REGIONAL REPORT DFI of India Dr. K.S. Rama Krishna DFI India Chair [email protected] DFI of India stepped up its activities, thanks to the hard work of many active geotechnical professionals within India and to the continuous encouragement and support of DFI headquarters. Our major achievement was the finalization and signing of an Affiliation Agreement between DFI and DFI of India. With this in place, DFI of India is now in the process of drafting our bylaws. Then we will initiate steps to form the first executive committee of DFI of India, which will take charge of our plans and programs. Programs planned for this calendar year are: A two-day DFI of India 2014 annual conference at IIT Delhi, New Delhi; a two-day workshop on Deep Foundations at Kochi, in the state of Kerala, South India; and a 15-day pilot training program for hydraulic rotary piling rig operators in Mumbai. 2014 Annual Conference at IIT Delhi Following the DFI of India conferences hosted for the last three years in Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai, we are holding the DFI of India 2014 conference at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), New Delhi, on September 19-20. The conference is being organized by DFI, DFI of India, IIT Delhi, the Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) Delhi Chapter and the Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC). The main title of the conference is “Deep Foundation Technologies for Infrastructure Development of India,” and there will be four main themes: Drilled Piling Systems, Driven Piling Systems, Ground Improvement and Deep Excavation Support Systems. Technical sessions will include I DFI DFI of India in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Geotechnical Society Delhi Chapter and Construction Industry Development Council presents… liquefiable soils. Equipment, material and instrumentation technology providers, contractors and other interested parties will present their products and services in the exhibition area. The conference will be ideally suited to contractors, developers, agencies, local and federal authority representatives, designers, consultants and educators involved in major infrastructure projects. Complete details of the event as plans progress can be found at www.dfi-india2014.org. Workshop on Deep Foundations A two-day workshop on piling design and practice is planned following the DFI of India 2014 Conference from September 22- 23, at Kochi, a prominent coastal city in the state of Kerala in south India. The workshop will be jointly organized by DFI of India and IGS, Kochi Chapter and the venue will be the Taj Gateway Hotel on Marine Drive. Kochi has difficult foundation problems because of the presence of very deep and very soft clays overlying residual soil and hard rock. The conventional tripod-winch-bailer and direct mud circulation methods of pile boring require a long duration and often result in pile integrity and pile load capacity problems. Kochi houses several strategically important installations such as ports, airports, oil and gas terminals, refineries and other industries. The city will have a metro rail system soon, which will run through the area’s difficult subsoil conditions. The workshop is expected to expose the geotechnical community to the technological advances in the design and installation of large diameter deep piles. Information for this workshop will be posted on DFI of India website www.dfi-india2014.org. Pilot Program for Hydraulic Rotary Piling Rig Operators Deep Foundation Technologies for Infrastructure Development in India September 19-20, 2014 | IIT Delhi | New Delhi, India plenary sessions with invited lecturers on practice-oriented topics as well as parallel sessions on design, field monitoring/ testing/investigation, model testing and numerical analysis. There will be a special session on design aspects of deep foundations in At the post DFI of India 2013 conference meeting held at IIT Bombay in November 2013, it was decided to conduct a 15-day training program for hydraulic rotary piling rig operators at one of the piling rig manufacturers’ established facilities near Mumbai. It is heartening to mention here that piling rig manufacturing companies are keen to support this important initiative. The program is proposed to be jointly coordinated by DFI of India and the Association of Piling Specialists (APS) Mumbai. For this to take place, a firm commitment is necessary from the piling specialist contractors. However, many piling contractors are currently facing difficulties because of the prevailing dull economic environment. We plan to hold a DFI-APS meeting with piling contractors and the leaders of piling rig manufacturing companies to express the urgency of and solicit commitment for the initiative. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2014 • 51 O T N A S D I N N U S T O I F T U E P T E E D
