge over their
stationary counterpart in their ability
to be positioned right at the
workplace, and then be relocated in
as little as 20 minutes. User can
certainly optimise productivity at
lowest operating costs, by
appropriately positioning the
equipment at site or on the rock
face. Using haulers can be very
inefficient. Conveyors are much
more economical than using haulers
and there is no limit on their length
(30 kilometers-plus is not uncommon
in open cast mines). The main
benefit, however, is their ability to
be quickly relocated, which is made
possible by connecting the conveyor
to the crushing plant, which in turn
moves the whole assembly. This rapid
relocation reduces downtime when
blasting and changing location
within the pit.
There are even significant
environmental advantages of using
a mobile system. Eliminating haulers
reduces noise, vibrations and
emissions and fuel consumption.
Safety is also enhanced, since fastmoving vehicles play a significant role
in site accident statistics. With their

came forward to offer their trackmounted crushing plants

Lokotracks - in line with our
requirements and specifications.
The decision to accept Metsos
proposal came after a team of
personnel from our Quarry &
Crushing Department, aided by
colleagues in the Materials
Department, studied the offers from
various equipment suppliers from
technical and commercial angles.

Excavator feeding mobile crushing plant

lower capital and operating costs,

flexibility of siting and elimination of
the need for haulers and haul roads,
mobile crushing plants offer an
attractive alternative to the
traditional stationary crusher and
hauler system. The reduction in
manpower, fuel usage and pollution
is mirrored by an increase in health
and safety.
Offering higher
productivity and low cost-per-ton
production, mobile tracked crushing
plants are truly destined to become
a more common sight in quarries and
mines worldwide.

of the time available for execution is

lost in establishing quarry and
crushing facilities.
As road
construction work is highly time
bound, any time-saving measures
would be very much welcome and
one is always on the lookout for
solutions to save time. Added to this,
quarries are becoming scarce and
smaller in size, and additional costs
are incurred in shifting the plants
from one location to another.
It is in such a scenario that ECC
took up the decision to go in for
mobile crushers, and Metso Minerals

ECCs choice of mobile crushers

proved to be right when the first
Lokotrack, with its unique plug in,
plug out technology, was delivered
at site on September 24, 2003 and
was deployed the same day within
four hours of arrival, thanks to
meticulous planning and excellent
co-ordination on the part of both
Metso and ECC. The plant achieved
a production of 1,00,000 MT in 603
hours, the fastest by any company
in India using Lokotrack. This was
possible due to advance planning of
quarrying boulders and stacking
them.
N. Markandeyulu
DGM (Crusher Operations)

R. Venkatramanan
Manager (Crushing)

In quarries where supply is large

and constant in a small radius the
stationary plant is justified. But
where supply is not large then
mobile plants have the advantage of
being able to circulate between
locations and build up stockpiles.

Mobile Crushers in ECC

Aggregates form a major
component of any road construction
project. The key to a road projects
success lies in efficient and speedy
procurement of aggregates and it
has been the general experience that
it would take anywhere from four
to six months to set up a quarry-cumcrushing plant. This means that for
a project of, say, 30 months, 20-25%

Another view of the mobile crushing plant

11

Construction Blasting
The Art and Science of Creative Breaking
No construction is possible
without causing some amount of
destruction. Minimal destruction
and least possible damage to
environment are the guiding
principles for the practitioners of
Explosives Engineering.
When
mishaps
involving
explosives occur, they are often well
publicized and criticized, whereas a
great majority of blasting
operations, even the most
challenging ones, that pass off well,
go
unacknowledged
and
unappreciated.
Negative perceptions about
blasting can greatly affect
construction work. Many projects
are either delayed or stopped in
their tracks by pressure groups who
are genuinely concerned over
possible environmental hazards but
not well-informed about the safety
measures taken by the quarry
operators.

Challenge
For engineers, blasters and
project supervisors, managing risks
associated with blasting is becoming
an ever-increasing challenge,
particularly when it is to be carried
out in populated areas. In some
cases, owners and engineers simply
avoid the risk of blasting by
specifying that only mechanical
methods of breaking should be
used, even at the cost of delay and
increase in project cost.
It is true that by its very nature
blasting is hazardous work but most
of the times, the possibility of a mishap
and its consequences are exaggerated
by people with vested interests and
ulterior motives. Stringent ecologyrelated regulations, overzealous nongovernment organizations and
unfounded fears of vibrations and
stone missiles make the job of a
Blasting Engineer tense and
challenging.

We take this opportunity to

record and share how our blasting
experts successfully handled some
such difficult assignments and quietly
contributed to timely completion of
projects.

Trenching operations
Trenches are excavated to
accommodate pipelines and cables
for industrial and domestic purposes.
Very often, this is done in crowded
residential/business areas or where
other product pipelines already exist.
One such example is the SidhpurSanganer Pipeline (SSPL) Project
where two charged oil pipelines
were situated at a horizontal distance
of 6 m and 12 m respectively.
Incidentally, the other neighbor
pipeline was also laid by ECC under
the Kandla-Bhatinda Pipeline Project.
In such circumstances, any vibrations
in excess of the permissible level, and
fly-rocks can be substantially
damaging. The SSPL job was carried
out successfully without any mishaps
or incidents.

Footing & Foundation

Blasting

Blasting operation in progress

12

Footings and foundations are

integral to any building structure.
They require controlled and safe
blasting operations to avoid any
disturbance to adjacent structures
and people living in the
neighbourhood. To our credit, we
have carried out such works for the
landmark projects at Puttaparthy,
HITEC City Phase I in Hyderabad, GE
and UB City in Bangalore. Recently
a very sensitive project involving
work of similar nature was handled
by ECC at Microsoft Phase II Site,
Hyderabad. Around 30,000 cu.m. of

hard rock was blasted just 3 metres

away from the existing Microsoft
Phase I building, which houses very
sensitive instruments, with no
damage whatsoever to the building.
A commendable feat well
appreciated by the client.

Excavation
In any construction project
excavation is a major activity. It is
more so in the case of hydro-electric
projects where, when hard rock is
encountered, blasting poses a
challenge for the mining engineer
as it needs to be carried out adjacent
to structures like power house, dam,
etc. At the Kuttiyadi Hydro Project
in Kerala executed by ECC the
powerhouse was just one metre
away from the site of excavation.
Challenging as the work was, it was
not something new to ECC as similar
mass rock excavation work had
already been carried out at
Hindustan Copper Limited, Kaiga
Atomic Power Project, etc. The
Kuttiyadi work was successfully
executed with no record of any
explosives-related mishaps.

Road Excavation
As in other projects, in road
projects too blasting plays a vital role
in excavation activities. Blasting
pattern for a road cut, where special
emphasis is placed on the final rock
wall contour, smooth blasting or presplitting is commonly used. Drilling
with high precision is of utmost
importance for the final result.

View of the rock trench with pipe laying work in progress

blasting techniques had helped in

achieving safe working and the
targeted progress.

Explosives demolition of
structures (Implosion)
Explosives demolition of
structures requires careful planning
and judicious use of explosives and
accurate initiation system.
ECC was the first to introduce /
carry out successful demolition of
structures in the country using
implosion. Some of the projects

where ECC employed this technique

are:
Demolition of bridge piers near
the existing Nonia bridge on G.T.
Road, Asansol for widening the
BarakarRaniganj section of National
Highway.
Overhead tank demolition in the
thickly populated industrial area of
Whitefield, Bangalore.
Demolition of three bridges for
widening the Tumkur-Sira stretch of
National Highway

Some of the challenging road

blasting assignments done by us:
Mumbai-Pune Expressway
adjacent to dwellings, railway lines,
roads
Khandala-Lonavla Bypass very
challenging in terms of terrain and
alignment passing through busy
highways, resorts, houses, etc.
Judicious choice of eco-friendly

One foot thick imported rubber mats being used at HITEC city project for the first time
in the country to cover the blasting and prevent fly rocks

13

Blasting operation in progress

Pre-blast Survey
The survey aims at assessing the
immediate environment and
evaluating the impact of blasting on
the environment. In many cases the
pre-blast survey involves interaction

with hostile public. It is here that

the blasting engineers art of
managing people comes into play.
He has to put to good use his
knowledge, tact and public relations
skills
to
remove
general

apprehensions about the blasting

and assure the public that their
concerns will be fully addressed while
designing the blast.
The focus of the mining engineer
in such operations is always on
control of fly-rocks and blastinduced ground vibrations. The
techniques and tools he adopts are
briefly described below:Control of Fly-rocks
Fly-rocks are stone missiles
generated by the blast energy.
When the trajectory of fly-rocks is
greater than the limit of danger
zone, they are potentially harmful.
To control the flying stones, it is
necessary to cover the blast with
sand bags, mild steel plates, rubber
and wire rope blast mats, etc. For
the SSPL project, imported blast mats
were used to minimize or avoid the
generation of fly-rocks. Some other
techniques like sufficient stemming,
optimum quantity of explosives and

Reduction of oversized boulder by hydraulic rock breaking

14

non-simultaneous blasting can also

help in suppressing fly-rocks.
Control of Blast-Induced Ground
Vibrations
Blast-induced ground vibrations
are the outcome of dissipation of
explosive energy into surrounding
strata. Research on the subject
reveals that if 8 lakh MT of
explosives
are
blasted
simultaneously, the vibrations
generated will be equivalent to an
earthquake of intensity 5 on Richter
Scale. With this fact, the damaging
effect of a blast can be judged as a
blasting of moderate magnitude
consumes 1500 2000 Tons of
explosives. To control it, methods
like line drilling, pre-splitting,
smooth blasting, cushion blasting,
etc. are effective techniques, of
which pre-splitting and line drilling
are the most popular.
All the methods available to
control vibrations work more or less
on the same principle which is to

provide a weak zone where the area

under blasting can break. Moreover,
these techniques provide a smooth
post-blast profile avoiding any kind
of over-break. Although geological
conditions determine the generation
or suppression of vibrations, use of
delay detonators and optimum blast
parameters also can assist in keeping
ground vibrations at an acceptable
level.
Soundless Chemical Demolition
Agents (SCDAs)
Where there is no scope for
blasting due to environmental
constraints, ECC found the use of
SCDAs to be the ideal solution to
control noise, vibration, fly rock and
smoke.
New products / instruments
improve safety and take guesswork
out of blast design.
With its vast know-how and
conscientious efforts to ensure
highest possible safety standards in

this inherently hazardous profession

ECCs Blasting crew has won allround appreciation from clients,
Government agencies and others
concerned.
With a view to constantly
updating its knowledge and sharing
information with professionals in the
field, the Blasting Crew members
periodically take part in training
programmes and workshops
conducted by Mining Engineers
Association and such other
professional bodies.
To ensure safety during blasting
operations, the Blasting Crew is
equipped with the following:
Imported Seismographs - To
monitor blast-induced ground
vibrations and air over pressure.
Thunder Monitoring Instruments
Advance alert within 50 km radius
of approaching Thunder Storms,
etc. - a safety precaution in electrical
blasting operation.

View of bench formation in a stone quarry

15

Digital Ohmmeter Accurate

reading of ohms in the blasting circuit.
Stray current detectors To
detect stray current intensity while
carrying out blasting near high
tension overhead lines, etc.
12" thick imported rubber mats
To arrest fly rock effectively during
blasting operations in urban areas.
A professional blaster has many
roles to play as supervisor, risk
manager, safety coordinator,
explosives engineer, communicator
and decision maker. However, his
primary task is to successfully
manage the risk of blasting, which
starts well before the blaster shows
up to do the work, and ensure that
blasting is done safely and in
compliance with safety regulations,
specifications and rules.
The challenge facing the Blasting
Crew is to create utmost safetyfriendly conditions during blasting
operations by understanding the
engineering principles of blasting risk
management and by applying them
properly at all project sites. Meeting
this successfully will be rewarded by
fewer and fewer accidents and the
validation of our blasting methods
that are a valuable tool for the
construction industry and society.
A. Ravi Kumar

Bridge demolition (implosion) using explosives

Manager (Construction Blasting &

Quarrying) HQ - Chennai

Change of Telephone Numbers

To call the headquarters of Indias largest construction
organization dial 044-22526000 or 044-22528000
Or simply prefix 044-2252 to the extension number you need - and you will be directly connected to the
person you want to reach.
Our fax number is unchanged 044-22493317
So now, it will be quicker and simpler than ever before to get in touch with the Chennai office of Indias
largest engineering and construction organization.

16

Blasting Operations Adjacent to

Oil Pipelines
After the successful execution of
the Kandla-Bhatinda pipeline project
in 1994-95, the client, Indian Oil
Corporation Limited awarded to ECC
one more prestigious project of
laying underground oil pipeline from
Siddhpur in Gujrat to Sanganer in
Rajasthan in 2003-04. The length of
this stretch is 517 km, which was
divided into three spreads for ease
and speed in execution and better
operational control.
To accommodate the pipeline, a
1.5m deep and 1.06meter wide
trench was to be constructed over
the full stretch and the work entailed
excavation of 50,000 cu.m. of hard
rock over a spread of 100km. The
rock could be excavated with blasting
only. Here two more live petroproducts pipelines, KandlaBhatinda
pipeline (KBPL) and SalayaMathura
pipeline (SMPL) were buried with an
average cover of 1.5m at a distance
of 6meters and 12meters respectively
from the proposed SiddhpurSanganer pipeline (SSPL) alignment.

the two existing oil pipelines. 32 trial

blasts were carried out and, based
on the results, scientists from CMRI
restricted the ground vibrations and
maximum charge per delay at a level
of 50 mm/s and 1.25 Kg respectively.
They also suggested a firing pattern
to keep the ground vibrations and
fly-rock within safe limits.
With the firing pattern suggested
by CMRI, it was experienced that the
time period required to complete the
operations in prescribed fashion,
would be more than time available
as the pace of advance was not
matching with requirements. In
addition, the cost was higher than
estimated. We brought this fact to
CMRIs notice and proposed an
alternative firing pattern which, after
trials, was approved by them.
In the new blast design pattern
proposed by us, blast induced
ground vibrations were much lower
than the limits prescribed by CMRI
and, in addition, the operations

turned out to be economical and

faster. Every blast was covered with
imported rubber blast mats, M.S.
plates and sand bags. Blast induced
ground vibrations were measured by
Instantel, an imported seismograph.
While blasting, special care was taken
to ensure utmost safety.
The trenching operations were
carried out along a stretch where
even minute lack of attention and
concentration could result in
cessation of activities but the
conscious efforts of the work team
achieved accident-free operations all
through the duration. The
operations were completed
successfully and ahead of schedule
and this received all-round
appreciation from the clients, the
consultants and the general public.
GJPN Murthy,Construction Manager
S.A. Thiyagrajan, Blasting incharge
A. Ravikumar, Manager
(Construction Blasting & Quarrying)

Moreover, almost the entire

alignment was congested with
residential and office buildings,
schools, railway lines, power and
telephone lines, national and state
highways and other important
permanent structures. All these
factors made the trenching
operations difficult, time-consuming
and sensitive. Tight controlled
blasting was the only solution and
this needed a lot of homework to
determine the parameters for
controlled blasting operations.
A detailed survey of the stretch
was made and scientists from Central
Mining Research Institute (CMRI)
were called in to examine the
feasibility of blasting operations near

Rock trenching operation for pipe laying

17

Chikhli Quarry
For Shell Hazira Project
Quarry operations at Chikhli
Quarry in Gujarat have been
another success story of ECCs
Technical Cell (Quarry & Crusher
Operations). Forming an important
chapter of the story is Chikhli
Quarrys contribution to the LNG
Terminal Project that ECC executed
for Hazira LNG Private Limited, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the

multinational energy major Royal

Dutch Shell Group. The project
consisted of developing a port that
included a 250 m wide channel (to
berth 40,000-50,000 oil tankers),
marine facilities, storage and regasification plant, gas transmission
pipelines, etc.
The sea is generally rough in this

part of the country, and thus a

combination of causeways and spurs
needed to be constructed to
minimize the impact of tides. For
executing this part of the work
about 5 million tons of boulders
were required to be used as armour
and core fill. To meet this rather large
requirement we identified two
quarries, Chikhli and Maruti, both at
an approximate lead of 100 km from
the job site. One of the important
factors, which influenced the client
to award the job to ECC, was our
ready possession of a quarry at
Chikhli (which had earlier met the
boulder requirements for our RILHazira and NTPC-Hazira projects).
In order to meet the supply
schedule and minimize wastages, an
appropriate Quarry Development
Plan was prepared which envisaged
a schematic programme to excavate
soil, weathered rock and good rock.
In Chikhli area, large diameter blast
hole mining operations were not
being permitted as some owners had
operated the quarries in a nonscientific fashion, causing damage to
nearby structures on account of
unsafe level of ground vibrations
and fly-rocks and resulting in public
agitations. In view of this, only
jackhammer operations were
permitted.

Blasted muck - stone quarry

18

However, as our requirement was

quite large, and jackhammer
operations were too slow we
needed to go in for large diameter
blast hole mining operations. Hence
we took up the matter with the
District Collector and village elders
and explained to them the advances
and developments in mining
technology. We assured them of safe
operations and conducted a trial

the occurrence of vibrations and flyrocks were within acceptable limits.

During the course of our operations,
there was heavy seepage of ground
water but we overcame the problem
using heavy duty and high capacity
submersible pumps. Around three
million tons of rock was mined from
this quarry in a short time span of
22 months.

A rock processing plant

blast in the presence of scientists

from Central Mining Research
Institute (CMRI) and local public.
The trial blast was carried out
keeping the locals at a distance of
100 meters from the blast site. Blast
vibration measuring instruments
were placed at various locations
including houses of some residents
in the area. CMRI scientists as well
as the general public were satisfied

with the results of the blast and we

were able to convince all concerned
that our blasting/quarrying
operations would be absolutely safe
and in conformity with the rules
governing such operations.
Our activities started in full swing
and were monitored closely. Details
of each and every blast were
collected and analyzed to confirm

The quarrying operations at

Chikhli quarry were carried out in the
vicinity of residential buildings in a safe
and environment-friendly manner.
Our meticulous quarry development
plan facilitated uninterrupted and
trouble-free work even during the
monsoons. The operations were
completed 45 days ahead of schedule
with eight million accident free manhours. All the activities were planned
and executed to international
standards in terms of safety, product
quality and scientific working
practices, a fact appreciated and
acknowledged by the clients.
T. A. Baskar
Regional Quarry Manager - ABRO

Breakwater constructed at LNG Terminal for Shell Hazira, Gujarat

19

Mechanised quarries pave the way for

Hiriyur - Bellary Road
The scope of work for quarrying
and crushing was to mine out and
crush about 2.4 million MT of
aggregates. To meet the requirement,
lands for setting up quarrying and
crushing operations were acquired at
Chikanahalli and Kodihalli villages in
Chitradurga district.

Crushing plant with aggregate storage bins

As a part of Karnataka State

Highway Implementation Project,
Karnataka Government planned
strengthening and up-gradation of

its U-11 package, a 144 km long

stretch from Hiriyur to Bellary. The
job was awarded to ECC in March
2003.

Stone crushing plant showing screening arrangements

20

Soon after obtaining mining

rights, quarrying operations
commenced but setting up and
commissioning of the crushing plant
got delayed as crushing plants from
other sites could not be released and
mobilized as planned. In view of this
a mobile crushing plant was erected
and commissioned at Chikanahalli. This
was the first mobile crushing plant in
ECC. With this unit, around one lakh
MT of boulders were crushed to avoid
any interruption in road activities for
want of aggregates and Granular
Sub-base (GSB).

Benching in stone quarrying

After sometime stationary

crushing plants for both quarries
were erected and commissioned.
Soon the plants started crushing
aggregates with high efficiency and
are still working without any major
breakdown or cessation.
Local problems are inevitably
associated with large scale and
mechanized quarrying and crushing
operations. Chikanahalli and
Kodihalli quarries were no exception
to this. Both the quarries were
situated adjacent to agricultural and
cultivable lands. There were
complaints of crops getting affected
by the dust generated during
blasting and crushing operations.

Following this we identified the

lands that were affected and
compensated
the
owners
appropriately.
Some of these lands were
wetlands and their owners were
under the wrong impression that
there was depletion in water table
on account the ground vibrations
generated in blasting activity. On
investigation it was found that the
blast induced ground vibrations
were well within the safe limit and
that the lowering of water table
was only because of deficit rainfall/
tapping and not on account of our
blasting operations.

A report based on the results of

these studies was prepared and
submitted to the locals and we were
able to convince the local people
that our operations had no role in
the depletion of the water table.
Identification of quarries at
proper locations, safe, efficient and
continuous operations and our
ability to anticipate problems and
resolve them quickly are some
factors that made the quarrying and
crushing work very successful in
terms of both saving in costs and
completion as per schedule.
N. Maheshwar Reddy
Manager Mines, HBRP

21

Tunnelling through Al-Hoti Caves, Oman

Larsen & Toubro (Oman) LLC [LTO]

executed a contract for the Al-Hoti
Cave Tunnel Project, valued at 1.41
million Omani Rials (IRS 16.5 Crores).
This was awarded by Ministry of
Tourism and Commerce, Oman on
23-06-2004 with the project
completion date of 18-04-2005 (270
Days). For LTO, the project was a first
of its kind and it took up the
challenge in right earnest and
completed the job successfully within
schedule. The execution team
consisted of seven staff members
and 175 workers.
The Sultanate of Oman, a land
of deserts like other countries in the
Gulf Region, has not been a very
favourite tourist destination. The
only tourist attractions it could boast
of were the historic forts and long,
sandy beaches. As a step forward in
developing tourist spots in Oman,
Tourism authorities and the Omani
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
came up with a proposal to develop
their own first Country Cave - The
Al-Hoti caves system - with the
guidance of Austrias Werkstatt Wien
and Naturist Historische.

Geology of Oman
Granitic gneiss is the oldest rock
in Oman that is seen most
extensively in the southeastern part
while limestone of different varieties
is found in the rest of the country.
Limestone rocks are thinly bedded
with varying clay content, black
shale and oyster layers.

Rock Properties
The limestone rocks of Al-Hoti
plateau are formed as a result of
accumulation of organism-like shells
and oysters in the seabed. The Al-Hoti
plateau, where the caves are formed,
belong to the vanished Tethys ocean.
The rock belongs to the geological
era of cretaceous period between 65
and 136 million years ago, just after
the Jurassic Dinosaur disappeared
from the earth.
The rock is grey limestone of
dense variety with dry density of 2.65
to 2.70 Kg/M3, compressive strength
of <125 mpa and hardness of 5 in
Mohs scale of hardness. The
abrasion value is < 30 and crushing
strength 150 Kn.

The Al-Hoti caves are dark,

surrounded by rock and mud and
are so quiet that one can hear ones
heartbeat. There is no day or night
here, as the sun never shines. The
temperature ranges from 240 to 300,
depending on the weather
conditions prevailing outside.
The caves are an exotic formation
with streams and waterfalls, tight
crawlways, deep canyons and pits,
huge rooms with fallen stone blocks,
crickets, bats and cave rats. The
passageways are of undulating and
jagged/serrated surface, while the
terrain is hard and rough, restricting
free movement.

Entrance
The age of the Stalactites and
Stalagmites inside the cave can be put
at 100,000 years. This cave is a good
example of the subterranean wadi
system. It has two big accessible
entrances: The Upper Alhuta Entrance
and Lower Al-Fallah Entrance.
The Upper Alhuta Entrance lies
on the elevated plain, approximately
1,040 m above sea level. The lower
Al-Fallah Entrance lies approximately
810 m above sea level. The maximal
difference in altitude inside the cave
is 230 m; it is the difference between
the main entrances. Both the
entrances seem to be having approx.
20 30 m free drops. The main
passage between the two main
entrances is about 4.4 km long.

Cave Tunnel

Exotic Stalactites inside the Al-Hoti cave

22

A cave tunnel has been

constructed as an underground
facility for the visitors to directly
enter the main cave system as the
natural entrance is quite narrow and
difficult to use.

Along the length, the tunnel varies

in its diameter - 2.5 m (Sluice Tunnel
25 m), 3.4 m (Entrance tunnel - 95m)
4.5 m (Station tunnel - 28 m).
The entire alignment of 148 m
length of Tunnel is S-shaped and
of Type D in cross section plan. The
tunnels rocks were excavated by the
conventional method of drilling and
blasting. The tunnel rocks are
classified according to the Six QSystem formulated by Grimstad and
Braton, 1993. The fractured rock
portion along the tunnel alignment
is given required support by means
of 25 arch-shaped U beam structural
ribs as passive support, polymer fibre
shotcretes (973 sq.m.) and 182
stainless steel bolts as active support
system.

Developing Caves
The cave development work
included supply of electricity for
lighting, erection of access pathways
(utilizing concrete, iron frames and
sheets, stainless steel, handrails, etc.)
and lobbies for an easy access to the
underground and rough caves. As
an added attraction to the visitors a
mini theatre with special sound
effects is also being built inside the
caves.

Hurdles
Great care had to be taken in
developing and constructing the

tunnel as the cave environment is very

fragile and any small changes
affecting the catchments above cave
or the caves themselves can have a
major impact on the caves and their
ecosystems.
Under
these
circumstances meeting the Clients
specifications was indeed a
challenge.

Identification and mitigation of

geological uncertainties

The hurdles encountered include

intersection of inactive fault zones,
palaeo silt soils, cavities and
sinkholes.

Liaisoning with the Omani and

Austrian consultants for getting
approval for the recommended
support systems for the tunnel

Inside the caves there were

restrictions on space and numerous
crawlways. Every activity like loading,
lifting, concreting and erecting
works for the whole 2 Km
passageway was done manually.
The scope of work
invovlved following
responsibilities:
Supervision
of
tunnel drilling and
blasting activities
Collecting
and
labeling rock samples
for each blast

A bat inside the cave

Vibration monitoring
studies outside and
inside the caves
during blasting

Noticing the stability of the tunnel

by convergent, extenseometers,
spyglasses readings
Classifying the tunnel rock mass
and
recommending
the
appropriate support system

Implementing the specification

standards
and
drawings
sanctioned by the consultants in
the field and documenting them
Daily visits to cave to ensure the
stability of the stalactites and
stalagmites and hanging rock
boulders
The project gave us enormous
learning experience to enhance our
skills and knowledge at the global
level through interaction with the
renowned cave experts of Austria
and Oman.

J. Siva Kumar Mathan

Mining Geologist
H.Q. Chennai
23

Rock Excavation for Kuttiyadi Hydro Power

Project, Kakkayam, Kerala
The work of design and turnkey
execution of Kuttiyadi Additional
Extension Scheme (2x50 MW) in
Kakkayam, Kerala was awarded to
BHEL-L&T Consortium by Kerala State
Electricity Board (KSEB). L&Ts scope
involved design and execution of all
civil and hydro-mechanical works.
The major civil works included
surface,
sub-surface
and
underground excavations of more
than 2 lakh cu.m. from the hill-top
reservoir to the power house for a
stretch of about 3 Kms. with a level
difference of about 700 m. The
terrain has steep slopes of about 40o
and thick reserved forest inhabited
by wild animals, snakes, poisonous
insects, etc.
For one of KSEBs earlier schemes
(1 X 50 MW) at the same location
rock excavation was done near the
power house by another agency
using chemical explosives, to avoid
damage to existing structures due to
ground vibration and fly rocks. They

Controlled rock blasting operation in slopes

24

drilled holes on rock surface using

rock drill machines, poured specially
made chemicals and allowed for 1012 hrs. to pass for cracks to develop
in the rock portion. This was, of
course, time-consuming and more
expensive, compared to normal
controlled blasting.
During
the
pre-tender
investigation, staff of Tech. Cell
(Quarry and Crushing) from H.Q.
visited site and suggested that rock
excavation be done by controlled
blasting as it would cause no
damages on account of ground
vibration and fly rocks and would be
faster than other methods in
addition to being economical. Upon
award of job, an appropriate
methodology, incorporating specific
steps to control/minimize aftereffects of blasting was developed by
Technical Cell and submitted to KSEB.
Design parameters spacing,
burden, depth, safe explosive charge
and initiating methods - were arrived

at after trial blasts conducted in the

presence of KSEBs officials. Ground
vibration was monitored using
Minimate, an imported instrument,
and thereafter the design and the
procedure were duly approved by
the clients. There are many houses
and rubber trees, in addition to
KSEBs powerhouse and switchyard,
along the excavation alignment.
Restricted explosives charge per hole
and maximum charges per delay
were decided subject to distance of
the nearest structure, residence, etc.
Adequate muffling arrangements
were also made with MS Plates, sand
bags, etc. to arrest fly rocks. Strict
implementation of blast control plan
and systems yielded excellent allround improvement in the
excavation progress to the entire
satisfaction of the clients.
Presently blasting operations are
going on smoothly even at close
proximity to the existing power
house (within a metre), sub-station,

etc. Initially there were objections

from people residing within a radius
of about 100 to 200 metres as they
were concerned over possible
ground vibrations and high-decibel
sound. However, the actual ground
vibrations were monitored in the
presence of KSEB officials and the
residents to remove their genuine
apprehensions and we were able to
convince them that ground
vibrations generated by the blast
were absolutely harmless. Besides,
to re-assure the residents we
brought them to the site and
showed them the power house
structure of 28 m height with glass
windows, GI sheets, etc., which had
no damage whatsoever even after
several blasting operations.
A few words as to the
importance of having our own
explosive magazine license will be
pertinent. Though it may be
advantageous to take the help of a
Form 22 license holder in the initial
stages, it is very essential to have our
own explosives licence by which
there are lot of advantages like
saving of cost, time, transport, safe
storage, availability of all kinds of
explosives in time to meet differing

Deep rock excavation in shaft

requirements depending on site

excavation conditions.
As far as rock excavation is
concerned, in this site we have
harnessed modern blasting
technology to our maximum
advantage, thanks to Technical Cell
for their timely assistance. Our client
KSEB and our Senior Officials have
also appreciated this methodology
and were surprised to see, for the
first time, the fast pace of rock
excavation activities with all safety

and controlled methods in place. At

the current rate we are confident
to complete the rock excavation
activities ahead of schedule, if all
fronts are cleared by KSEB in time.
M.V. Ramachandran
Project Manager

J. Malavan
Construction Manager (Civil)

S.A. Thiyagarajan
Blasting Incharge

Rock excavation at collar for shaft

25

Fragments of ECC Quarry touch

international audience
One of the major contributing
factors for the successful completion
of Project Seabird was the
optimization of the geologically
unfavourable quarry profile to yield
required quantity of armour stones
for the project by state-of-the-art
blasting technology.
Having accomplished this highly
complicated surgical task, the
Technical Cell (Quarrying & Crushing)
felt the need for sharing the
knowledge thus gained with other
professionals in the field.
Enthused by the encouragement
extended by the Management, the
Technical Cell developed a technical
paper titled Fragmentation
Techniques to Produce Armour
Stone Blocks for Marine Structures
- A Case Study. The International
Society for Explosives Engineers, a
world body devoted to advancement
of the science and art of explosives
engineering based in USA, selected

the paper and invited ECC to present

the same at their 31st Annual
Conference on Explosives and
Blasting Techniques at Orlando,
Florida, during February 510, 2005.

from 0.5 to 1000 kg are called core

fill and boulders greater than 1000
kg are termed armour blocks. These
armour blocks cover and protect the
core fill and prevent it from escaping.

Synopsis

Armour block production from

any blast depends chiefly on
geological
(geo
quarrying)
conditions and blast design. The task
of explosives engineer is to produce
armour blocks and core economically
from the designated quarry in right
proportion with minimal losses
(wastes).

This paper was presented by A.

Ravi Kumar, Manager (Mines). Nearly
4000 explosive engineers attended
the conference and appreciated the
presentation. This is indeed a
landmark achievement for the
Technical Cell Quarrying and
Crushing. We give below a synopsis
of the paper.
A breakwater is a construction
for protecting the marine structures
like ports, harbours, or anchoragebasins and berthed marine vessels
from the destructive influence of the
sea waves.
The construction requires stone
boulders in varying sizes ranging
from 0.5 kg to 20,000 kg. The stones

Armour loading at stone quarry face - Project Seabird, Karwar

26

Quarry selection
Ideally selection of the quarry for
armour stone production should be
based on trial blast yield analysis,
which matches closest to the
specification requirements of the
proposed breakwater. This approach
is aimed primarily at minimizing
contractual disputes, blast related
problems and wastage handling. In

mass from the face.

Keep stemming length to
approximately 75-80% of the burden.
Go for single row blasting.
Maintain simultaneous firing
sequence but for environmental
reasons, delays could be considered.
The explosives used should
possess less shock energy and higher
gas energy.
Air decks proved effective in
armour stone blasting.
Decoupling is found to be
effective to minimise blast-induced
fractures for the design of armour
stone blast.

Rock processing plant

other cases where the only available

quarry is to be made use of to
produce armour stone, it becomes
a challenging task for the Explosives
Engineer to meet the requirement
with minimum wastage and cost
overrun.

Controllable factors are to be

modified appropriately to suit face
geology and results need to be
analysed and optimized.

Armour stone production

methodologies

Keeping small blast-hole diameter

(preferably 76 to 110 mm).

Primary blasting &

secondary splitting
Primary blasting with minimum
explosives energy is used to dislodge
the rock mass from parent rock along
its natural joints followed by
secondary reduction of oversize
boulders by means of splitting using
minimum explosives energy,
dropping steel balls, feather &
wedges splitting and hydraulic rock
breakers.

Suggested guidelines
Face mapping

Spacing-to-burden ratio in the

range of 0.5 0.75. The burden must
be larger than the principal mean
discontinuity.
Maintain optimum bench height
of 2-3 times the burden.
Keep specific charge low but
sufficient enough to dislodge rock

Among the controllable factors,

specific charge, burden, spacing,
delay time and delay sequence are
considered to be the most
important aspects in armour stone
blast design. The task of the
Blasting Engineer is to match the
value of these parameters, which
vary from quarry to quarry and
even from blast to blast within the
same quarry, with face geology for
optimum
armour
stone
production. Hence mapping
accurately face geology and
correlating this data with blast
design parameters will help in
achieving the optimum armour
stone production from a given
quarry.

Influencing Factors
Two main factors - controllable
and uncontrollable - influence
armour stone production during
blasting. The uncontrollable factors
are the geological characteristics of
the rock mass. The controllable
factors include drilling and blasting
geometry and explosive properties.
Work harbour constructed using different grades of stones - Project Seabird, Karwar

27

Arresting the Stone Missile

The
New
Tirupur
Area
Development Corporation Limited
(NTADCL) awarded the Tirupur Water
Supply & Sewerage Project to ECC
Division of L&T in November 2002.
The scope of work comprised of
laying pipelines over a distance of
about 500 km, which involved
excavation of five lakh cu.m. of hard
rock.
Approximately 75,000 cu.m. of
hard rock was to be excavated in
congested areas which, for better
pace and control of operations, were
divided into separate sites instead of
one single stretch. Around 60-70
percent of these sites were located
in very crowded localities. The
blasting operations were to be
carried out in close proximity of
health centers, schools, houses,
public roads and other important
sensitive structures.

Blasting operations generate

ground vibrations and fly rocks, the
magnitude of which depends upon
geological factors and blasting
parameters. Even a little excess
quantity of vibration and fly rock
could result in cessation of work.
Hence, we adopted the method of
controlled blasting for controlling
vibrations and fly-rocks, which
required development of site-specific
drill and blast design, fly-rock control
plan and public and traffic
management.
A methodology for executing the
operations in accordance with the
site conditions was developed which
included drilling and blasting
parameters, suitable arrangements
to minimise the damaging effects of
blast and a strict-to-schedule
planning.
For control of fly rocks, the area
under blast was covered with around
one foot thick imported rubber blast
mats and steel plates. The degree of
muffling with rubber mats and steel
plates was approximately one ton
per square meter. Further, the area
was blanketed with sand bags to
ensure zero stone trajectories.
Vibrations were controlled with
line drilling. The technique consists
of drilling holes at the periphery of
the theoretical limit of excavation,
which are left uncharged and
provide a week zone to consume the
excessive shock energy of a blast
resulting in reduced vibrations. For
controlling vibrations in a better
way, millisecond delay detonators
were used. The blast induced ground
vibrations for all the blasts were
much below the acceptable limit.

Trenching operations adjacent a busy road

28

The entire rock-blasting job was

carried out under the direct

Rock trench showing the pipe laid

supervision and able guidance of

mining engineers in a professional
manner with utmost care and safety.
It is pertinent to mention here that
not a single explosives-related
accident had taken place and the
blasting operations were executed
without any inconvenience to public
and traffic and to the entire
satisfaction of the client.
A certificate by the client NTADCL
was issued recording their
appreciation of ECCs world-class
capabilities in blast management
and successful completion of hard
rock blasting satisfactorily.
M.T. Ganesh Babu
DGM (Co-ordination), Headquarters

N. Devan
Senior Construction Manager

Stone Revetment for Sai Ganga Canal

Kandaleru dam is the third largest

in Andhra Pradesh and a key source
of drinking water supply to
Chennai. It receives water from
Somasila dam through a flood flow
canal. As a portion of Kandaleru
dam was weak, water could not be
stored to the desired capacity and
had to be let out into the sea.
The work of strengthening a
substantial part of the dam with
revetment work was awarded to
L&T-ECC. This work was to be carried
out in three months before water
started rising in self-catchment area
as also in the channel from Somasila
dam.
The job required about three lakh
metric tons of rock in size of 450 mm.
Identifying stone quarries to meet
this huge requirement of boulders
was a formidable task as most of the
sources fell under forest land or were
far away from the dam site. Our
Quarry Department successfully
identified and established a quarry
in a very short span of time at
Guruvayapalem, approx. 25 km from
the dam site. The quarry started
functioning almost immediately and
produced boulders in line with the
requirements of the revetment
work.

Under
the
able
guidance of Mr. A.
Ravikumar, the quarry
team helped complete
the revetment work well
within the stipulated
time.
Arabinda Guha
Regional Manager
Ahmedabad

Uniformly laid revetment

stone pitching

It was a hillock quarry and in spite

of its being a difficult terrain to
work on, the entire hillock was cut
and quarried and the boulders
produced were of required size
without any notable wastage.
The critical quarrying activities
had been the lifeline for this
important revetment work in
Kandaleru reservoir that is to quench
the thirst of the citizens of Chennai.
View of revetment stone pitching

29

Hi-tech Blasting for HITEC City Project

The
leading
multinational software
organization Microsoft
decided to set up one
more establishment,
Microsoft-Phase II, at
Hyderabad and awarded
the job to ECC.
The site was situated in
Gachi Bowli area of
Hyderabad City and was
surrounded by permanent
and important structures
like Microsoft-Phase I
building, public roads and
batching plant and
temporary office of L&T,
the distance of which
from the proposed
blasting site was 30
metres.
For
the
foundation
of
the
proposed structure, we
needed
to
blast
Tight controlled rock blasting carried out adjacent to
sensitive IT structures

approximately 30,000 cu.m. of hard

rock.
In view of the existing structures
close to the blasting site general
drilling and blasting could not be
done on account of possible aftereffects like ground vibrations and
fly-rocks. As the rock was very hard,
even a little excess quantity of
ground vibration and fly-rocks could
damage the structures and affect
work progress and cause huge
financial losses.
To convince everyone concerned,
including the clients, about the
safety of our operations and evolve
a suitable methodology, mining
experts from Anna University,
Chennai were called in. A few trial
blasts were conducted, following
which, the maximum permissible
ground vibration limit and maximum
charge per delay were set to 10 mm/s
and 1.4 kg respectively. We adhered
to these parameters scrupulously
with the guidance of our Quarry &
Crushing colleagues from
HQ-Chennai and adopted
the controlled blasting
technique
of
high
proficiency matching the
site conditions. This
technique is employed to
control mainly the
unwanted post-blast
effects like fly-rocks and
ground vibration.

Control of Fly-rock
During blasting
operations, small pieces
of rocks are likely to fly
upto a distance ranging
from a few metres to
Controlled rock blasting carried out adjacent to road

30

Muffing operation to control fly rock using one foot thick rubber mat

200-300 metres, depending on the

strength of the blast. To control
these fly-rocks, blast mats (both
rubber and wire rope), thick mild
steel plates and sand bags are used
generally. For Microsoft Phase II, we
used imported rubber blast mats, for
the first time in India, to muffle the
blast and minimize the occurrence
of fly-rocks.

with
imported
seismographs.

Instantel

Thanks to the measures taken by

us there had been no damage to
property and life throughout the
duration of controlled blasting. The
clients too were happy with our
work culture that ensured both

safety and timely execution of work

and issued a certificate of
appreciation.
S. Ramasubramanian
Asst. Manager (Mines)

N. Sankaran, Foreman (Blasting)

K.S. Venkatesan
Asst. Foreman (Blasting)

Control of Vibration
Ground
vibrations
are
generated when a part of explosive
energy, which is not utilized in
formation of fractures, spreads
through the rock strata. Presplitting and line drilling are
efficient techniques to control or
minimize such blast-induced
ground vibrations. At Microsoft
Phase II, pre-splitting method was
adopted. Ground vibrations at
different locations were measured
Controlled blasting for foundation work

31

230/115kV Substations energized at

Juaymah, Saudi Arabia
Saudi
ARAMCO
are
developing the Qatif and Abu
Safah area as an integrated
large-scale oil field development
projects. As a part of this
project, ECC carried out a
lumpsum turnkey contract
valued at SAR 108.23 million,
which involved:
Construction of new 230/115
kV Gas Insulated Substations
at Juaymah Bulk Supply Point
Switchyard modification works for
the 230 kV substation at Ghazlan
power plant
Protection, Communication and
SCADA upgradation including
associated works for the existing
Ras Tanura substation, Qatif BSP
and Juaymah DCO including 115
kV substations at Juaymah power
plant, Qatif GOSP-1 & 2 and
Juaymah terminal
Protection, Communication and
SCADA up gradation including
traingular shifting of transformer
for the existing 230 kV substations
at Ghazlan power plant,
The scope of contract involved
design, engineering, supply,
installation,
testing
and
commissioning. Commencing the
works in September 2002 ECC
completed the same by August 2005.
And the new Juaymah 230 / 115kV

EHV cable (230kV, 2000

sq.mm & 115kV, 2000 sq.mm
copper cable) & its
termination accessories

115 kV Feeder gantries at Juaymah

gas insulated Substations

BSP was energized on 28 August

2005 from Ghazlan 230kV Power
Plant. This BSP supplies power at 115
kV voltage level to three of the
following prestigious Saudi
ARAMCO establishment.
Abu Safah Off Shore Station
Ras Tanura Refinary
GOSP (Gas Oil Separation Plant )
# 1 &2
Juaymah Terminal
This is the first 230 kV GIS
executed by ECC abroad.

Engineered by EDRC
EDRC,
Chennai
provided
complete engineering solutions for
the entire scope of work involving
design and detailed engineering for
new S/S, adequacy check of the
existing S/S and upgradation, vendor
sourcing, vendor drawing review of
equipment supplied by international
manufacturers using latest software,
apart from providing many other
unique engineering solutions.

For the first time, ECC

supplied, installed, tested &
commissioned Double Sealed
EHV termination kit for 230 kV
including 2000 sq.mm cables
for a SEC EOA Project
Protection system through
state of art numerical relays
for 230kV & 115kV lines,
transformer and bus
Complete
automated
S/S
controlled from remote through
SCADA system from the Power
Control Centre (PCC) located at
SEC-EOAs , HQ at Dammam
through Fibre Optic Channel
Other features include Station
Evaluation Panels, Videographic
Recoder (SM 2000 ) and Busbar
Protection System.
The entire project was executed
for Saudi Electricity Company HQ,
Eastern Operating Area , Dammam
and Zamel & Turbag Consulting
Engineers, Al Khobar were the
consultants for this project. The
entire project was successfully
completed by ECC despite several
hurdles in an alien country.

Special features of new Juaymah

BSP:
230kV GIS (4 bays) with 63kA Fault
Level
230/115 kV main power transformers

32

115kV GIS (17 bays) with 50kA

Fault Level

115 kV gas insulated substation

Blast Furnace 4 successfully blown in

at Rourkela Steel Plant
With the successful blowing in of
Annapurna, the blast furnace 4 at
Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), one of the
four integrated steel plants of the
Steel Authority of India Limited
(SAIL), on September 13, 2005, RSP
has entered the new era of steel
production.
SAIL entrusted the capital repair
work of Blast Furnace 4 at RSP (in
Orissa) to ECC in August 2004 and
this critical project was executed in
a time frame of 405 days involving
very stringent pre-shutdown and
shutdown schedule. The objective of
this capital repair work was to
improve productivity by 30% and
reach a production target of 2200
tons of hot metal per day.

Annapurna - Blast furnace 4 at RSP

Execution of the work involved

meticulous planning and stringent
quality checks at every stage of the
operation. This involved removal of
the entire shell along with uptakes
and downcomers, bustle main
including the skip charging system
from their foundations and
replacing it with new ones. In
addition, ECC also carried out relaying of refractory linings of the
entire furnace, installation of dust
catcher, underhearth coolers and
introduction of cast Iron stoves.

time in any SAIL Plant for blast

furnace revamp.
Major Quantum of Works
executed by ECC include:

Erection in progress of 247 ton BF Shell

In view of the fact that the entire

operation was to be carried out in
an operating plant with restricted
working space, ECC engineers
encountered enormous difficulties in
dismantling and re-erection of
equipment and structures. However,
they faced all the odds and
successfully
completed
the
dismantling work on 28th May 2005.
The reconstruction of the Furnace
foundation was completed on 03rd
June 2005. Thereafter major erection
activities commenced with the lifting
of skip bridge structure followed by
the blast furnace shell.
Thus, the entire structural
erection using 750-ton capacity FMC
Link Belt crane was completed on
31.07.2005. The clean gas line for
the stove heating was restored on
07.08.2005 and stove heating started
on 08.08.2005
As a grand finale Dr. Sanak
Mishra, Managing Director, RSP,
lighted up the revamped blast
furnace on 13 th September 2005
setting a new benchmark for capital
repair works, executed for the first

Dismantling of structures/
equipments - 2250 tons, Dismantling,
salvaging and re-erection of
structures /equipments 1115 tons
Dismantling of Refractory materials
- 4405 tons, Fabrication & Erection
of BF Shell 414 tons, Fabrication
and Erection of Structures 1250
tons, Erection of Equipments
(CI Stoves/UH Coolers/Bustle Main etc)
1350 tons, Enabling Steel used
(Excluding Slabs) 170 tons, Erection
of Refractory 2900 tons, Excavation
1200 Cum, Concreting 840 Cum
Reinforcement 63 tons Dismantling
of RCC 252 Cum
List of Major P&M deployed
included:
One 750 t cap. FMC Link Belt
Crane, two 75 t cap.TATA cranes,
one 80t cap. tyre mounted crane,
one 30t cap. tyre mounted crane,
three 8t cap.Hydra cranes, one 75t
cap trailor , four 40 t cap. trailors, 6
Nos. 9t cap. truck/dumpers, four
300 Cfm cap. Compressors, 96 Nos.
MIG/Welding Generators, 11 Nos.
winches (Capacity - 10/7.5/5/3 t) and
two Fork Lifts.

Completed view of Annapurna after

Capital Repair

33

DUBAL, L&T sign $1.1b JV

agreement for alumina refinery
project in Orissa
Dubai Aluminium Company
(DUBAL) and L&T signed a joint
venture agreement on September
17, 2005 for setting up a bauxite
mining-cum-alumina refinery and
smelter project in Orissa. The project
was approved by Shaikh Hamdan bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of
Dubai, the UAE Minister for Finance
and Industry and Chairman of
DUBAL.
This historic agreement is a pure
reflection of the vision of two great
companies, which aim to achieve
excellence and move faster in their
ambitious growth strategy. In
addition, "This reflects the unique
economic relationship between the
UAE and India and also, it is
considered as UAE's largest foreign
investment in the industrial sector."
said Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, ViceChairman, DUBAL.
Through this project L&T, which
has been focusing on increasing
business relations with GCC
Countries, will help bring in huge
foreign direct investment (FDI) from
UAE, and make it a forerunner for
more such joint venture projects in
the region.

term supply of raw materials for its

capacity expansion programmes. An
additional benefit to the Indian state
of Orissa is the smelter that DUBAL
intends setting up during the second
phase of the project," said Abdulla
J. M. Kalban, Chief Executive Officer,
DUBAL.
"L&T as an engineering major will
have the total responsibility for the
construction of the project. Highest
standards of quality, safety and
environment will be followed. The
project will move at a fast pace with
defined milestones," said Mr. A.K.
Chhatwani, Executive Vice President,
L&T. DUBAL will have an equity share
of 74 per cent with L&T holding the
remaining 26 per cent in this massive
venture.
The upstream integration
project's Phase-I consists of a 1.4
MTPA capacity world class alumina
refinery, bauxite mining and
development
of
related
infrastructure including a captive
power plant, port facilities, a
township and other utilities.

"This apart, the project is

expected to generate substantial
economic benefits to the people of
Orissa including fresh employment
generation and wealth creation,"
said A.M. Naik, Chairman &
Managing Director of L&T.

DUBAL and L&T will ensure that

state-of-the-art environmental
systems adhering to stringent
standards are installed in the project.
The project, which will opt for the
best available technology in the
world in order to benefit from high
efficiency and productivity, is
expected to be commissioned in the
second half of 2009.

"For DUBAL, the project is seen

as one way of safeguarding its
investment in the smelting segment
and at the same time securing long

It will ensure supply of around

one million tonnes of alumina per
annum - the principal raw material
needed by DUBAL. The financial

34

closure is set to be achieved by the

end of 2006 and construction will
begin in 2007.
Phase-II of the project will add
another 1.5 MTPA capacity. The
second phase also involves
construction of an aluminium
smelter utilizing DUBAL's own inhouse technology. This phase is
expected to cost around $2.5
billion, taking the total investment
in the project to an estimated $3.6
billion.
L&T is the right partner for
DUBAL because of its strong
credentials in India, and financial
and engineering strengths. Many of
the engineering projects executed
by L&T have set new benchmarks in
terms of scale, sophistication and
speed. Thus DUBAL and L&T are
expected to bring better synergy to
this massive project. L&T also has
been undertaking major projects in
Dubai.
L&T recently won an order from
Nakheel to build a prestigious
residential property in Dubai. Out
of the total project cost of Dh 376
million, L&T's value of works will be
Dh 284 million.
The Company is also currently
involved in another project for the
construction of two 39-storied
commercial & office buildings, and
two towers of 35-storied and 25storied luxury condominiums. L&T
has also been implementing projects
in cement, power, refinery, oil & gas
and fertilizer sectors in the Middle
East region for over three decades
now.

Chairman's Speech at 60th Annual

General Meeting of L&T
August 26, 2005: I have great
pleasure in extending to you a warm
welcome to this 60th Annual
General Meeting of your Company.
Before proceeding, I would like
to share with you the role your
Company played in assisting Mumbai
when it was paralysed by the floods
last month. As soon as the flood
waters receded on Saturday
afternoon, within hours of receiving
the request, we responded and
deployed 30 dump trucks and 5
excavators for clearing the debris.

for 2005-10. This activity has been

completed in consultation with a
leading international strategy
consultant, and has been launched
under a program that we have
named LAKSHYA'. It contains
ambitious growth targets for each
of our businesses, and plans on how
to go about achieving them. Also
included,
are
synergistic
opportunities for diversification of
our portfolio of businesses.

LAKSHYA

The consultants commissioned by

us for this purpose will also be
associated with us for the
implementation of LAKSHYA'. In the
last five years while we have
progressed in our efforts towards
becoming an Indian multinational,
program LAKSHYA will take us
further in this direction, and will
enable L&T to compete effectively in
an increasingly challenging global
environment.

At the last AGM, I had informed

you that we have commenced our
exercise to prepare our strategic plan

I would now like to apprise you

of the financial performance of your
Company in the last year.

We also conducted free health

camps at Saki Naka which benefited
over 4000 families. Doctors were
mobilized from various hospitals and
free medicines were supplied. We
now continue to offer this service
at Kurla.

Revenues
We achieved an impressive
revenue growth of 37% on the back
of 32% growth posted in 2003-04.
Over the last three years our order
book has grown at a compound rate
of 21%, while revenues have grown
at a compound annual rate of 33%.
For the year under review, sales &
service income stood at Rs. 13,269
crores against Rs. 9,807 crores last
year. Profit before tax (after interest
and depreciation charges), increased
by 67% to Rs. 1,286 crores from Rs.
769 crores. Profit after tax was up 85%
at Rs. 984 crores from Rs. 533 crores.
Even if we exclude income from
the sale of shares of Ultratech
Cement, the profit before tax at Rs.
933 crores and profit after tax at Rs.
631 crores show an impressive
growth of 21% and 18% respectively.
Order booking for 2004-05 was
Rs. 14,931 crores, and order backlog
on 31st March, 2005 was Rs. 17,808
crores.

Mr. A.M. Naik, Chairman & Managing Director, L&T, addressing the AGM

35

For the year under review,

consolidated revenues stood at Rs.
14,613 crores against Rs. 11,107
crores last year.
All divisions of your Company
performed well during the year.
Engineering & Construction
(E&C) reported revenues of Rs.
11,430 crores with a growth of 39%
over the previous year. This includes
Rs. 1,397 crores from capital goods
business which grew by 55% from
Rs. 904 crores in the previous year.
Export earnings from E&C at Rs.
2,355 crores was 80% higher than
the previous year.
Revenues from Electrical &
Electronics business at Rs. 1,220
crores was 20% higher than the last
year.
Our IT and engineering services
businesses continued to maintain
good progress, and revenues have
grown 53% to Rs. 602 crores from
Rs. 393 crores.
Revenue from our machinery and
industrial products businesses at Rs.
837 crores, was 14% higher than the
previous year.
At Rs. 2461 crores, export
earnings have grown to 18% of total
revenues against 14% in the previous
year. We expect to earn 25% of
revenues from our international
operations by 2009-2010.
I am sure that members will be
delighted with the results of the
Company. The Board of Directors has
recommended a dividend of Rs.
17.50, which together with the
special dividend declared and paid
during the year, works out to Rs
27.50 per equity share.

New Initiatives
Portfolio review remains a
continuous process in your Company,
and we have disinvested our stake
in Sharp office equipment business,
36

John Deere tractors and our dairy

machinery business.
We entered into an agreement
to acquire a controlling stake in
Valdel, a Company that is engaged
in upstream engineering for the oil
and gas sector. This acquisition
compliments our project business in
the oil and gas sector, and will
enhance our ability to compete
more effectively. We will continue to
scan the environment for more such
strategic opportunities.
We have also acquired a 65%
stake in Zubair Kilpatrick, in Oman.
This Company is engaged in
operations and maintenance of
electromechanical systems for
building utilities, and compliments
the capabilities of our construction
division in the Gulf region.
We have just entered into an
MOU with Datar Switchgear Limited
for merger of their business with L&T.
Datar Switchgear has the core
technology and manufacturing
facilities for miniature circuit
breakers and earth leakage circuit
breakers. These products are used
in the building electricals segment,
and we foresee very good market
growth in this sector. We presently
distribute similar products from
Hager, France, that are used in the
premium segment. The addition of
the Datar product range will enable
us to cater to both the premium and
the mass market. These products
complement our present range, and
will enable us make broader
offerings to the building sector.
Material costs form a significant
portion of our total input costs, and
have increased significantly over the
last two years. Some of the initiatives
undertaken to counter these
increases are lean manufacturing,
value engineering, supply chain
management and global sourcing.
We have placed sourcing teams in
China, Europe and Russia.

Public - Private Partnerships

With GDP growth forecast at 7%,
we see good opportunities for
growth in both engineering and
construction.
The domestic market offers
several high growth opportunities
for the Company. We are well
positioned to play a significant role
in the hydrocarbon, minerals &
metals, water & effluent treatment,
and infrastructure sectors.
The government is encouraging
private participation in infrastructure
projects. This is an opportunity for
us to profitably increase our business
in the infrastructure sector. Over the
last few years, we have selectively
invested in such projects. Some of
the prestigious projects under
execution include the Bangalore
International Airport and Dhamra
Port in Orissa.
Investments in infrastructure
development are likely to continue
for several years, given the large gap
between existing infrastructure and
what India requires to become a
truly global economy. We have
repositioned ourselves and bid for
jobs that have higher engineering
and technological challenges.
The Company gives considerable
importance to project development
and has created a special business
unit for this purpose.
While we participate in project
development of roads, bridges, ports,
airports, urban infrastructure and
other such projects, the continuing
investments in expanding capacities
in sectors such as power, oil
exploration and refining, cement and
steel offer excellent opportunities for
our engineering business.
We are expanding our capabilities
and capacities to cater to these
growing requirements, and are also
open to acquisitions or alliances to
accelerate our growth.

Best Stall Award for L&T at Construction

Expo 2005 in Thimphu, Bhutan
ECC participated in the
Construction Expo 2005 which was
held at Changlimithang Stadium
Ground, Thimphu, Bhutan. This
provided an opportunity to more
than 70 companies representing the
construction industry of Bhutan and
India to participate and showcase
their capabilities and exchange ideas
and technologies.
ECCs stall, put up in an area of
36 sq.m., displayed photo panels
highlighting the Divisions landmark
projects executed for the
Government of Bhutan as also their
major projects in India and other
countries. The Prime Minister of

Bhutan, H.E. Lyonpo Sangay

Ngedup, visited the stall and
released the second version of
ECCs electronic brochure
Milestones of the Maestro and
commended L&Ts quality and
project management strengths.

This show has truly left a lasting

impression of L&T in the minds of
the policymakers and the people of
Bhutan.

The unique design and the

attractive posters of our stall drew a
large number of visitors who
included Ministers, Government
Officials, students and the general
public.
At the end of the exhibition L&T
stall was rated as Excellent and
Informative and also won the Best
Stall Award.

The Prime Minister of Bhutan, H.E.

Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, releasing
the second version of ECCs electronic
brochure Milestones of the
Maestro.

...Chairmans speech contined from page 35

Public Private Partnership offers

good opportunities for your
Company based on our unique
capabilities to collaborate in areas
predominantly controlled by the
government. This includes sectors
such as defence, aerospace, and
nuclear power. We expect that this
approach of partnership will offer
increasing opportunities for our
Company, and will strengthen our
nation's capabilities in such strategic
sectors.
In the international arena we see
good opportunities for business in
China, the Middle East and parts of
Africa.
Your Company has opened
offices in Beijing and Shanghai for
strengthening our presence in
China. We see this as a major market
for supply of high-technology capital
goods, switchgear, and for industrial
machinery and products. We have so

far booked orders worth over $120

million from this country. We also
intend to use China as a costeffective source for materials and
components. Further, we are
investing around USD15 million for
setting up a manufacturing facility
for air circuit breakers for sale in
China and for exports.
We have a presence in all the
major centres in the Gulf region
as Subsidiary Companies or Joint
Ventures with local partners. We
intend to strengthen this presence
further with the establishment of
an engineering centre in the
region.

Talent Acquisition
All our plans hinge on our ability
to attract, retain, and develop the
skills of our manpower resources.
Talent identification and acquisition,
career planning and succession
planning are receiving priority of the

senior management
Company.

of

your

We also recognise the urgent

need to develop a cadre of global
managers to enable us achieve our
goal of becoming an Indian
multinational, and have initiated
steps to identify and groom them.
I wish to place on record the
outstanding commitment and hard
work of all our employees, which
was responsible for your Company's
performance. Also of critical
importance was the support of my
colleagues, our customers, business
associates, shareholders and
Members of the Board. I am grateful
to them, and expect to receive their
continued support and trust as we
take on the challenges of the
future.
- A. M. Naik
Chairman & Managing Director
Larsen & Toubro Limited

37

New Orders

Barbados Stadium
L&T has won an order valued
over Rs. 211 crore from World Cup
Barbados Inc (WCB), West Indies, for
the re-construction of the famed
Kensington Oval in Barbados. The
engineering, construction and
technology major will have total
responsibility for the construction
and execution of the project and
ensure
that
the
rigorous
specifications of the International
Cricket Council (ICC) are met before
the first ball is bowled at the historic
stadium.
L&T was initially selected by the
WCB in February 2005 as the
Construction
Management
Consultant. Its role was primarily
to carry out project planning,
formulate construction methods,
evaluate tenders and finalise
domestic sub-contractors during preconstruction period. This project
consultancy was successfully
completed by L&T at a value of Rs.
1.3 crore. Soon after, the WCB also
assigned the construction services to
L&T as General Contractor.
The entire project will be
completed by L&T in 16 months (by
January 31, 2007). For this purpose,
the entire scope of work has been
split into several packages, and
domestic sub-contractors under the
overall responsibility of L&T will
execute these packages. In addition,

L&T will execute the George

Challenor Stand, the biggest and the
most critical stand, on their own not
only to reduce the risk but also set
the example for other subcontractors to handle the fast-track
project.
The project involves demolition of
existing structures. Out of the nine
stands at the Oval, only two stands
will remain physically undisturbed:
The Hall & Griffith and Mitchie Hewitt
Stands. The scope of work includes
shifting and re-laying of the cricket
pitch and playing arena, renovation
of two stands and construction of
seven new permanent stands with a
combined seating capacity of 11,500
including a temporary stand with a
capacity of 15,500, players pavilion,
media centre, multi-purpose hall,
administration office, cricket
museum with shops, vendors booth,
external concourses, a ticket counter
and temporary hospitality and
administration facilities as well as
external faade and associated MEP
works including landscaping and
road networks.
The temporary stand will be
removed and the redevelopment
work on the permanent stand will
continue after completion of the
final match. This will be completed
by October 2007 to provide a legacy
(final) permanent seating capacity of
15,000. This will be executed at a
cost of Rs. 10 crore. The new stadium
when completed in all respects will
seat 26,500 persons.

New Hyderabad
International Airport
L&T has bagged an EPC
(Engineer-Procure-Construct)
contract valued at Rs. 495 crore for
38

major construction projects at the

proposed Hyderabad International
Airport. The contract, signed by L&T
and the Hyderabad International
Airport Limited (HIAL), envisages
project completion in 30 months.
The new International Airport is
expected to be thrown open to
traffic by 2008. L&T has secured the
contract against stiff competition
from global bidders.
At the proposed Hyderabad
International
Airport
at
Shamshabad, L&T will construct the
runway, taxiway and aprons to
accommodate wide body planes
including new generation aircraft
such as A380. L&T will also build the
cargo terminal building, ground
handling workshops and other
buildings. The contract covers
development of airfield ground
lighting system and fire station,
installation of the aviation hydrant
system and security perimeter.
The
new
Hyderabad
International Airport is promoted by
HIAL a public and private
partnership initiative by GMR Group
with Malaysia Airports Holding
Berhad, Government of Andhra
Pradesh and Airports Authority of
India.

Orders from the Gulf

L&T and its Oman-based
subsidiary (LTO) have expanded its
presence in the Gulf by securing five
contracts cumulatively valued at
Rs.467 crore for the construction of
major water supply projects and
several high-rise buildings and luxury
condominiums.
Water Supply - Oman
In a major breakthrough in the

commercial and office

buildings in Dubai for
Han
World
Enterprises Inc. and
for Technobuild Space
Limited.
The
complexes will be
built at Jumeirah
Lakes in the Nakheel
Area of Dubai within
20 months. The third
Mr. Sadrudin Ali, Managing Director, TIH (extreme right)
contract, valued at
looks on as Mr. A.S. Jamal, Chairman, TIH (2nd from right)
exchanges the Dubai Marina contract with Mr. K.P. Raghavan, Rs.155 crore (AED 130
Vice President & Head - Buildings & Factories, L&T (extreme
million), has been
left) and Mr. S. Stephen, General Manager & Head System
secured from Trident
housing, L&T (2nd from left).
International
Holdings, Hong Kong, for
highly competitive water sector in
construction of two towers of 35the Gulf, Larsen & Toubro (Oman) LLC
storied and 25-storied luxury
has secured two contracts valued at
condominiums and associated
Rs.195 crore (OR 17.32 million) from
structures at Marsa, Dubai Marina.
the Ministry of Housing, Electricity
L&T is already executing the
and Water, the Sultanate of Oman.
Waterfront Tower at Dubai for
L&T will provide water supply
Trident International Holdings.
distribution system to Saham and
Khaburah towns, around 200 km
from Muscat. The project is to be Mogul Gardens - Dubai
completed within 12 months and
L&T has bagged a Rs.450 Crore
involves laying of a 693 km pipeline order to build a prestigious housing
network. The scope also includes complex in Dubai from Nakheel,
construction of three elevated UAE.
overhead tanks, of 2000 cu.m.
Out of the total project value of
capacity, and two 1,500 cu.m.
capacity pumping facilities, a tanker the of Rs. 450 crore, the quantum
filling station and associated of work to be executed by L&T is
structures. The Oman contract worth Rs.340 crore, the rest being
represents an extension of L&Ts done by nominated subcontractors.
capabilities in water treatment/ The project involves construction of
supply projects to markets overseas. Mogul Gardens-2 at Discovery
Within India, L&T has executed over Gardens located near on Shaikh
Zayed Road, Dubai. To be completed
a hundred water supply and
in 560 days from the date of signing,
treatment projects, including the
the project involves construction of
prestigious Sai Ganga Water Supply
27 residential blocks with a total
Project.
built-up area of 178,050 square
High-rise buildings - Dubai
metres.
In the UAE, the Companys
Construction Division won three
orders in the urban infrastructure
sector accounting for Rs.272 cr. (AED
228.9 million). Two contracts valued
at Rs.117 cr. (AED 98.9 million) cover
construction of two 39-storied

Nakheel, a leading project

developer in UAE, is involved in
several major property development
projects with investments to the tune
of US$12 billion in Dubai. Nakheel
has to its credit a variety of landmark
structures in Dubai.

132 kV transmission lines

in Oman
Larsen & Toubro Electromech LLC
( LTEM), Oman, an associate
company of L&T, has secured a
contract
from
Petroleum
Development Oman LLC (PDO),
Oman. This contract is for
revamping and upgradation of the
transmission lines and substations in
its existing oil fields in Central Oman
as part of a major infrastructure
development undertaken by PDO.
The order is valued at Rs. 165
crore (US $ 37.15 million) and has
been bagged against stiff
competition from local and
international players. The scope of
work involves construction of 293 km
of 132 kV overhead transmission lines
interconnecting various existing
substations, construction of new
transmission lines and additional
substations in the oil fields of interior
Oman to expand the existing
electrical network. The work is
scheduled to be completed by
February 2007.
LTEM, formerly known as Zubair
Kilpatrick LLC, is a recent acquisition
of L&T as part of its efforts to
accelerate business in the Middle
East. The company was a unit of
Zubair Corporation, L&Ts JV
partners in Larsen & Toubro (Oman)
LLC (LTO), which has been operating
successfully for over a decade in
Oman.
LTEM, where L&T has a
shareholding of 65%, is operating
with four key Business Units, viz.,
MEP Services, Electrical and
Instrumentation for Oil and Gas,
Engineering and Maintenance
Contracts for Electrical and
Instrumentation, and Facilities
Management.
It will also
complement and supplement LTO in
projects
involving
facilities
management and building utility
works.
39

14 workmen rescued
from Subansiri Tunnel
Close to midnight on August 7,
2005 a landslide above the adit to
the surge chamber at ECCs Lower
Subansiri Hydropower Project in
Arunachal Pradesh left tunnel
equipment viz., excavator, concrete
pump, hydraulic drill jumbo,
shotcreting machine, transit mixers,
DG sets and ventilation fans along
with cables, pipelines, air receiver
tanks, etc. buried under
a100metre high hill mass.
Fortunately, however, 14 of ECCs
workers on night shift were safe but
trapped in the adit tunnel where
power supply too was cut off, as the
cable had been severed by the
landslide. ECC-ites trapped inside
were Mr. P.D. Pressana Kumar, Tunnel
Foreman, Mr. Sadan Yadav,
Supervisor, Mr. Pandi Raja, Excavator
Operator, Mr. Srinath Singh,
Electrician and ten casual labourers
of the tunnel rock supporting crew.
Shift engineers from nearby
workstations rushed to the accident
spot and made makeshift
arrangements for the restoration of
power supply. The rescue operations
commenced within 15 minutes of
the landslide. High capacity
excavators, wheel loaders and

dozers were mobilised for muck

removal to locate the buried adit
portal.
Local civil administration assisted
in the rescue operations by
deploying personnel from the Army,
CISF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police
to maintain law and order among
the more than 500 persons who had
assembled on hearing about the
accident.
Medical facilities were provided
at NHPC hospital while two
ambulances were kept ready at the
site along with qualified medical
personnel and paramedics.
Amidst all this activity the families
of L&T staff too were in the
forefront preparing food, tea,
coffee and snacks for the rescue
team consisting of civil administration
and paramilitary personnel.
The sole mission of the rescue
team was to open up the adit portal
and ensure that the flow of air
(oxygen) to the tunnel be restored
immediately as the tunnel length was
just about 40 metres and the
entrapped air was inadequate for
the 14 trapped persons till they were
brought out of the tunnel.
Due to the limited
area of 100m x 80m,
approach ramps were
developed for the
heavy earthmoving
machinery to work
smoothly and hasten
the muck removal
operations. Surveyors
with
advanced
surveying instruments
gave
continuous
direction to the rescue

A fleet of Plant & Machinery involved in the rescue act

40

team to pinpoint the exact location,

while the safety engineers kept
alerting the rescue team about any
unsafe movements of men &
machinery.
Parallel arrangements were
being done for driving a hole to
insert pipes into the tunnel through
which air could be passed inside the
tunnel using compressors. At
around 1345 hours on August 8, it
was informed to the rescue team
they were only three metres away
and nine metres high from the
portal top. Immediately dozers
were used to develop a berm (a
narrow ledge or shelf, as along the
top or bottom of a slope) width
sufficient for two dozers to work
in tandem at the level so that any
chances of slides from the loose
mass are eliminated.
Guidance was sought from the
top site management to make the
final push towards the portal in
inclined mode. It was a risky attempt
with chances of mass sliding but
with the sunlight diminishing and
the rains resuming, the risk needed
to be taken to rescue the workers.
After sustained efforts for an hour,
at around 1700 hours, the left edge
of the portal concrete top was
struck. The dozers pressed with full
steam focused in that direction so
that the portal face could be
exposed.
With the second burst of heavy
rain, the nullah above the surge
chamber opened up and slush
started flowing towards the portal
thereby threatening to jeopardize
the operations. Reviewing the
precarious situation, the operations
were speeded up to clear the portion

of the portal just enough to let the

workmen out. At around 1730
hours the face of the portal began
to open up, two excavators were
deployed to cut out a trench to drain
the water flowing from the nullah
towards the portal face.
When the opening was wide
enough a torch was used to
illuminate parts of the tunnel and
see the conditions inside. The
people inside acknowledged their
well being by sounding a piece of
rod to the rib. It was a moment of
great relief to know everything was
fine inside. The Herculean efforts
had lasted about 19 hours with
removal of about 35,000 Cum of
muck. Finally at 1820hrs the opening
was about 1 m wide and 0.5 m deep
and the people inside were called
out of the tunnel. The 14 workers,
muddied but in good spirits,
hollered in joy as the rescue workers
shovelled away the last chunk of
earth, signalling the end of
operation around 6.30 pm.
Immediate medical attention was
provided to all and they were taken
down to NHPC Hospital and Civil

Hospital, Gogamukh
for further treatment.
One of the rescued
workers, electrician
Srinath Singh, said:
We were all huddled
together. All were silent
except for one or two
questions. We were
mostly wondering
about our fate. Pradip
Kumar Nath, another Rescued workers with the rescue team
rescued
worker,
echoed him, We were totally cut
We salute all those involved in the
off, unable to even hear what was rescue act in this saga of human
going on outside. It was only around resilience, faith and team work,
12 pm today that we could faintly toiling throughout the night and
hear the sound of machines at work day spanning 19 continuous hours,
just outside the tunnel.
fighting against all odds and
successfully coming out from the
J. Henry Robertson, executive
crisis.
director of the Subansiri Basin of the
National Hydro-Electric Power
Corporation (NHPC), said work on
the 2000 MW project would continue
V. K. Nagyan
as usual. The accident will not
DGM (Projects)
hamper work. It was a natural
calamity over which we have no
Rakesh Kumar Jha,
control. We are just happy that
Planning Engineer
nobody was harmed.
Subansiri Project Site

L&T-Demags New Factory in Sriperumbudur

The new manufacturing facility
of plastics machinery major L&TDemag Plastics Machinery Limited,
located at Chembarambakkam in
Chennai, will be inaugurated jointly
by Mr. A. M. Naik, Chairman &
Managing Director of Larsen &
Toubro Limited (L&T), and Mr. Pepyn
Ren Dinandt, Chairman of
Mannesmann Plastics Machinery
Group, on October 2, 2005.

Established in 2001, L&T-Demag

is a 50:50 joint venture of L&T and
Demag Ergotech GmbH (a part of
Mannesmann Plastics Machinery
Group), Germany. The company
earlier had its manufacturing
facilities at Manapakkam in Chennai.
L&T-Demag
is
a
leading
manufacturer of plastics injection
moulding machines with the latest
technology for domestic and export
markets.

The new factory has been set up

at an investment of around Rs. 25
crore. It is equipped with advanced
technology for design, manufacture
and testing of plastics injection
moulding machines. Its 600 machines
per year capacity will be soon
expanded to 1000 machines in the
near future. A significant portion of
the expected revenue of around
Rs. 300 crore will be earned from
exports.

41

NDT on Concrete Structures

Dr. B. Sivarama Sarma, DGM &

Head-Research & Development,
delivered a lecture on NDT on
Concrete Structures under the
auspices of Indian Society for NonDestructive Testing (ISNT), Chennai
Chapter on August 28, 2005.
The lecture covered the types of
concrete for different applications
and methods of non-destructive
evaluation of concrete.
The
ultrasonic testing of concrete helps
in understanding the homogeneity
of concrete and identifying defects
in concrete on account of structural
changes, shrinkage, thermal cracks,

Modern Building
Maintenance
Systems
Mr. K. Parthiban, Manager Maintenance and Mr. S. Virapan,
Engineering Manager, BUCC,
presented a paper on Modern
Building Maintenance systems
organized by National Council for
Cement and Building Materials
during April 26-27, 2005 in Chennai.
The progamme was well attended
by participants from various
government and private sector
organizations.

42

and carbonation due to porosity or

poor quality of construction. BSS
also discussed the Indian code of
practice which is similar to BS and
ASTM methods. He stressed that it
is essential to study the nondestructive test results obtained
through ultrasonic, rebound
hammer, potential difference
techniques, etc. in relation to other
test data of partial destructive test
methods like core samples extracted
from the structure. The lecture
concluded that even though NDT of
concrete is in a nascent state when
compared to NDT of metals, it is the

only means to
understand the
problems
in
concrete
at
green
and
hardened stages.
A
holistic
assessment of
concrete structures by NDT methods
requires a sound knowledge of
structural engineering.
The lecture was well received by
the audience that included members
of the Chapter, practising engineers,
scientists, faculty from engineering
colleges and students.

S. Virapan
Seismic Base
elected Secretary Isolation on Noncum Treasurer
Engineered
IPA Chennai Chapter
Structures
Mr. S. Virapan, Engineering
Manager, Building Utilities and
Competency Cell was unanimously
elected Secretary cum Treasurer of
Indian Plumbing Association,
Chennai Chapter at a meeting of its
members on March 21, 2005 in
Chennai.

Mr. J.A. Solomon Charles, EDRC

B&F, HQ, was one among the 40
students selected from around the
world to attend the course on
Advanced Studies in Structural
Engineering and CAE at the 13th
European Summer Academy 2005
held in Bauhaus University, Weimar,
Germany from 8th to 20th August
2005. He also presented his research
topic on Seismic Base Isolation on
Non-Engineered Structures.
Research students
from 23 different
countries attended
the course.

L&T Indias Superbrand

L&T officially acquired the status

and aura of a Business Superbrand.
At a Tributes Function in Mumbai
on September 8, 2005, Mr. J. P. Nayak,
President (Machinery & Industrial
Products) and Member of the Board,
was presented a trophy by
Superbrands India - the Indian
affiliate of a global body devoted to
promote the discipline of branding.
L&T is now part of an elite group of
companies that have been
acknowledged as brands that
continuously and consistently keep
pace with customer expectations. The
award is the culmination of a
rigorous selection process by an
eminent brand council, which studied
854 brands in 82 product categories.
L&T now features in a prestige
volume - the Superbrands Book.
Two richly illustrated pages in this
volume trace L&Ts unique history,

Mr. J. P. Nayak (left) receives the Superbrands trophy from Mr. Fraful Fatel,
Union Minister for Civil Aviation.

and highlight its achievements and

core brand values. L&T also has the

right to feature the Superbrands

logo in all forms of communication .

Mr. M. V. Kotwal Inducted into to L&T Board

Mr. M. V. Kotwal, Senior Vice
President - Operations, Heavy
Engineering, was appointed to the
Board of Directors of the Company
as Executive Director on August 27,
2005.
Joining L&T in 1968 as a Junior
Engineer, Mr. Kotwal rose rapidly to
assume positions of increasing
responsibility in the Companys
specialized manufacturing facilities.
He headed the Nuclear & Special
Fabrication Shop in Powai, Mumbai,
before taking charge of critical
functions at Hazira. As Vice President

of Hazira Works, Mr. Kotwal had

contributed significantly to
enhancing
the
Companys
capabilities in manufacturing critical
high-end equipment.
Mr. Kotwal has been closely
associated with several apex bodies.
He is Co-Chairman of the
Confederation of Indian Industrys
National Committee on Defence and
a member of the Vijay Kelkar
Committee tasked with advising the
Government
of
India
on
restructuring defence production in
the country.
43

Management Man of The Year

Award for Mr. A. M. Naik

Mr. A. M Naik (left) receiving the Bombay Management Associations

Management Man of the Year Award from Mr. Jagdish Capoor in Mumbai

Indias premier management

body The Bombay Management
Association (BMA) has conferred the
prestigious Management Man of the
Year Award on Mr. A.M. Naik, our
Chairman & Managing Director, in
recognition of his extraordinary
accomplishments in the corporate
world. Mr. Naik received the award
from Mr. Jagdish Capoor, Chairman,
HDFC Bank and former RBI Governor,
at a presentation ceremony in
Mumbai on 26th July 2005.
The award jury took special note
of Mr. Naiks success in anchoring
L&Ts thrusts into high-end
engineering and knowledge-based
businesses, and his continuing efforts

to re-engineer structures and

processes to add substantial value in
every phase of operation.

Indian multinational, we will

continue to contribute to the
building of a strong nation.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Naik

stated proudly that L&T is the only
company of its kind between Europe
and Japan. L&T, which is now in its
68th year, has paid dividends for 51
years, a distinction very few
companies in India can boast of. In
none of these years was the dividend
less than the preceding year. L&T is
also Indias No. 1 capital goods
manufacturer. He added, However,
we will not rest on our laurels. While
we are pursuing business growth in
our core areas in India and abroad
to fulfill our dream of becoming an

This is yet another feather in the

cap for Mr. A. M. Naik who has been
the recipient of several awards. These
include the prestigious JRD Tata
Corporate Leadership Award from
the All India Management Association
(AIMA); the Executive of the Year
Award 2004 from the Indian
Association of Secretaries &
Administrative Professionals (IASAP);
and the prestigious Lifetime
Achievement Excellence Award for
Best Corporate Man of the Decade
from the New Delhi based Foundation
of Indian Industry & Economists (FIIE).

Designed by Sanka Graphics Pvt. Ltd., Chennai and printed by Srusti Ads & Communications, # 37, Venkatramana Colony, Khairatabad, Hyderabad - 500004.
Mobile : 98850 911199. Edited by Mr. V.S.Ramana for Larsen & Toubro Limited - ECC Division, from ECC - HQ., Manapakkam, Chennai - 600 089. The views expressed
in this magazine are not necessarily those of the management of Larsen & Toubro Limited. The contents of this magazine should not be reproduced without the written
permission of the Editor.
Not for sale - only for circulation among the employees, business associates and customers of ECC - L&T's Construction Division.