Rajiv Gandhi Children's Hospital
Pondicherry
Hospital building foundations delivered for NCCL at Pondicherry.
Project Overview
Foundation works for the Rajiv Gandhi Children's Hospital building at Pondicherry, executed for NCCL.
Hospital projects carry strict noise limits; the mechanically operated DMC rigs used here are well suited to such sensitive environments.
Pile integrity tests were carried out to confirm shaft continuity before pile cap construction.
Scope of Work
- Setting out and verification of pile positions against the structural grid at Pondicherry, jointly signed off with the client's site engineer.
- Boring / driving of the full pile schedule using the bored cast in-situ pile (dmc method).
- Fabrication, lowering and centring of reinforcement cages with cover blocks to the specified concrete cover.
- Continuous tremie concreting of every pile with cube sampling and pour records maintained per pile.
- Chipping back to cut-off level, disposal of muck and handover of the as-built pile schedule.
Machinery & Plant Deployed
- Tractor mounted rotary DMC rigs with mud pumps and circulation tanks
- Bentonite mixing and desanding plant with specific gravity check kit
- Weighted chisels for penetrating hard laterite and boulder strata
- Reinforcement cage fabrication yard with bar bending and cutting machines
- Tremie pipe assembly with hopper for continuous concrete placement
- Transit mixers with on-site slump and cube testing
Execution Timeline
Mobilisation
Rigs, cages, casings and site establishment moved to Pondicherry, with access roads and working platform levelled for rig movement.
Trial pile & test bore
A trial pile was executed and observed against the borelog to confirm strata, penetration rate and concrete consumption before the production schedule opened.
Production piling
The full pile schedule executed in a planned sequence to keep rigs clear of freshly cast piles.
Testing & handover
Load and integrity testing on the agreed sample of piles, followed by trimming to cut-off level and handover of records to the main contractor.
Load Testing & Quality Results
| Initial load test | Test pile loaded in increments to 2.5 times the design working load as per IS 2911 Part 4, with each increment held until the settlement rate stabilised. Safe working load confirmed for the designed pile section. |
|---|---|
| Routine load test | Working piles from the production schedule tested to 1.5 times design load. Settlement at test load and residual settlement after unloading remained within the permissible limits laid down in the code. |
| Pile integrity test | Low-strain integrity testing carried out on sample piles; reflectograms showed continuous shafts with no necking or discontinuity down to the founding level. |
| Concrete cube testing | Cubes cast from every pour and tested at 7 and 28 days, with all results meeting or exceeding the specified grade. |
Site Gallery
Technical terms used above are explained in our piling glossary.
Scope Highlights
- Noise-sensitive hospital site
- Pile integrity testing for shaft continuity
- Executed for a major national contractor
Project Details
- Client
- NCCL
- Location
- Pondicherry
- Status
- Completed
- Technique
- Bored Cast In-Situ Pile (DMC Method)
