Bridge

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka
New South Wales Australia Chapter
Magazine is prepared by:

ABN 90 045 281 529
P. O. Box 1239,
Parramatta, NSW, 2150,
Australia
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.ieslnsw.org
a) The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the IESL NSW Chapter. Therefore, IESL NSW Chapter. carries no responsibility for
the opinion expressed thereon.
b) Authors shall be responsible for the content and the accuracy of information provided in the article.
c) The articles published in the magazine are not intended to criticise existing engineering methods
or systems; it is assumed that there is no or likely to be perceived conflict of interest; articles are
not politically motivated or sensitive.
d) All articles in this magazine have been peer reviewed by individuals experienced in the subject
areas.
e) Request for permission to reproduce any part of this publication must be made in writing in the first
instance to the IESL NSW Chapter.
Magazine Technical Committee

Eng. Rohitha Silva,
Eng. Sarath Wijayapala,
Eng. Dr. Tissa Abayaratna,
Eng. Dr. Chinthaka Fonseka,
Eng. Dr. Ranjith Liyanapathirana,
Eng. Dr. Premaratne Samaranyake,
Eng. Amir Deen,
Eng. Dr. Lanka Thabrew,
Eng. Dr. Ashok Peiris.
IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019
Page i
Table of Contents
Message from the IESL NSW Chapter Executive Committee 1
Building and Maintaining Bridges to be Sustainable, W. Ariyaratne 2
Completing the Mahaweli Plan, A. Deen 28
Evolution of System Quality Assurance from Product Quality Control, S. Wijayapala 36
Critique of “Engineering Standards” and their application, D.T. Wijayasinghe 41
Societal Role of Professional Engineers, J. Seneviratne 49
Software Application for Reservoir Operation Study, A. Gunasekara, D.A.S. Atukorale 56
Parkes Radio Telescope is an International Celebrity, T.S. Bird, K. P. Esselle 65
Foundation Selection, Design Methodology and Construction of Electrical Transmission Line 69

Structure Foundations - New Zealand Experience, S. Weerasinghe
Leadership for Managing Virtual Project Teams, P. Kuruppuarachchi 91
Impact made to Rail Industry through Leading-edge Research Conducted on Ballasted 101
Tracks at the University of Wollongong, C. Jayasuriya
Concept Paper: Kelani-Mahaweli Inter-Basin Diversion, C.H.T. Gamage 111
Ballistic Performance of Multi-Metal Systems, A Review, P. Ranaweera, D. Weerasinghe, 119

P.L.N. Fernando, D. Mohotti
Fabrication and Installation of Vertical Steel Pressure Shaft, P.S. Amarakoonge 138
Improving Road Safety in Sri Lanka, D. Jayarathna 161
Issues and Remedial Measures in River Sand Mining- A case study related to artisinal 165
river sand mining in Mahaweli river in Mahiyangana area, Sri Lanka, E.M.K.B. Ekanayake
All Would Not Respond to Early Warnings, T. Dissanayake 171
Building yourself up for modern age networking, S. Hannadige 174
Managing Flooding Risks, P. Vidanapathirana 177
Engineering a Stable Future: The Significance of Sustainable Engineering Practices , N. 180

Abeyrathne
Magazine Technical Committee 182

Page ii
Message from the IESL NSW Chapter Executive Committee
The IESL NSW Chapter is pleased to present their first Engineering Magazine. The objective
of the IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine is to transfer the wealth of knowledge and
technology possessed by the Chapter members amongst fellow engineers. The wealth of
experience and resources we have within the Chapter are tremendous. This magazine
provides an opportunity to share engineers’ experience and knowledge with fellow engineers
in Sri Lanka, which will help to provide an avenue to open discussions with them.
We invited our fellow practising engineers in Sri Lanka to publish in the Magazine as well and
received a very positive response. We welcome and encourage all engineers in Sri Lanka and
in other Chapters around the world to actively participate in disseminating their knowledge and
wealth of experiences through future publications.
We have received 20 manuscripts for publication in different engineering disciplines from

engineers in industry and the academia. The authors who contributed to the Magazine varies
from highly experienced engineers to engineering students. The Magazine covers both
technical and non-technical articles. The Magazine allowed authors to use their own writing
methods letting them to disseminate their knowledge freely. In future publications we would
like to develop guidelines to streamline the Magazine. We welcome your valuable suggestions
to improve the quality of future Engineering Magazines.
We would like to thank our peer review panel members for their valuable suggestions and
contributions provided to the first Engineering Magazine. We would like to extend our sincere
thanks to all authors for graciously accepting our invitation and submitted articles to the
Magazine and sharing their valuable knowledge.
The IESL NSW Chapter Executive Committee 2018/2019
Page 1
Building and Maintaining Bridges to be Sustainable
Prof Wije Ariyaratne BScEng; MEngSc; GradDipBus; CPEng: FIE Aust.
Prof Wije Ariyaratne BScEng; MEngSc; GradDipBus; CPEng: FIE Aust

Partner and Chief Advisor at Highway and Transport Management
Consultants (HTMC) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Professor of Practice in Bridge Engineering, School of Civil
Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia
Ex - Director Bridges & Structures, Roads & Maritime Services (RMS),
NSW, Australia
Wije is an internationally recognised industry expert in bridges and structures, with nearly 50
years of civil engineering experience. For 19 years, Wije was the Director of Bridges and
Structures, Roads and Maritime Services, NSW, Australia, responsible for over $AUD18 Billion
of bridge assets. Wije is currently Professor of Practice in Bridge Engineering at Sydney
University and is a founding partner and Chief Advisor at Highway and Transport
Management Consultants (HTMC) Colombo.
Introduction
One of the hottest discussed topics in the international engineering community at present is
sustainability including global warming and climate change. Global warming and climate
change could result in frequent extreme events such as high intensity rainfall, severe storms,
floods and droughts and sea level rise causing coastal line moving inland and reducing
valuable land area and adversely affecting people’s living conditions. As an insurance against
these possible events and to build and keep bridges sustainable, it is important for us to address
these issues as discussed in this paper at different stages of these infrastructure projects.
In some countries of the world, its infrastructures such as bridges, highways, buildings, dams
and other structures are approaching towards their end of design life, particularly because
climate change had not been considered in the past. Therefore, it is important now for the
engineering community to develop strategies that would enable us to build new infrastructures
sustainable and extend the service life of existing infrastructures by practicing suitable
maintenance methods.
The strategies need to be developed for keeping existing infrastructure sustainable and building
new infrastructure sustainable. This can only be achieved through developing and
implementing a life-cycle management plan that addresses sustainability issues at feasibility,
planning and designing, construction, operation, maintenance and decommission and/or
removal stages.
This paper discusses how sustainable bridges can be built and maintained through a planned
design, construction and maintenance process with minimum consumption of energy, use of
recycled waste materials, where possible, for construction, reduction of carbon dioxide
emissions and minimum impact on the environment particularly at a time where there is
increasing pressure to increase heavy load on the road network.

Page 2
Sustainable Infrastructure
Sustainability is generally defined as follows:

 Sustainable development meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
 Sustainable development is about achieving economic growth while protecting the
environment and ensuring that economic and environmental benefits are available to all of
society now and into the future.
By these definitions sustainable bridges can be achieved through a life-cycle management plan
that addresses environment sustainability, social responsibility and economic growth at present
and into the future.
More specifically sustainable bridges should possess the following characteristics: durability
and longevity, preservation of natural environment, minimum impact on cultural heritage,
minimum life-cycle cost, safety over whole life, high performance and use of renewable energy
and construction materials.
When studying the sustainability of bridges, it is important firstly to understand why bridges
are important to community.
The road network is a critical component of a country’s economic infrastructure and it binds
communities together and bridges are a vital part of that network. Good roads are a country’s
measure of civilisation its state of economy. A good road network ensures its social
cohesiveness and facilitate commerce. This has been true from ancient times and is just as
important today and in the future.
The contribution of the transport sector to a country’s economy is and will continue to be
significant as it moves into a world market. In industrial nations, the use of large vehicles with
higher axle loads is being promoted by the transport industry as a means of providing
significant cost savings, resulting in increase of national productivity and greater economic
benefits to people and minimal impact to the environment. The transport cost accounts for
approximately 20% of average household expenditure. This imposes significant pressure on
road authorities in Australia to allow larger vehicles with higher axle loads on its road network.
In Australia, the mass limit reviews of 1996 recommended that gross mass of six axle
articulated vehicles be increased from 42.5 tonnes to 45.5 tonnes. The review also identified
that bridges as the greatest impediment to improve transport efficiency through mass limit
increases. In order to allow higher mass limits on existing bridges identified as being under
capacity and to increase its sustainability, I and my RMS team developed a method for load
capacity assessment of these bridges including load testing to determine their actual load
carrying capacities. By conducting this load assessment process, we minimised the number of
bridges to be strengthened or replaced, proved their increased load capacity and saved millions
of dollars (over $150 million at 1996 value) to the community, yet kept the road network open
for increased loads without impacting the environment.
Life–Cycle Management of Sustainable Bridges
The life-cycle management plan for sustainable bridges, as for any other infrastructure,
contains stages of feasibility study, planning and design, construction, operation and
maintenance.

Page 3
Feasibility Study Phase
During this stage high- level decision are made to meet government strategic objectives and
anticipate economic growth. The project needs to be scoped in keeping with these objectives
and different options developed and evaluate to minimise the following: energy use, carbon
dioxide emissions, life-cycle costs, resource use, design and construction cost, environment
impact, community impact and heritage impact.
Planning Phase
During this phase different routes are evaluated with all stakeholders and a suitable one is
selected after carrying out extensive value management and risk management studies.
Design Phase
Design is a multi-disciplinary process that generally involves bridge engineers,

environmentalist, geologist, geotechnical engineers and architects to address the following:
projected traffic growth during the design life, waterway requirements, climate change impact,
mining subsidence, geotechnical impact, site constraints, durability, material selection (where
possible use recycled material) , construction, operation and maintenance and community
impact.
Considering the above facts, most suitable bridge type is selected that is sustainable with use of
minimum energy and minimum impact on the environment.
Construction Phase
Construction industry has a large and direct impact on the economy, society and environment
and therefore has a major role in delivering sustainable bridges. During this phase, the energy
saving, carbon dioxide emission reduction and environment protection can be achieved by
adopting the following measures: minimising amounts of excavated materials, balancing cut
and fill in earth works, reusing building materials and construction waste, increasing durability
and minimising maintenance cost by enforcing strict quality controls, using energy efficient
and high performing construction equipment, promoting use of construction automation
technologies and protecting environment by preventing industrial discharge to environment.
The following sustainability indicators measure the success of construction in achieving

sustainability. They are environmental protection, impact and benefits to society and
economic benefits.
Environment protection is measured by how construction impacts on climate change, land,

ecology and water use and how construction is carried out by minimising energy use and
carbon dioxide emissions. Also, processes need to be developed and implemented to minimise
dust, noise and traffic delays during construction as these result inconvenience and health
hazards to public.
Also, good construction practice needs to be implemented to construct durable and sustainable
bridges. Some of the measures for good construction practices are enforcement of adequate
construction quality assurance or quality controls, use of high-performance materials, proper

Page 4
curing and formwork removal for concrete elements and suitable surface protection system for
steel elements.
The Sea Cliff Bridge in NSW is presented as an example of design and construction of a
sustainable bridge in an aggressive marine environment.
After considering 14 different options a suitable option was selected based on the following
criteria: design and construction cost, restore two lane road, road user Road risk, time for
project delivery, minimal closures of road for geotechnical events and minimum whole of life
cost.
Having considered three bridge types namely a cable stays, a suspension and a combined
balance cantilever and incrementally launched type of bridges, the latter option was selected.
This option was selected to suit geography, ground condition, access for pier construction,
route geometry and aesthetics. The stages of construction and the completed bridge is shown
below.
Durability Provisions Launching of Superstructure
Pier
Substructure Construction
Construction Figure 1– Different Stages of Construction

Page 5
Figure 2 – Completed Sea Cliff Bridge

Page 6
Operation and Maintenance Phase
All bridges after construction pass to the phase of operation and maintenance and this phase
lasts until the end of its services life.
Sustainability during this phase can be achieved by implementing a well-planned asset

management cycle. This will extend the service life of bridges and eliminate the need for their
replacement and extensive rehabilitation or strengthening.
Asset Management cycle for Sustainable Bridges
The bridge infrastructure in Australia is subjected to significant increase in mass, volume and
frequency of heavy vehicles. This has resulted in a rapid deterioration of the bridge stock,
particularly ones constructed before 1948 for a design load of 16 tonnes.
My team and I have developed an Asset Management cycle to minimise deterioration of its
bridge stock and keep them sustainable whilst allowing them to carry higher loads safely and
without compromising their safety and performance.
The Asset Management cycle has 3 phases. They are: Phase 1 – Routine Activities, Phase 2 –
Investigation and Assessment and Phase 3 – Decision Making and Action.
The three phases are detailed in Figures 3, 4 and 5.
Phase 1 – Routine Activities
Regular
BIS Record
Inspection
2 3 Qualitative
Condition
Information
Assessment
Bridge
1
Operation
Regular
Regular Minor Operational
A 5 4 B
Maintenance Performance
Inspection
P2
Figure 3

Page 7
P1
Bridge
Phase 2 – Investigation and Assessment Performance Yes
6 Satisfactory B
( safety durability
,
serviceability etc ,
No
7 Durability Inadequate 8 Capacity Inadequate
Develop and Implement 10 Structural Inspection

A 9 Durability Improvement
High Level Structural

11
Analysis
No Yes
Capacity
13 Load Test 12 B
Adequate
Yes
Capacity B
14
Adequate
Figure 4
No
P3 P2
Phase 3 – Decision Making and Action
Redefine
Intensity of Strengthen
15 Use of 16 17 18 Replace
Monitoring or Repair
Bridge
B B B B
Figure 5
The Phase 1 covers routine activities such as regular inspection and regular minor maintenance
work. The Phase 2 has two streams, one is the durability assessment and the other is the

Page 8
structural capacity assessment. The Phase 3 is where decisions are made to redefine the use of
bridge, monitor its performance, strengthen, repair or replace the bridge.
Bridge Information System (BIS)
It is through a properly developed BIS that a good asset management cycle can be developed
and implemented. BIS provides a database to store, update and access the necessary
information for effective management of bridges. The information in BIS should contain
details on design, construction, inspection, load capacity, maintenance, strengthening and
attached utility services.
Bridge Inspection
Inspection is the process by which information on physical and structural conditions are
collected and updated to effectively manage bridges. Inspection should commence at the
handover of a new bridge and continue through its service life at predetermined regular
intervals dependant on type of bridges. Most Australian road agencies have a four (4) level
inspection process.
Level 1 inspection applies to all bridges and it is the basic drive-by inspection carried out on a
regular basis.
Level 2 inspection is a more detailed visual assessment of element conditions carried out at 2
yearly intervals by trained bridge inspectors.
Level 3 inspection is a detailed structural inspection carried out by a practicing bridge
engineer. It is based on a reported or suspected deterioration or damaged to critical elements,
generally arising out of level 2 inspection.
Level 4 inspection is carried out before a load capacity assessment of a bridge is conducted in
order to determine the “As is” condition of a bridge – determine the extent of deterioration or
section losses of its critical elements.
Durability of concrete Bridges
Concrete deterioration due to the corrosion of reinforcement commonly referred to as ‘concrete

cancer’ presents the most significant risk to the integrity of most concrete bridges. The costs to
rehabilitate such affected structures are very high and increase exponentially as the condition
of the bridge worsens.
As a more pro-active approach most of the Australian road agencies have undertaken a global
review of the durability condition of its coastal concrete bridge stock that is located within the
aggressive marine environments that present the greatest corrosion risk to its bridge stock.
Some of the findings from the review are:

 Long term remedial solutions need to be implemented to prevent structural performance of
these bridges being compromised by reinforcement corrosion.
 If long term remedial solutions cannot be implemented within 5 years due to lack of
funding or resources, remedial options need to be put in place in the next one to two years
to halt or at least inhibit the on set of further concrete deteriorate.
 Most of the road agencies are presently investigating the financial and technical viability of
the Sacrificial Cathodic Protection (CP) system as a potential interim measure.

Page 9
 The in-house trial data of these road agencies suggests that such systems offer corrosion
control and thus offer a cost effective short to medium ‘holding’ solution until long-term
solutions can be implemented.
The management of durability for concrete bridges is shown in the flowchart in Figure 6
1
Level 2 Inspection
Flag Problems
2
Conduct
Preliminary
Assessment
No
3
Further Action
Required?
Yes
4
Carry out Detailed
Investigation
5
Develop Repair
Solution
7
Monitor
6
Undertake Repair
Figure 6
Preliminary Assessment of Concrete Bridges
The steps for preliminary assessment are: carry out testing of concrete, determine cause of
deterioration and assess whether deterioration is widespread.
Detailed Investigation for Concrete Bridges
The detailed investigation is necessary only if deterioration is widespread and the steps for
detailed investigation are: undertake investigation of areas with widespread deterioration,
confirm cause of deterioration by testing for chloride ingress, carbonation, resistivity and
potential mapping, determine areas of corrosion activity and determine repair options including
costs.
Having undertaken the above investigation a suitable repair solution is determined based on
life-cycle costs analysis.
Boyd's Bay Bridge in Teed Heads, NSW is presented as an example.

Page 10
Figure 7 – Boyd’s Bay Bridge. Located on the Tweed River, Tweed Heads
Problem Flagged
•LevelLevel 2 (2inspection
2 (2 yearly) yearly) inspection identifies
identifies
concrete
concrete damage. damage.
.
Figure 8 – Damaged Concrete

Page 11
Preliminary Assessment
Preliminary Assessment on Boyd’s Bay

Bridge Boyds Bay
Scope
AAR testing 0.025
Chloride Content (%)

Fire damage assessment 0.02 BB1
Chloride content analysis 0.015 BB2
Conclusion: 0.01 BB3
The observed concrete 0.005 BB4
deterioration is due to 0
reinforcement corrosion that has 5 20 40 60
been initiated due to chloride Sample Depth (mm)
attack.
Detailed Investigation Required. Corrosion
Threshold
Figure 9 - Preliminary Assessment
Detailed Investigation
Detailed Investigation undertaken by External
Consultant and In-house
Scope of Investigation :
 Chloride analysis
 Carbonation testing
 Potential
mapping
 Resistivity testing
Investigation findings:
 Area of corrosion activity confined to 0 -
1.5m section of column above pile cap.
Repair Options:
 Demolish and re-cast all cover concrete,
up to 1.5m
 Conventional patch repair and coat
 Cathodic Protection
Figure 10 – Detailed Investigation

Page 12
Develop Repair Solution
• Repair solution selected based on life-cycle
cost analysis (LCCA) of repair options.
Option 1 - Conventional patch repair and coat

Option 2 – Sacrificial Cathodic Protection
400000
Option 3 - Demolish and re-cast up to 1.5m
Discounted Dollars
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
Option 2; Sacrificial CP identified as the most 100000
cost-effective long-term solution 50000
0
Option 1 Option 2 Option 3
Figure 12 – Repair Solution
Undertake Repairs
• In-house surveillance and testing undertaken to confirm
that repairs meet the specified performance criteria.
Reference electrodes to confirm that

corrosion protection is being provided
Figure 13 – Surveillance to Identify Performance

Page 13
Completed Project
Figure 14 – Completed Bridge
Durability of Steel Bridges
The process developed by us for managing steel bridges is shown in Figure 15
1
Level 2 Inspection - Flag Problems
2
Conduct Preliminary
Assessment
3 No
Further Action - Required?
Yes
4
Carry out Detailed - Investigation
5
Develop Repair - Solution
6 7
Undertake Repair Monitor
Figure 15 – Process for management of Steel Bridges

Page 14
Preliminary Assessment for Steel Bridges
The process for preliminary assessment is:

 Inspect elements for surface cleanliness.
 Establish extent, intensity and method of surface preparation required
 Carry out Level 2 inspection to determine steel condition state and paint condition state of
elements.
 Conduct routine maintenance by cleaning, removal of debris and provision for drainage, if
the condition of the bridge is in state / (as per BIS).
 Carry out further investigation if the bridge is in any other state.
Detailed Investigation for Steel Bridges
The process for this investigation is:

 Map areas of paint in condition state 2 to 4.
 Test coating samples.
 Provide a report identifying paint failures and defining required surface preparation and
option for paint systems.
Having completed these investigations develops repair options identifying extent of repairs and
a suitable paint system to protect the elements from the environment.
Bridge Load Capacity Assessment
Bridge load capacity assessment is a very effective tool to manage a complex bridge
infrastructure, particularly in an environment of increasing live loads.

Page 15
Bridge Load Capacity Assessment
Bridge load capacity assessment can be conducted at different levels depending on type and
age of a bridge.
Different levels of load capacity assessment with management outcomes are shown in Figure
16.
Request for Bridge Load Capacity Assessment
Conduct Structural Inspection
Are Load Effects due

to Rating Vehicles? No
Bridge OK for Loading
Yes
Conduct Analytical Capacity Assessment
Is Analytical
Yes
Capacity Assessment Bridge OK for Loading
Adequate?
No
Conduct Load Test
Determine Bridge Load Capacity
Is Capacity Yes
Assessment by Bridge OK for Loading
Testing
Adequate?
No
Determine Management
Outcomes
Monitor
Bypass
Reduce No. of Lanes
Sign Post for Loads
Sign Post for Speeds
Sign Post for Speed
Replace
Figure 16 – Bridge Load Capacity Assessment

Page 16
In 1995 I developed a Bridge Proof Load Testing Facility to enable “deficient” bridges
identified by analytical assessment to be evaluated at higher levels of loading, to determine
their “true” load capacity without compromising their safety or performance.
Before conducting Proof Load Testing or any other bridge testing discussed in the paper, it is
necessary to follow the process detailed in Figure 16. The process consists of structural
inspection, material testing, structural analysis and then determine the modes of failure for
increase in live loads.
Structural Inspection
Structural inspection is a very important part of Load Capacity Assessment and is carried out
by competent practicing bridge engineers. Prior to inspection, information is collected from
Work as Executed (WAE) drawings and Past Inspection Reports.
Structural Inspection consists of 2 parts, namely Inspection for Loading and Inspection for
Resistance.
Inspection for Loading is a Geometric Survey to determine the self weight, super dead load and
identify installation of services that may or may not be shown on the WAE drawings.
Inspection for Resistance is carried out to determine all parameters needed to determine
strength of the bridge. They are:
 Member sizes
 Cracks
 Corrosion
 Settlements
 Defective Materials
 Damages
 Bridge Articulation
Material Testing
Material testing is carried out to determine the actual material strength of concrete, steel or
timber used in bridges.
Structural Analysis
Prepare structural model of bridge taking in account its actual condition determined from
inspection. Then carry out structural analysis of the ‘as is’ condition of the bridge to determine
the load capacity of the bridge to carry nominated load.
Load testing of the bridge is only carried out if its load capacity by analysis is less then the
capacity required to carry the nominated load.

Page 17
Non-Destructive Load Testing
Load Testing is an effective means of determining the actual load carrying capacity of a bridge.
It is particularly suitable for bridges that cannot be accurately modelled for analysis or whose
analytical load capacity is less than the capacity required to carry legal loads or nominated
loads.
Types of Load Tests:

 Proof Load
 Performance Load
 Health Monitoring
 Dynamic Frequency analysis
 Fatigue Load
 Dynamic Load
Proof Load Testing
Figure 17 – 1st Proof Load Testing (1995)
In these tests, the bridge is carefully and incrementally loaded to a pre-determined target proof
load or until the bridge approaches its elastic limit, whichever occurs first.
The Target Proof Load is the lower of the theoretical ultimate load or 2 to 2.5 times the current
legal load.
Performance Load Testing
This is a serviceability limit state test. Bridge is carefully and incrementally loaded in the field
to a pre-determined live load level, marginally higher than the legal load current at the time.
This load level is determined by multiplying the pre-determined live load by the dynamic load
allowance and the serviceability limit state live load factor.

Page 18
Health Monitoring
Stresses strains and deflections of critical elements are measured at ambient traffic over a pre-
determined period. Then same effects on these critical elements are measured for a known
vehicle. From these results the maximum safe load bridge can carry is determined.
Dynamic Frequency Analysis
Bridge is excited by dropping a drop hammer on deck and dynamic frequency and stiffness of
critical members are measured. Using these stiffnesses, a FE Model is developed for the
bridge, it is calibrated, and the load capacity of the bridge is determined.
Fatigue Load Test
This is a serviceability limit state test. Measure strains/deflections of critical elements for
ambient traffic for a pre-determined period. For this period, determine stresses and number of
cycles, and extrapolate these results for the past and the future. From these results and using
Miners rules determine the remaining fatigue life.
Dynamic Load Test
This test is carried out by running test vehicles of known axle configuration and Gross Vehicle
Mass over bridge at varying known speeds, including at crawl speed. Dynamic strains,
deflections and acceleration of the bridge for these speeds are measured and from these results
Dynamic Load allowance (DLA) is determined.
The results from these bridge tests have confirmed that bridges identified by analysis as being
inadequate to carry current legal loads have significantly higher capacity to carry legal loads.
Results of some bridges tested are given in a table.
Name Type Design Analytically Rated

Load Rated Load by
Load Tests
Road over Rail on Pennant Hills Jarch 17t 40t 47t
Rd, Carlingford NSW
Upper Warrel Ck. On SH10 at Sbeam 33t 40t 65t

Macksville, NSW
Road over Rail on Weeroona Rd. Jarch 16t 29t 49t

Strathfield-West, NSW
Table 1 – Comparison of Test Results

Page 19
Benefits – Load Capacity Assessment
Conducting structural inspection and load capacity assessment of bridges, asset managers will
be able to proactively manage the aging bridge infrastructure, keep them sustainable and bring
the following benefits:
 Minimise strengthening of bridges.
 Delay replacement of bridges.
 Priorities replacement and strengthening of bridges perceived as weak links in the road
network.
 Establish a basis to safely increase volume, mass and length of road freight vehicles.
 Allow more liberal movement of heavy loads across the network.
 Maximise benefits from limited funds.
In addition, it also brings the following global benefits:
 Improved utilization of country’s bridge infrastructure.

 Improved national transport efficiency and productivity.
 Improve industry competiveness.
 Reduced cost of living.
Heavy Vehicles on NSW Road Network
Below are some heavy vehicles on NSW road network.
Figure 18 – In 1900, 18 bullocks, Carry 29t

Page 20
Figure 19 – Semi Trailer
AB TRIPLE
Figure 20 – Restricted Access Vehicles

Page 21
Figure 21 – Permit Vehicle, Crane
Figure 20 – Permit Vehicle

Page 22
Managing Challenge
My team and I have effectively managed a very complex bridge infrastructure (about 6,000
bridges with a replacement value of about $19 billion) of different vintage bridges with
different types in different aggressive environment and in a regime of significant increase of
heavy loads.
The following are some examples from the bridge infrastructure we have managed:
 The twin bridges over

Mooney-Mooney Creek are
located on the F3 60km
north of Sydney and were
built in 1986.
 The bridges are 75m above
water level.
 The superstructure of each
bridge consists of a three
span continuous, prestressed
concrete, variable depth, box girder constructed using balanced cantilever method
and has a 220m long main span with end spans of 130m.
 The end spans were made longer than half the length of the main span to ensure
downwards reactions at the abutments under all loading conditions.
 The structure is fixed at one abutment through rock anchors with the expansion joint
located at the other.
The Gladesville Bridge

Page 23
The Anzac Bridge
Woronora River Bridge

Page 24
Twin Bridges over Mooney Mooney Creek
The Harbour Bridge

Page 25
The Rip Bridge
Twin Bridges over the Nepean River at Douglas Park

Page 26
 The 1.8km long viaduct was
opened to traffic in 1986.
 The viaduct consists of
prestressed concrete cast-in-
place voided slab spans
continuous over five and six
span sections.
 There are 58 spans with span
lengths from 30 to 40m.
 The piers are of reinforced
concrete (RC) columns and are
supported on cast-in-place RC
piles founded on shale.
Viaduct between Granville & Parramatta on M4
Conclusion
Sustainability is about keeping cleaned air and water, greener earth and healthier living for the
present and future generations.
All stakeholders working together innovatively thought the phases of planning, design,
construction and asset management we can build and manage bridges to be sustainable to meet
the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations
to meet their own needs. Thus, sustainable bridges are bringing in benefits to the present and
future generations with minimum impact to the environment.
Planning Effective Construction Effective Asset Mgt

Design
Management
Sustainable
Stakeholders Working Together Reliable
High Performing
Safe
Bridges
Optimum Results
to Present & Future
Generations

Page 27
COMPLETING THE MAHAWELI PLAN by Amir Deen: Chief Technical Principal SMEC
(Retired)
Introduction
In March 2013 I was requested by my employer to take up a six-month assignment in Colombo as

Team Leader on a prestigious Water Resources Project which had then been running for over three
years. I was told that the then British Team Leader was feeling unwell and wished to return to his
home and also that the major developmental work and investigations on the Project were complete.
My role would be to compose and submit the critical Final Reports on the three major sections of the
Project as well as present these reports at a number of symposia and ensure closure of the Project.
Although I was born and educated in Sri Lanka, I have had minimal experience of working there and
no experience there as a medium level or senior engineer. The best part of my career has been in
Australia and I present this article from the point of view of an Australian Engineer albeit with some
background knowledge of the Sri Lankan way of life.
I assume that I was selected because of my extensive background in water resources as well my
expertise in international work. I had also done some very short-term inputs in Sri Lanka about ten
years previously which probably helped. Overall, I was quite pleased to have been selected as this
Project was aimed at determining the direction of the massive international funding and investment
streams over the next twenty-five years. Decisions that were made on the Project would have far
reaching ramifications for the average person right across the country.
I have written this article to present some of the particularly interesting and exciting technical and
non-technical aspects of the Project. It might help engineers and others gain an idea of the state of
development and the sheer complexity of water resource management in the country. It may also
assist other engineers in Australia who are considering working in Sri Lanka after a long absence from
the scene.
The Project
At the end of the civil war and the return of stability to the North and North Central Provinces, the
Government with the assistance of the World Bank commenced a massive developmental program in
those regions. The Dam Safety and Water Resources Planning Project was one package within that
developmental program and it was divided into three major sub-packages. The first dealt with dam
safety issues and the second with data collection and real time monitoring systems. The third and the
one of relevance to this paper was the Water Resources Planning Project on which SMEC (my
employer) had been commissioned in 2009.
The first two sub-packages were being progressed through other foreign consultants. All three were
managed in Sri Lanka through a single Project Director of the Ministry of Mahaweli Development. He
generally wouldn’t quite discuss the other two sub-packages with me but I always had the distinct
impression that they were well behind our Project.
The SMEC sub-package itself was sub-divided into three sections. The biggest and most interesting
was the review of the Mahaweli Basin Plan which was first proposed by the FAO in the fifties, work
Page 28
commenced in the sixties, it was accelerated in the late seventies and then more or less frozen for the
next thirty years during the war period. The Government in 2013 was fully committed to the Plan and
our objective was to offer solutions for progressing the Plan to its final stages.
Prior to developing solutions for the Mahaweli Plan though, SMEC had to demonstrate and refine its
methodologies for the Plan on a pilot area as a separate section of the Project. It might be worthwhile
mentioning here that the methodologies adopted were world class with extensive stakeholder
interactions, detailed environmental impact assessment, complex GIS systems, comprehensive multi-
sectoral economic analysis, multi-basin modelling, and detailed engineering assessment. In many ways
the activities that were engaged in were not dissimilar to those undertaken for the various reviews of
the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The pilot area specified was the Mundeni Aru Basin which was a catchment quite close to Batticaloa.
It was one of the poorest areas of the country before the war and became even poorer at the end of
it. The objective here was to try and raise the living standards of the inhabitants by improved water
resource management. There were also opportunities in the tourism sector for this area.
The third section of the SMEC project was the development of a National Water Use Masterplan
broadly based on upgrading an extensive body of water investigations undertaken in the past and
integrating them using a common modelling framework.
All work undertaken was carried out in accordance with the long-term planning program of the
Government which had been developed in a document referred to as the Mahinda Chintana. It was a
surprisingly detailed document in some aspects and provided a solid basis for SMEC’s activities.
Updated Mahaweli Plan
As we all know, the Mahaweli Ganga is the longest and largest river in Sri Lanka flowing from the
Central Highlands to Trincomalee in the north-east of the country. In the fifties, a plan was developed
by various international and national bodies to store the wet weather flows in a series of dams and
then provide irrigation water by a series of diversions to the dry areas of the North Central and
Northern Provinces. The shaded area in Figure 1 shows the proposed irrigation control areas of the
Mahaweli and it can be seen that this single river can provide the water resources for over half the
land mass of the country. The area under the control of the Mahaweli Authority has a population of
over 1.2 million people which is around six percent of the country’s population.
The Irrigation Department of Sri Lanka is one of the most critical organisations in the country and was
established early in the colonial period to support agriculture in the drier areas of the country. Their
systems are generally stand-alone using one or a few smallish water storages to supply their local
irrigable areas. Nevertheless, these irrigable areas cover a large part of the country and there are
always parts suffering water stress sometimes even during the wet season. The advantage of the
Mahaweli storage and diversion systems is that they can be developed to support these drought
affected areas in addition to opening up large swathes of additional land to irrigated agriculture. The
Mahaweli system (particularly when fully developed) sits at the centre and can supply water
effectively north, south, east and west.
Page 29
Fig. 1 Hydrological Map of Sri Lanka Fig. 2 Options for Mahaweli Development
Many of the major storages had been completed (or were in the process of being completed) in 2013
and the SMEC focus was on assessing the diversion options and providing proposals for any additional
storage needed to optimise the delivery of water. It is not the intention of this paper to discuss the
overall Mahaweli Plan in any detail but the broad concept is to move water northwards through a
series of canals and storages. The major canals proposed were the Upper Elahera Canal, the North
Central Canal and the Northern Canal. The long-term objective was to move significant quantities of
water to the Iranamadu tank in the Wanni and from there gravitate it further north. Figure 2 shows
the three major options under consideration by the Government at that stage.
Mundeni Aru Pilot Project
As mentioned previously, the Mundeni Aru area ranked very low in terms of per-capita income within
the country; even lower than the estate areas of the hill country. The photo in Figure 3 shows a typical
scene, grinding poverty being the lot of many of the inhabitants. Improved water resources could
provide a more reliable source of rice and other food crops although it is more likely that a generally
all round raising of living standards would probably arise from the blossoming of tourism in this area.
Following detailed social, economic and technical investigations, SMEC proposed a number of options
for the construction of storages to provide flood protection and enable dry weather farming. A sketch
of one of the options proposed is shown in Figure 4. SMEC also worked quite closely with a number of
government agencies on this project to fine tune the application of its methodologies and then applied
Page 30
those refined techniques on the wider projects. I am not aware of the current status of those proposals
but prior to the very recent happenings in Sri Lanka my understanding was that tourism was being
developed at an accelerated rate in these areas.
Fig. 3 Typical scene in Mundeni Aru area Fig. 4 Options for Mundeni Aru Development
National Water Use Master Plan
The National Water Use Masterplan was a much broader document looking at the balance between
costs and benefits over a huge range of projects that had been developed over a very long period of
time. The critical difference between those previous project investigations and the current one was
the greater emphasis on social and cultural issues and stakeholder interaction in addition to
integrating all those projects within a common database and modelling structure. Another quite
significant difference was the greater emphasis placed on domestic water supplies and the need for
significant reservations of water in the reservoir system for that purpose.
At the end of the day SMEC arrived at a long list of projects, categorised as short, medium and long
term. Amongst the projects proposed was the well-known “River for Jaffna” also known as the
Arumugam plan and a number of options for optimising the use of the available water resource.
A number of long-term plans for diverting the Kelani Ganga and the Kalu Ganga were also proposed
which in all likelihood will probably face major obstacles in any implementation scenario. Some of the
proposed projects are shown in Figure 1.
My Observations
Water Resources has always been of critical importance in Sri Lanka and I found there, that everyone
with or without knowledge had an opinion on the subject (actually not unlike Australia). There were
quite a few similarities between working in Australia and in Sri Lanka but also some significant
differences in both direction and attitude.
The Project Team

As mentioned previously the project was managed by a Project Director who in turn reported to the
Secretary of the Ministry (who also happened to be an Engineer). The Project Director was an absolute
dynamo, he appeared to be quite unruffled running these three major projects and dealing with the
Page 31
unwieldy political and administrative structures of the government. I was very impressed with the
man and his ability to achieve results with the limited resources at his disposal. On one occasion I
recall, his wife and family had all been admitted to hospital with dengue fever and yet he attended a
critical meeting with SMEC and then went straight back to the hospital. In my view it is people like him
who keep the country moving despite all the negativity associated with the political classes.
From an ethical perspective, here is a man who works with us, works extremely hard and yet his salary
was just a fraction of what most expatriates were paid there. Is that fair? Is that morally correct? I
have no answer to that question but I did know that SMEC would clamp down on any interaction that
could even remotely suggest the payment of gratuities.
The Secretary to the Ministry was also quite a dedicated person and he had a vision for the future of
the Ministry and the Authorities reporting to it. I sensed though there was some tension between the
Project Director and the Secretary and I wasn’t surprised to learn that he was running a project parallel
to the SMEC project but under his direct control. I often thought that it may have been better for him
to step back from the front line and focus on managing the bigger picture within the Ministry. Once
again you ask yourself, how does one constructively manage these two powerful figures in order to
achieve the objectives of the project?
There was a Technical Review Committee headed by a number of very senior engineers who provided
technical content to the Project Director. Most of them were highly experienced and capable
engineers and they were able to provide high quality reviews of our work.
SMEC
SMEC has had a long history in Sri Lanka particularly in the water and highways sector and was well
established there (in 2013) with a large office and an extensive list of projects around the country.
Support for expatriate staff was quite satisfactory with a well organised system of management and
very competent local staff.
The SMEC inputs into this Project were mostly provided by short term inputs from various persons
categorised as experts by the World Bank. They were a mixed bunch and this shape of input is a
necessary consequence of the selection processes adopted by the World Bank. The economist for
example would report in great depth on some specific aspect of the project but quite often failed to
understand the wider picture and the nexus between his work and the project as a whole. The Team
Leader’s role was to try and convert a stream of sometimes indecipherable commentary into a
meaningful document.
According to the Project Director, the main reason that SMEC was awarded the project was because
it was substantially cheaper than his preferred consultant. That comment certainly spurred me on to
produce the best set of reports I could and to prove cheap is not always bad.
In 2013 SMEC was running a number of projects in Sri Lanka with substantial water inputs in the fields
of water supply, Colombo stormwater drainage, irrigation, dams engineering, hydropower, highway
design and water resources management. There were significant commonalities within most of these
projects which could have been used to develop an integrated knowledge base on water within the
country. Most of these projects however were run by temporary overseas employees on short term
contracts with little interest in the development of either SMEC or the Sri Lankan water sector. It was
disappointing to me that there wasn’t a greater interest shown by either SMEC or the various client
bodies in maximising the benefit of the knowledge gleaned from these projects.
Page 32
Lower Rainfall
One of the issues that struck me at the very beginning of my input was that there was a noticeable
reduction in recorded rainfall within Sri Lanka. The classic representation of this observation (Figure
5) was presented in a document by Manchanayake and Madduma Bandara with rainfall from 1870 to
1980 which show a clear downward trend in the rainfall. Figure 6 shows the annual areal rainfall over
Peradeniya collected from 1949 to 2007 which shows a similar downward trend.
Fig 5: Point Rainfall in Nuwara Eliya 1870-1980 Fig 6: Areal rainfall in Peradeniya 1949-2007
When NEDECO undertook their Accelerated Mahaweli Development Studies based on all available
information, they estimated the average annual flow at Mannampitya as 8300 GL/a. Using the same
database but with the additional data collected between 1977 and 2008, the average annual flow was
reduced to 6600 GL/a; a reduction of over twenty percent. The question here is whether this is a trend
or a cycle. The SMEC assumption was that the figures developed were the best available estimate and
our work progressed on that basis.
Nevertheless, it was a disconcerting finding and although I tried to generate debate on the matter
within various forums, there appeared to be little interest at that stage.
Contractual Issues
SMEC ran into an interesting and financially contractual issue in relation to this Contract which is
probably a salutary lesson to all engineers and managers. The original contract specified the
development of a Planning Model and a very sophisticated and complex planning model had been
developed by SMEC together with its specialised modelling partners.
The Mahaweli Authority had for many years been using a mainframe-based computer model for
operational purposes to estimate the irrigation requirements and demands on its storages. This model
which had been developed in Fortran by Acres of Canada in the seventies had reached the end of its
effective life and many of the Authority’s experts on using the model were nearing retirement.
Someone suggested adopting the Planning model to replace the Operational Model for a price. This
suggestion was taken up enthusiastically by all parties except the GM in charge of Operations who
apparently had not been consulted. The modelling sub-contractor was also hesitant and in response
to the brief, included a number of conditions. Unfortunately, these conditions were not included in
the final contract amendment and SMEC signed off on developing a “real-time” Operational Model
when the Modellers had clearly specified that they were not going to develop a “real-time” model.
Page 33
The outcome of it all was a disaster! The final output of this modelling process did not meet the
requirements of the Operations GM and was not accepted. SMEC were not paid for the product but
was contractually bound to pay the modelling sub-contractor. The Mahaweli Authority were unable
to update their model and almost everyone was a loser.
The lessons to be learnt from this exercise are;
 Never try to convert a planning model into an operational model. The processes for
developing operational models and planning models are very different;
 Never try to develop a model without full stakeholder sign off. The lack of cooperation from
the GM Operations spelt the death knell of this modelling effort;
 Make sure that the new model fully replicates the outputs and functions of the old model
before consideration of enhancements; and,
 Make sure that you read the contract before it is signed.
Female Engineers
There has been a continuing focus on the lack of females in our profession from my early days in
engineering around fifty years ago. In Australia, both informal and formal quotas have been placed
ostensibly to encourage female participation in both engineering and engineering management.
What was very pleasantly surprising in Sri Lanka was the number of female engineers with high levels
of responsibility within the various organisations with which I interacted. The Director General of
Irrigation was a female, so were the two General Managers in the Mahaweli Authority with whom I
had direct contact and both the senior engineers from the Ceylon Electricity Board associated with
the project were female. Previously I had constructive interactions with female Project Directors from
the National Water Supply Board and the Irrigation Department. Without exception they were all
technically very competent and extremely good at their jobs having developed their skills in the school
of hard knocks rather than through some sort of quota system.
I was so impressed by their capabilities that on returning to Sydney I managed to recruit two female
Sri Lankan born engineers into my section and was well rewarded for my efforts by their competence
and persistence.
Conclusions
After graduation my very first project was with the SD&CC on the construction of the Bowatenne Dam
on the Mahaweli. About seven years later, I was working in Holland and assisting NEDECO with the
accelerated Mahaweli Program. Thirty-three years later I am at the end of my career and I am back on
the Mahaweli. It has been a wonderful journey of over forty-five years as an Engineer and the
Mahaweli and I have been intertwined during this period.
Overall the six months I spent there were very fulfilling. We had our good days and bad days but I
never came across a dull day. I would recommend the experience to anyone who is offered the
opportunity.
Page 34
Fig 7: The author (left) and Project Director in 2013
Page 35
EVOLUTION OF SYSTEM QUALITY ASSURANCE FROM PRODUCT QUALITY CONTROL by Eng. Sarath
Wijayapala
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally manufacturers of products relied on quality control of the production of the item as well as
their customers.
In the case of large corporate customers such as Defence Departments of countries, they embedded
Departmental Product Quality Controllers within the manufacturing facilities of Defence Suppliers. They
had various national quality standards to which these Suppliers had to comply with.
Over time, the emphasis on product quality control supervised by Customer QC staff at production
facilities changed to quality assurance of a Suppliers entire management system which was self-managed
under a national quality certification/accreditation system.
This accreditation eventually changed to an international standard. This paper addresses the situation in
Australia over the last four decades.
HISTORY
By the early 1970s Standards Association of Australia (SAA), now Standards Australia, had set up
Committee QR/-, Quality and Reliability, which in 1975, published a series of Suppliers’ Quality Systems
based heavily on documents prepared by the Quality Assurance Subcommittee of the Department of
Defence Australia. These standards were:
 AS 1821 – Suppliers quality systems for design, development, production and installation
 AS 1822 – Suppliers quality systems for production and installation
 AS 1823 – Suppliers quality systems for quality inspection
In 1985 SAA revised AS 1821-3 based on work that had been done in the UK, USA and the draft ISO 9000,
9001, 9002, 9003 and 9004 standards. SAA had also started work on AS 2000 which was a guide to the
1821-3 series but decided to stop this work when ISO 9004 was published in 1987.
SAA decided to set up Committee QR/08 (now designated QR-008 – Quality Systems) to mirror the work
of ISO/TC 176 – Quality management and quality assurance. One of its early tasks was to adopt ISO 9001,
9002 and 9003 (1987) as AS 3901, 3902 and 3903.
Australian Department of Defence used these standards to directly accredit Defence Suppliers using its
Defence Quality Assurance Organisations within the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) and the Australian Army. All Defence Suppliers who were accredited after completion of a
comprehensive quality audit were entered into the Defence Register of Accredited Suppliers (DRAS). Only
Suppliers/Manufacturers listed in the DRAS was offered Defence contracts unless there was no
alternative.
The writer was the Senior Mechanical Engineer attached to the Defence Quality Assurance Marine
Directorate (DQAMAR) Headquartered in Sydney which managed the delivery of quality assurance of RAN
Page 36
Suppliers through regional offices in Melbourne, Cairns, Darwin, Perth. Similarly, the Quality Assurance
Units of the RAAF and the Army had regional offices to deliver services to these Services.
In the same year that Australia adopted ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003 for the first time Dr Kevin Foley
presented the report of his committee (Report of the Review of Standards, Accreditation and Quality
Control and Assurance). The committee made quality its central theme and insisted that standards,
quality and accreditation are too important to Australia’s economic viability to be left to present
arrangements that lack focus, coherence and status.
The Foley report brought a clearer focus on quality and led to a greater implementation of quality
management systems complying with AS 3901, 2, or 3. The Australia Government also set up the National
Industries Extension Service that provided grants for organisations to implement Total Quality
Management (TQM) programs or quality management systems.
There were a number of industries that thought they needed additional guidance for their organisations
to be able to implement ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems. Consequently, Standards Australia
prepared a number of industry specific guides, e.g., chemical, construction. These were published as parts
of AS 3905. When ISO 9001 was revised in 2000, these guides were revised and published as handbooks
with the designation HB 90.X. As yet they have not been revised to reflect the changes to ISO 9001
brought about in the 2015 revision.
The Queensland Government also issued an edict that it would only do business with organisations that
had a certified quality management system in place. It was anticipated that other State and
Commonwealth Government Departments would follow suit but the recession in the early 1990’s led
Government purchasing departments to look for the cheapest price rather than deal exclusively with
certified companies.
The number of certification bodies started to increase significantly and the Australian and New Zealand
Governments decided that they required an organisation to oversee these certification
bodies. Consequently, they established the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-
ANZ) in 1991. JAS-ANZ is still in operation today and is doing an excellent job of managing many other
accreditation programs in addition to the ISO 9001 quality management program.
In mid 1990s, Defence decided to move away from directly accrediting Defence Industry and instead to
rely on their certification by a JAS-ANZ accredited body. The writer managed this transition of Defence
Suppliers in NSW as a Manager of the Regional Directorate of Quality Assurance (RDQA-NSW) as part of
the Defence Quality Assurance Organisation (DQAO) which was created as a tri-service organisation by
merging the Service-based quality assurance units to minimise duplication as many Defence Suppliers
provided goods and services to more than one Service. It also significantly reduced the number of Defence
Quality Assurance Representatives (DQARs) and started relying on Defence Industry being fully
responsible for their quality management including product quality control.
Defence limited its role to asking for and reviewing the Suppliers’ Quality Plans developed for producing
the product/service and where necessary auditing the Suppliers quality management only relating to
relevant processes and products. Defence relied on external Quality System certification and did not audit
the Supplier’s quality management system.
Page 37
In 1994 ISO carried out minor revisions of the ISO 9000 series of standards and Australia and New Zealand
decided to adopt them as joint Australian/New Zealand Standards with the AS/NZS ISO 900X designation.
Once the new DQAO organisation was created IN 1996, the writer moved to Canberra to become the
Assistant Director Quality Assurance – Policy [ADQA-POL] and helped to develop relevant revisions to
documents such as Capital Equipment Procurement Manual [CEPMAN], Defence Instruction on Quality,
Defence Procurement Policy Manual [DPPM] etc.
In 2000 ISO carried out a major revision of the ISO 9000 series of standards. It eliminated ISO 9002 and
9003 leaving only ISO 9000 – Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary, ISO 9001 –
Quality management systems – Requirements and ISO 9004 – Quality management – Quality of an
organisation – Guidelines for sustained success. This simplified the management system requirements
and meant that all organisations would be certified to the same standard. A minor revision to these
standards was carried out in 2008 with a major revision in 2015. At each revision the Australian mirror
committee (QR-008 – consisting of Australian and New Zealand members) adopted the standards as joint
Australian and New Zealand standards (AS/NZS ISO 900X).
ISO/TC 176 is not only responsible for the ISO 9000 series of standards but is also responsible for
publishing a number of standards that provide support to the ISO 9000 series of standards. Examples of
these are:
 ISO 10001-4 – Customer satisfaction

 ISO 10005 – Quality plans
 ISO 10006 – Quality in project management
 ISO 10014 – Financial benefits of quality
CURRENT SITUATION
From the above one might think that ‘quality’ is only related to ISO 9001 certification but that is not the
case. In 2011 ISO/TC 69 published two standards on Six Sigma, viz,
 ISO 13053.1 – Quantitative methods in process improvement -- Six Sigma -- Part 1: DMAIC
methodology
 ISO 13053.2 - Quantitative methods in process improvement -- Six Sigma -- Part 2: Tools and
techniques
In 2015 it published a further standard, ISO 18404 - Quantitative methods in process improvement -- Six
Sigma -- Competencies for key personnel and their organizations in relation to Six Sigma and Lean
implementation
Recently Canada and the UK submitted a request for a new work item:
 Guidelines on Integrating a Business Excellence Framework with ISO management system

standards
This will bring together two areas of quality related activities which should bring benefits to all
organisations and could revitalise the interest in business excellence throughout the world.
Page 38
CONCLUSIONS
Since they were first published in 1987, the ISO 9000 series of standards (and ISO 9001 in particular) have
become synonymous with quality management. The drive towards certification to ISO 9001 has led many
people to believe that this is all there is to ‘quality’. Very few business people (or even ‘Quality Managers’)
have any knowledge of the quality Gurus or subjects such as Total Quality Management, Six Sigma or Lean.
ISO 9001 provides a condensed version of good business practice but it is the other aspects of ‘quality’
that can be used to assist in the improvement of an organisation’s processes and therefore its overall
business sustainability.
In any human activity there is risk, particularly in developing technical complex systems or products. Thus
it is important for all quality managers to properly assess the risks and address/tailor their quality
assurance activities accordingly. Product failures due to poor subcontractor quality controls were seen
recently in the auto industry (defective air bags, brake systems etc.)
Some people are complacent if a Supplier has a certified quality management system. That certificate
alone cannot provide the required confidence regarding that supplier’s quality performance as it has to
be a living and functioning system. Thus Suppliers’ quality performance has to be monitored through
appropriate means in order to obtain sufficient confidence of the product/service they deliver.
Much has changed and the future for Management of Quality requires Top Management and the business
systems manager, to embrace Risk Based Thinking. The risks and opportunities for the organisation has
to be integrated within the organisation processes.
Guidance for Risks is found in the updated ISO 31000/31010 Risk Management Guidelines and Assessment
Techniques. These can help business system managers and their other managers, understand how to
assess, mitigate, control and report the risks in their operations in responding to their external and
internal context.
ISO 9001:2015 and other ISO management system standards (MSS) since 2012 are all based upon
prevention.
The future for Managing Quality is largely dependent on how business systems managers are part of the
senior/top management.
Some examples are indicated below:
 Strategic Planning – integrating the various strategy, business and operating plans within the
documented management system,
 Performance Evaluation – having those strategy documents and their goals, objectives, functional
strategies and KPIs captured and visually reviewed in deployment boards,
 Communication – ISO 45001 has requirements for Workplace and Worker Participation and ISO
9000 Employee Engagement; with staff engagement and employee branding, attracting,
developing and retaining talent and transitioning people well is a core management role,
Page 39
 Continual Improvement – selecting processes for improvement such as the use of TQM, Quality
Circles, Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma™, BPR etc., should be selected from the Processes now captured
and documented within the Process Based Management System,
 Auditing – ISO 9002:2017 provide Best Practice guidance that Internal Audits should be on the
product or process, and not the ISO 9001 Clauses,
 Learning – as we know, Adult Learning will continue to be on preventing problems and risks and
solving problems by doing real projects appropriate to the employees’ competencies, capacities
and capabilities; showing progress and people’s roles in process is ideal,
 Business and Operational Excellence – ISO 9000 has seven Quality Management Principles and
when married with other organisational and supplier excellence criteria, perhaps Dr Deming’s 14
Points for Management and now with Organisation Process Maturity in ISO 9004:2018, customers
and the organisation can do assessments and even benchmark to make improvements,
 Strategic Quality Management – As Dr. Juran said, all improvement occurs through projects; the
Cost of Quality to determine activities critical to quality (Six Sigma) is relevant,
 Supply Chains – ISO 1005 Quality Plans and ISO 10007 Configuration Management will support
organisations along with their Certifications, be considered and sustained within national and
international supply chains,
 Integrated management systems – By having a process architecture, organisations will be able to
be agile, responsive and innovative to respond effectively to opportunities and manage risks to
the business.
Author, graduated from University of Peradeniya with Honours in 1970 in Mechanical Engineering and
was an Instructor there for one year. He joined Port Cargo Corporation Engineering Division when he was
sent to Japan to study Shipbuilding and Repair. Thereafter he was at Colombo Dockyard Ltd as Project
Engineer and Works Manager and managed the DANIDA Project for shipyard development. After several
other roles in other organisations, he migrated to Australia and was the Project Engineer in a Newcastle
dockyard for 3 years and then joined the Department of Defence as a Senior Mechanical Engineer. After
25 years’ service, he retired as the Chief Engineer of a section in the Department serving the Royal
Australian Navy in 2016. His expertise is in Quality Assurance, Project Management, Marine Engineering
and Explosives Engineering.
Page 40
Critique of “Engineering Standards” and their application by
Don Tissa Wijayasinghe, BSc Eng., MEng, MBA; MIEEE, MIE(SL) CEng. MIEAust
CPEng NER, APEC Engineer IntPE(Aus)
Introduction
Standards play a vital role in many fields, particularly in core engineering applications and
engineering management.
The purpose of this piece is to present the explicit and implicit benefits and limitations of the
standards documents, the consequences of the low-quality standards and the absence of
standards for an organisation, especially where organisations depends heavily on engineering
input and output.
Comprehension of the aforementioned items brings forth an opportunity for the Institution of
Engineers Sri Lanka to engage with the engineering organisations, state and private sectors
and Sri Lanka Standard Institution for the betterment of the country.
What are standards?

Most English dictionaries do not identify the word “standards” as a free-standing word, rather
it is defined as the plural of the word “standard”. However, the word “standards”, in engineering
and several other discipline’s context, deserves a more explicitly stated definition.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Standards Association, which is a
member of American National Standards Institute (ANSI), concisely states;
“Standards are published documents that establish specifications and procedures
designed to maximize the reliability of the materials, products, methods, and/or
services people use every day. Standards address a range of issues, including but not
limited to various protocols to help maximize product functionality and compatibility,
facilitate interoperability and support consumer safety and public health.
Standards form the fundamental building blocks for product development by
establishing consistent protocols that can be universally understood and adopted. This
helps fuel compatibility and interoperability and simplifies product development, and
speeds time-to-market. Standards also make it easier to understand and compare
competing products. As standards are globally adopted and applied in many markets,
they also fuel international trade.
It is only through the use of standards that the requirements of interconnectivity and
interoperability can be assured. It is only through the application of standards that the
credibility of new products and new markets can be verified. In summary standards
fuel the development and implementation of technologies that influence and transform
the way we live, work and communicate.”
Further to the above explanative definition, all leading standards organisations, have other
associated documents serving a similar function or complementing the role of standards.
These could be in the form of guidelines, specifications, procedures, technical rules, work
method statements, codes of practise and others.
Page 41
In addition, the state/federal departments such as water, electricity, and roads of a country
may categorise their standards into areas such as design, construction, operation and
maintenance. These documents may be produced and maintained by the respective
standards section, but generally all the documents fall under the category of “standards” with
certain associated documents explicitly or implicitly considered as subsets of standards.
Additionally, progressive organisations have incorporated the moral, ethical and
environmental standards in their governing ethos.
Hence, the requirement of an expanded dictionary definition of the word “Standards” is
warranted to reflect that, “Standards” are a set of published documents which establish
guidelines, formulate procedures, create basis/base points/levels/regions and depict related
typical mathematical and science analysis for various requirements.
Broader categories of standards documents

As per the Australian Standards Association, there are three categories of standards:
International Standards
These are developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission), and ITU (International Telecommunication
Union) for countries to adopt for national use. Standards Australia embraces the development
and adoption of international standards.
Regional Standards
These are prepared by a specific region, such as the European Union’s EN standards, or joint
Australian/New Zealand standards.
National Standards
These are developed either by a national standards body (like Standards Australia) or other
accredited bodies. Any standards developed under the Australian Standard® name have been
created in Australia or are adoptions of international or other standards.
The above categories are from a national point of view. In addition there are in-house
standards developed by local departments, authorities and private organisations.
Benefits of Standards
Australian Standards Association identifies, that standards mean better value for all.
Standards ensure the quality and consistency of products and services, giving businesses and
consumers greater peace of mind. They also benefit the economy, improve health and safety,
protect our natural resources, and improve our quality of life.
Here are six key benefits that the Australian Standards Association has identified;
Boost confidence: Thanks to standards, businesses and consumers can feel confident
that the products and services they develop and/or use are safe, reliable and fit-for-purpose.
Enhance innovation: Standards are a launch pad for exciting new ideas. They can be
created, evolved or discarded according to our changing world. New standards are developed
to reflect the latest technologies, innovations and community needs.
Give products a competitive edge: In the eyes of consumers, products that comply
with Australian Standards® offer added value. International Standards give Australian
exporters an instant competitive advantage when moving into overseas markets.
Page 42
Reduce barriers to international trade: Regardless of where a product is made,
standards mean it can be sold and used around the globe. Opening new doors to international
trade, standards help Australian businesses compete globally and to a wider market.
Reduce red tape: Standards assist with harmonisation across Australia’s laws and
regulations. They offer an alternative to regulation, reducing business costs and decreasing
red tape, but still providing security for businesses and consumers.
Help businesses thrive: Standards are central to Australian business. They make
business transactions simpler and more efficient, assisting with risk mitigation and
compliance. Put simply, standards help our businesses thrive.
Note about item 2, “enhance Innovation”

It is the author’s opinion that standards do support innovation by helping to put new ideas in
their application and maintenance. However, standards cannot act as a launching pad for new
ideas. Instead standards need to follow or developed side by side with new ideas application.
Apart from the aforementioned high-level benefits there are many other ground level benefits
such as,
1. Standards identify basis dimensions and basis criteria for engineering quantities.
Nominal voltage levels, widths of highway lanes, isokeraunic maps, and overhead line
stringing tensions are some examples of this.
2. Standards, together with other related documents, help designers in the process of
designing products and systems. Design standards and standard designs can help
avoid repeating calculations, analysis, drawings etc. for similar scenarios.
3. Construction, operation and maintenance standards help the respective crews in their
work by having mainly to repeat the standard processes whereby improving the skills.
4. Standards documents make the trainer’s job easy and consistent.
5. Standards and standardisation help reduce spare stocks in construction and
maintenance activities.
6. Standards and specifications are the base line for developing and ultimately evaluating
contracts for material, products and equipment purchases.
7. Standards help keep the scrupulous business culture.
8. Standards support the management principles “Do what you write and write what you
do”, and “Do not try to invent the wheel”.
9. Standards support management process and enhance customer satisfaction by
introducing uniformity to products, processes and systems.
10. Standards are a repository of knowledge, help inexperienced and experienced
professionals to enhance and widen their knowledge and understanding.
11. Genuine adherence to standards and standard processes in management not only
reduces adverse environmental and safety issues but in the event of an occurrence of
an unfortunate event/incident, these documents will form the basis of defence in a
litigation.
Page 43
Are Standards legally binding?
Australian Standards Association states;
Typically, they're not. Australian Standards might be a great reference point for businesses
but they are not legally binding. However, if an Australian Standard is incorporated into
legislation by government (and they often are), then the Standard will become mandatory.
On their own, standards are voluntary. There is no requirement for the public to comply with
standards. However, State and Commonwealth governments often refer to Australian
Standards® (AS) or joint Australian/New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS) in their legislation.
When this happens, these standards can become mandatory.

However, the civil liability legislation, of most countries compel any engineering organisation
to place due respect for adherence to standards. Prior to explaining how this is, it is appropriate
to understand the legal viewpoint of civil liability.
Note: Author is neither an expert on legal matters nor a lawyer. Interpretation of legal terms
and explanations given here are his sincere opinion with his knowledge gathered from legal
studies unit of his MBA, over 40 years within an engineering career and more than 10 years
in the capacity of a section manager in charge of standards.
What is Civil Liability?
The meaning of civil liability is implied in the definitions of the “civil liability acts” of different
states and territories of Australia. Generally speaking, Civil Liability act is, “to ensure that
people who were injured or suffered losses due to direct or indirect human actions, have the
ability to seek redress through the courts”. These acts applies to circumstances where
negligence forms part of the claim.
What is negligence?
Negligence is defined in the legal sphere as “the failure to exercise due care that a responsible
person would exercise under the same circumstances”.
It is important that in tort law (such as compensation law), negligence refers to harm caused
by carelessness and not intentional harm. The latter would be more suited to a criminal case.
Similarly, most civil liability acts, exclude the harm caused due to following
1. dust diseases claims

2. tobacco related claims
3. motor accidents
4. public transport accidents
5. workers compensation
6. victims of crime
7. sporting injuries compensation
8. compensation under the Anti-Discrimination Act
In cases where negligence is the main focus, the court is asked to determine if the negligent
party owes a duty of care to the injured party. This requires the court to decide if:
1. the risk was obvious and foreseeable
2. the risk was not insignificant;
3. a reasonable person would have taken precautions.
Page 44
For example, consider a fictitious incident involving a 22000V, overhead power line, by the
side of an urban or semi urban thoroughfare. In the event of an electrical incident, such as,
line down, flashover, step and touch potential issue that leads to an injury, death or property
damage, the above test would bring answers to all three statements in the affirmative. That is,
the risk is obvious and foreseeable, the risk is not insignificant and a reasonable person
especially an electrical engineering professional would take necessary precautions.
That means the Electricity Distributor who owns or responsible for operation and maintenance
of the power line, owes a duty of care to the plaintiff.
In addition to this, a claim will need to prove that the negligent act/s or inaction/s directly
caused the injury or damage sustained, which is obvious in this case.
As with all common law of negligence, to establish that negligence did occur, one will need to
prove several aspects. These include:
1. the duty of care owed
2. the duty of care was breached
3. the breach caused damage, such as injury and loss of work.
For our fictitious incident it was established that the Electricity Distributor owes a duty of care
and hence question boils down to whether duty of care was breached.
Civil liability and standards

To prove that duty of care is taken, it is logical that the organisation, amongst other defences,
take refuge in the in-house and general standards.
Under these situations although the onus is on the plaintiff to prove that the duty of care
obligation has been breached by the defendant, there exists a requirement that the defendant
may have to prove that the duty of care obligation has not been breached.
The best way to prove that the proper duty of care is taken is, along with common sense, to
present the way how the assets are designed, constructed, commissioned, operated, and
maintained through standards and related documentation. This emphasise the fact that the
organisation is governed through basic management principle of “managing through well
thought out, nationally and internationally recognised processes” which are well documented
and regularly revised.
Design and construction of electrical assets that are non-compliant to current standards
constitutes an “action” and failure to maintain and operate according to a professionally
acceptable written standard would constitutes an “inaction” on the part of the defendant in the
legal process.
Well, how true is the above assertion? It is true subjected to an important condition. That
condition is the standard of the standards.
Assessing the effectiveness of Standards

Dr Donald Charrett, Barrister, Arbitrator and Mediator Melbourne TEC Chambers and
Chairman AMOG Holdings, Melbourne and Dr Andrew Potts, Chief Executive Officer, AMOG
Holdings, Melbourne, in their presentation to the Society of Construction Law Conference in
Sydney on 3 August 2013, on the topic, “The duty of care in design—can engineers rely on
codes of practice?” raised some very valid concerns about this issue.
The conclusions of the authors of this article are;
Page 45
The genesis of Standards, the common law and relevant statutory provisions suggest that
engineers should generally be able to rely on current relevant Standards and Codes of
Practice when designing conventional infrastructure.
It would be chaotic for the majority of the engineering profession undertaking design on a
daily basis if they were not able to rely upon current Codes and Standards. There is neither
the time nor the fees for designers to undertake a critical review of the provisions of design
Codes and Standards for conventional and well understood infrastructure for which they
have been written.
If in hindsight Courts judge that the conservatism in design Codes and Standards is
inadequate, this brings into question the ‘professional consensus’ underlying their
development and status within the engineering profession and as the basis of construction
contracts. It provides no guidance to the practicing professional as to what is an acceptable
degree of conservatism.
The judgment in the case under consideration of this article contains some
surprising and statutory warnings for practicing engineers:
 There may be an obligation to question, monitor and understand the reliability of
current codes considering ‘potential’ amendments.
 There may be an obligation to consider other Standards than those specified in the
contract and to apply more conservative approach if recommended or suggested
by other standards.
From a local organisation focus, this article amply highlights the necessity for
professionally developed, state of the art, regularly revised standards.
How are the standards developed?

The following is from the Standards Australia website.
Standards Australia is the country’s leading independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit
standards organisation. We are also Australia’s representatives of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC).
It has a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government which recognises
Standards Australia as the peak non-government Standards development organisation
For every new standard, we bring together key parties and stakeholders to form a technical
committee. These committees collaborate to develop standards which are of value to
Australia, its businesses, and its people.
In relation to the mode of development of the standards, Dr Charrett and Dr Potts have
very correctly analysed the existence of a possible pseudo strength of the standards.
INTERESTED PARTIES.
The content of a Standard, is the responsibility of a Technical Committee. The basis for
the composition of a Technical Committee is to ensure balanced participation by those
interests that are significantly affected by the resulting Standard. Individual members of a
Technical Committee are selected by Nominating Organisations that may include, but are
not restricted to, government bodies, industry associations, community–based and
consumer organisations, employee organisations and professional, technical or trade
associations.
The diversity of the interested parties being represented meets the charter ‘to represent
the broadest possible spectrum of stakeholder interests’, but does not necessarily have
Page 46
influence over the personnel being nominated in terms of the qualifications, expertise,
currency of research or industry practice, etc. Indeed, without in any way casting
aspersions on the example Committee cited above, it is readily apparent that whilst there
are numerous ‘industry sector interest groups’ represented, it is not apparent whether their
nominees are representing current ‘state–of–the–art’ products and practices, or leading–
edge technology and practices that may arise from within each sectoral interest.
Is the ‘industry sector interest group’ nominating an employee whose regular
responsibilities involve commercial, promotional or technical support, or seeking interested
and available qualified personnel from within its sector? If the latter, what selection criteria
are adopted? The nominees of its major corporate supporters, from its semi–retired
members, or driven individuals with particular pet interests?
The above analysis is well and truly applicable for the standards developed in-house by
local organisations. It is the author’s experience that quality of the engineering
professionals involved with the standards and especially the engineering managers in
charge of approving these documents are not only often mediocre but appalling.
As far as the Australian and leading international standards are concerned the upside is
that they are get scrutinized by many professionals around the country, before being
published. Although a similar procedure is available for in-house standards, often, lack of
quality resources and time, together with lukewarm attention to the standards by the higher
management, dilutes this process.
Proposal for Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL)

IESL vision and mission statements are;
Vision Statement
Be amongst the leading professional institutions in engineering and technology in
the world.
Mission Statement
To be the apex national body of engineers in Sri Lanka which ensures internationally
recognized and locally relevant standards in the professional practice and education in
engineering, while actively supporting national development and diligently serving its
members and the society at large.
It is the author’s experience and understanding that there is a substantial gap which needs
to be filled in the area of standards required for Sri Lanka, especially for government
departments and authorities such as those responsible for electricity, other forms of
energy, water, telecommunications, buildings and roads.
Sri Lanka Standards Institute indicates that they adopt international standards wherever
feasible. Although this is the way most departments and authorities of Sri Lanka functions,
where the application of standards is concerned, there is a strong case for the
development of local standards. In situations where we use other international standards,
there is a necessity to develop covering documentation highlighting the situations where
these standards are not suitable for local conditions and giving recommendations as to
how to overcome the ensuing issues.
As such and in keeping with IESL vision and mission, IESL is the ideal vehicle to
take over the responsibility of developing and maintaining necessary and relevant
engineering standards through their engineering sectional committees. This is
similar to what is done by IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for
ANSI, the American National Standards Institute.
Page 47
Conclusion
In addition to the benefits mentioned in the body of this document, Standards along with
the process documents are the basic requirement of management and governance. They
are the vehicle with which the sensibly developed policies, the guiding principles, the
objectives and the end goals of an organisation are launched, driven, course corrected as
and when necessary and achieved. Having clarified the significant role Standards holds
within multiple industries also warrants the necessity of its own standalone dictionary
definition.
Standards, together with its subsets, support and enhance the basic principle of
management through set processes, which help thwart personal prejudices in
management. Amongst many benefits, direct or indirect legal standing of the standards
are to be noted. However, the substantiated facts and statements through accepted theory
and or practise is paramount.
Note: In this regard, although not discussed in this paper, use of risk assessment studies
together with probabilistic approach for possible dangerous incidents with possible
significant consequences, are recommended.
Standards form a communication platform and provide a knowledge sharing protocol
nationally and internationally. Its value to society, although usually forgotten or
understated, is immense and cannot afford to be overlooked. It is therefore imperative
that IESL view the creation of Engineering Standards as not only an opportunity but
also a significant responsibility.
Page 48
SOCIETAL ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
By
Eng. Janaka Seneviratne
Synopsis
Social structure of a country is undergoing rapid transformation due to the

volatile local and international socio-economic, political and technological
landscape. The professionals, especially the professional engineers should
respond to this change actively rather than reacting as they encounter issues.
In doing so, professional engineers should clearly identify their public purpose
and roles in this volatile working environment and serve community
wholeheartedly. When engineers become professional engineers, they
solemnly agree to uphold the Code of Conduct/ Ethics set upon by
professional institutions. Defying the widely propagated belief that the Code
of Conduct is a disciplinary tool; the professional engineers must look at it as
an inspirational tool to act innovatively, for the benefit of the community. This
tool must be used as a line of defence against unethical external influences
forced upon the professional engineers to act unprofessionally.
Keywords: Profession, Professionals, Code of Conduct/Ethics, Societal Role
Professions and Professionals
Engineering is considered as a profession and an engineer is a professional.

Hence, the most pertinent question one would pose is “what is the role or
public purpose of an engineer as a professional?” To find answers to this, one
has to closely look at the original definition of the word “Professional”. The
word “Professional” has been originated from the Middle English word
“profess”; having professed one’s vows and Late Latin word “professus”; to
profess or to confess.1
Hence, a professional is the one who professes his or her expertise to another
and vows to perform the profession to an acceptable standard.
A Professional is a member of a ‘Profession’. A Profession can be defined as “a

group of professionals of a particular discipline bound by a Code of Ethics to
deliver their expertise to the people who seek service, safeguarding
competency, integrity and morality and also for the benefit of the society”.
There are three key elements in the above statement which need due attention.
They are “the Expertise”, “the Code of Ethics” and “for the benefit of the
society”. The professional behaviour of a professional is underpinned on these
three pillars. Hence, the operation within the domain of expertise, upholding
of the code of conduct/ethics and serving the society would transform an
individual to a true professional.
Page 49
Engineers as Professionals
There are well known professions hailed in a society, like Medical Doctors,
Engineers, Lawyers, and Architects etc. In developed economies, the titles like
Medical Doctors and Architects are legally protected. Unless, certain
professional requirements enforced by the respective professional institutions
are fulfilled, the interested individuals cannot themselves be called by the
respective professional titles.
Unfortunately, the title ‘Engineer’ is not a legally protected title. Professional

institutions have ‘Chartered Engineer’ status as a remedial action to this.
However, ‘Chartered’ status has never been a compulsory requirement to
practice as an engineer and also even not having the membership with the
professional engineering institutions was never a problem for an engineer to
practice. This situation has pros and cons. The main problem would be the
difficulty for the society to identify who are the real professional engineers as
anyone could declare him/herself as an engineer. This is why there are Sales
Engineers, Event Engineers who are promoting themselves as engineers
although they activities have nothing to do with professional engineering
disciplines. Once a British scholar mockingly said that even a person who dig
graves can be called as an Excavation Engineer.
The positive aspect of this freedom of ‘engineer’ title use is that it allows people
to practise engineering related activities without formal qualification but with
repetitive practical experience and sometimes, their activity outcomes enhance
the awareness of engineering discipline among public. However, the harm
done outweighs the gained benefits.
The solution to this situation lies within the professional engineers themselves.
It is a well-known fact that majority of engineers are poor communicators. If
that is not the case, the whole world would have known by now that more than
fifty percent of the success of other professions is due to engineering
contributions and the society would have given the credit to the engineers for
this effort by uniquely identifying them on par with other professionals like
doctors. It has not happened that way.
If the engineers have not invented or produced the plant and equipment used
by the doctors, the services delivered by medical doctors could have been
severely hampered or not delivered at all. In broader terms, engineering
inventions like, automobiles, aircrafts, roads, bridges, buildings, dams make
peoples’ lives better and this massive contribution has gone unrecognised in
the society, simply because engineers do not communicate with the society in
a professional manner, verbally or in written form via mass media. They do not
explain their true role and the benefit they offer to the society. Most
Page 50
importantly, they fail to explain the society about the adverse impact of not
delivering real engineering solutions.
Professionals are human. Any professional could make genuine mistakes. Most
probably, if a doctor makes a grave mistake, a patient could die. If an aircraft
engineer makes a design mistake, as it happened recently with Boeing Max 737,
an aircraft can come down perishing scores of lives. How about the results of a
poor construction of an Atomic Energy Power Plant Building which is
supposed to have multiple layers of defence to control emission of radioactive
rays? An entire city would have deadly consequences. Same impacts could be
attributed to the structural failure of a building or a bridge. Does the society
know where the relative importance should be focussed upon? It is up to the
professional engineers to educate public. This is why, professional engineers
should improve their communication skills to raise their unique identity within
the society and in return, the society would willingly and collectively raise the
image of engineers to place them at a duly recognised place socially.
Engineers vs. Scientists
Engineering is not about pure science. Engineering is a creative activity and the
engineering inventions and innovations are based on scientific and
mathematical principles combined with real performance data.
This is a significant extension from the bases of science.
Scientists collect and analyse data and study findings to gain knowledge on
materials, nature, behaviours etc. Subsequently they continually work on and
revise the current level of understanding of already established scientific
findings and principles. Their effort is to provide logical explanation of what
are in existence and how the subject matters operate or behave. The scientists
stop there and the engineers take over the outcomes. One such example is the
role of bio-medical engineers with the research findings of bio-medical
scientists.
Engineers build on what scientists discovered and apply scientific data and
principles to find practical solutions to the current and anticipated problems.
Engineers do not stop there either. They collect field data and analyse the
behavioural patterns of already implemented solutions to develop empirical
principles and methodologies. Thereafter, they apply empirical principles to
improve already implemented solutions. It is a continuous improvement
process.
As a simple example, scientists can explain quite well the characteristics of

aggregate, sand, water, steel, and the materials used for producing cement.
However, when reinforced concrete is made out of aforementioned material
using a proportionate mix, the behaviour of the composite material is unknown
Page 51
unless the testings are conducted and data are collected, to study the behaviour
of reinforced concrete under different loading conditions. This leads to develop
empirical equations, charts and decide on safety factors for the reinforced
concrete designs so that the next generations of engineers can use reinforced
concrete as a composite design material, with confidence applying the
proposed design principles and methods.
The author would like to cite an own example to prove this process. There are
well known internationally accepted Concrete Mix Design Methods available
for civil engineers to readily use. However, as mentioned above, these design
methods are not based on pure science. In Sri Lanka, the local material used for
producing concrete have different characteristics. The author was a member of
a team which developed a Concrete Mix Design Method to suit to
characteristics of local materials by thorough investigation of five international
concrete mix design methods and also by carrying out of a series of field
testings in 1986. This project was a continuation of a similar exercise done by
another group of undergraduates in the University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka in
1985 and our team could alter some of the previous recommendations, with
more in-depth studies. As per the research findings, new concrete mix design
charts were developed by the adaptation of DOE (Department of Environment)
Method practised in United Kingdom2. This is a demonstrated instance to
prove that the continuous improvement of engineering methodologies is an
integral part of engineering professionalism.
The behaviour of engineers
The engineers are creative problem solvers and implementers of new ideas.
However, engineers operate within a domain of constraints which consists of
physical laws or laws of nature, the laws of the land, the societal expectations,
the client needs, commercial considerations, and the ethics.
Any behaviour comes with the responsibilities and also the opportunities.
Engineers have the utmost responsibility of exploring problems and propose
engineering solutions within constraints. They are responsible to operate
within their specific competency or expertise area. Engineers as professionals
should serve public and uphold public trust. The best guiding tool for
exercising responsibilities is the adherence to the Code of Conduct/Ethics.
While fulfilling professional responsibilities, the opportunities come naturally.

The most important opportunity will be the ability to influence the society
positively and to be innovative and creative.
Page 52
The Code of Conduct/Ethics
The Code of Conduct/Ethics is an integral part of a profession. A professional

is more than just an expert individual as he or she represents a clan of
professionals. Hence, the behaviour of a professional is refined and enhanced
by a Code of Conduct/Ethics.
However, the code of ethics is wrongly interpreted as a mere disciplinary tool.

It is true that it has certain elements to deter unethical behaviour but it is an
inspirational guide and a safety net for innovation and creativity.
The important facts of the Challenger Disaster
In 1986, the spacecraft, the Challenger disintegrated within 73 seconds into its
flight and the crew cabin fell into Atlantic Ocean at a speed of more than 321
km per hour killing all seven crew members inside3. This disaster was a human
tragedy and also the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
was forced to put on hold its space program for many years, until design and
management issues were re-formalised.
Despite the tragic outcomes, this was a classic example of how engineers
behaved professionally during the design phase and before launching of the
spacecraft.
Morton Thiokol was the design contractor of the Solid Rocket Boosters fitted to
the Challenger Spacecraft. The design engineers voted against the launch of the
Challenger fitted with the partially field-tested rocket boosters as the engineers
were seriously concerned about the deterioration of the ‘O’ rings fitted to the
solid booster rockets and its apparent brittleness under cold weather condition.
However, NASA management exerted immense pressure on the design
contractor to approve the already completed design, without delaying of the
design release by further testing. The launching of the Challenger had been
delayed several times due to various reasons and also there was national
political pressure on NASA, to display the world, the success of USA’s space
program.
NASA management asked the design engineers to prove “It was not safe to fly”
instead of asking them to prove “It is safe to fly”. This was an unethical and
unprofessional demand. At that time, the performance of ‘O’ rings of Solid
rocket booster had not been tested below the temperature 53°F. Hence, no data
was available to prove ‘O’ rings would perform under cold weather. The
predicted temperature at the launching day was below 53°F and actually it
became 26°F on the day of launch. Alan McDonald, who was the Director of
the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project refused to sign the approval
papers to launch the challenger fitted with the solid rocket boosters. The senior
management of design firm and the NASA administration went ahead of the
Page 53
launch, overruling the design engineers’ recommendation, citing the engineers
could not prove it was not safe to fly.
Engineer Alan McDonald testified before the presidential commission on the

Challenger Disaster and explained how the design and the testing progressed
and why engineers refused to authorise the launch. Under very difficult
circumstances, while his employer was frowning upon him, he was
unbelievably bold, highly ethical and truthful in front of the commission. That
testimony costed him his lucrative position in the design firm. The senior
management demoted him and assigned him to another relatively less
important project. However, the Presidential Commission came to know of
this, intervened and reinstated him as the In Charge of the Redesign of and
Requalification of the Solid Rocket Motors Project. The Commission’s action
even led to change the key senior management personnel of the company. Alan
showed engineering professionalism and ethical behaviour and made sound
decision making by placing the value of human lives at a priceless position. His
behaviour was widely praised by the community of professionals all over the
world and his behaviour became a model case study among professional
training on ethical behaviour of engineers.4
The Code of Ethics as a Protective Tool
It is true that professional engineers are often under pressure by senior

management of an organisation or by politicians especially in developing
countries to make unprofessional decisions without considering social impacts.
It is natural, in trying economic circumstances that the professionals tend to
buckle under pressure to keep their jobs in-tact. However, they should
remember that the compliance to the Code of Conduct/Ethics would protect
engineers under the current the law if they resist to behave unprofessionally
and unethically. Professional engineers are not lone figures and they have to
safeguard their noble profession as representatives of the profession. There is
no compromise on this aspect. Experience professional engineers must lead by
example and guide young engineers how to be equipped with necessary skills
to absorb external pressure and behave in a professional manner.
The way forward
Professional engineers are yet to establish their presence in the national

leadership landscape. They only play a secondary role in terms of influencing
political decision making of the national development activities. It is high time
for the professional engineers to prove their vast contribution for societal
benefit by communicating in a more assertive manner through the mass media.
They have to develop a continuous dialogue with the public and express their
professional opinion on national development initiatives. That dialogue would
educate engineers themselves how to refine their technical decisions to reduce
adverse impacts to the society. More one understands how the society operates,
Page 54
better would be the decision making and behaviours. This self-education will
make them effective professional engineers and it will enable them to lead the
nation, at the front layer of the professional sphere of a country. They have the
utmost responsibility to guide the young engineers to behave professionally
and confidently and teach them how to use the Code of Conduct/Ethics as an
inspirational and also as a protective tool for delivering sound, unbiased and
ethical decisions for the benefit of the society.
References:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional
2. Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka ENGINEER Journal, September pp. [24-
43], 1990
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbtY_Wl-hYI
Eng. Janaka Seneviratne, C.Eng, FIE(SL & Aust), Int.PE(SL and Aust), B.Sc. (Eng), MEng (Local Gov. Eng.),
MEng (Eng Mgt), Team Coordinator-Buildings Team, Canterbury Bankstown City Council, NSW, Australia.
Email:[email protected]
Page 55
Software Application for Reservoir Operation Study
Eng. Ajith Gunasekara, Dr. D.A.S.Atukorale
Abstract: Sri Lanka is an agricultural country mainly with paddy cultivation. Based on the
climatic conditions and rainfall experienced by the country during the year, paddy cultivation is done
in two well identified seasons, namely MAHA & YALA. Reservoir capacity, initial storage, rainfall, crop
variety, start date of cultivation and the management practices, etc. are important parameters for a
successful cultivation with the reservoirs.
Reservoir water balance calculation is a well-structured, but tedious process, which will lead to
determine the success of cultivation. However, there is no user-friendly software available for this.
Developing a software to determine a most appropriate initial storage, start date of cultivation and
diversions necessary to carry out successful cultivation of a given crop, is a timely requirement with the
scarcity of water. The key advantage of such a software is that it is easily possible for the professionals
to test the water requirements under different scenarios and utilize the water resources efficiently
among different sectors.
With the above facts in mind, a software was designed with three major data categories namely,
Reservoir specific data, Crop data and the Climate data. This software can be used for isolated reservoirs
as well as reservoirs which are entitled to get the Mahaweli water.
User can run the model for any selected crop file and reservoir file and get the required output. If there
is a failure of the cultivation, the user can edit the selected files and try a different trial.
This software will be an attractive solution for design engineers as well as the Engineers in the top
management who are involved in decision making on Mahaweli water allocation.
Keywords: Paddy Cultivation, Reservoir, Operation Study, Mahaweli Water, Season
1. Introduction cultivation has been undergoing changing

climatic conditions in different geographical
As agriculture is the prominent industry, having areas as well as under different cultural
high potential to economic and political practices. Those factors make the forecasting of
sensitivity, government gives high priority to agricultural water demands more difficult. In
the Agriculture needs. Land, water, seeds, the case of Sri Lanka, the farmers’ financial
fertilizer and human & mechanical resources are capacity is another drawback in implementing
the main inputs for a successful cultivation. the water utilization plans.
However, out of above components, water is the As described above, the problem is clear. It is the
unique component that is controlled solely by responsibility of the professionals and
the nature. Humans can only plan, forecast and authorities to find a solution for it. The solution
manage the limited resource of water within the would at least consist of technical component,
comparatively unlimited needs. As far as the social component and political component.
water is concerned, its demand mainly spreads The intention of this paper is to present the
over domestic, agriculture, environmental important part of the technical solution. This
hydropower, and industrial needs. It is the will include;
responsibility of the professionals and the  Calculation of the monthly inflows to
authorities to identify those requirements the reservoirs.
accurately and allocate the quota among the  Calculation of crop water requirement.
above sectors in a sustainable and feasible
manner and subsequently manage it efficiently. Eng. A.Gunasekara – B.Sc(Eng), MIT(UCSC),
Out of all water demands, forecasting of the PGDip(WREng.&Mgt).CEng. MIE(SL),
agricultural needs is quite difficult and the Director(Contracts- Irrigation Dept.).
management or the implementation is much
more difficult. Paddy is the main crop that Dr. D.A.S.Atukorale - BSc Hons(Col),
consumes the majority of water used in PhD(Queensland), MIEEE, MCS(SL)
agriculture. Deputy Director(UCSC)
Rice being the staple food, Paddy is the main Head of the Department - Department of
cultivation as well in Sri Lanka. More than Computation and Intelligent Systems
400,000 hectares are cultivated twice a year
under major and Medium reservoirs. Paddy
IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019 Page 56

characteristics. Climatic factors are temperature,
 Forecasting the irrigation water wind-speed, humidity and solar radiation. Crop
demand. characteristics are mainly the leaf-area-of the
 Forecasting the reservoir storage and crop at any given time and its growth stage.
spilling on monthly basis. Crop characteristics are combinedly addressed
This technical solution will extremely be helpful through the crop factor, Kc. According to
for authorities and all the stake holders to arrive publication [2], figure 1, below illustrates the
at a more feasible and transparent solution in variation of the crop factor of a seasonal crop in
water allocation. its growth stages. Its variation within the growth
stage is approximated to a linear form though
2. Literature Review the actual variation is not that.
Literature review could be discussed under two

main topics. One is the available publications
relevant to the subject domain while other is the
software systems available in similar subjects.
2.1 Useful Publications

In Sri Lankan context, the only text book that
guides and explains irrigation reservoir
operation is Design of Irrigation Headworks [1],
published by the Irrigation Department in 1982.
This book clearly describes the factors to be Figure 1 - Variation of crop factor with the life span
considered in issuing water for paddy
cultivation, catchment inflow calculations and Paddy has well identified four growth stages.
finally determining the reservoir storage Water consumption of the paddy depends on
variation during a month of the season. these growth stages as well as the climatic
This book covers almost all the aspects factors. For each growth stage CWR, ETc, is
considered in paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka. linked through crop-factor, Kc, with reference
The main objective of [1] is to elaborate the crop evapotranspiration ET0. The relationship is
factors to be considered in determination of the explained using the equation 1 below.
reservoir parameters at the design stage.
Nevertheless, it is possible to do the reverse way 𝐸𝑇𝑐 = 𝐾𝑐 × 𝐸𝑇0 Equation (1)
to determine the initial storage of a reservoir,
Crop evapotranspiration is a result of the
area to be cultivated under the reservoir during
combined effect of evaporation from the
the season or the trans-basin inflows, etc. for a
cropped surface, i.e. soil, and the transpiration
given crop & climate conditions. This book
from the crop itself. At the early stages
addresses the effect of Elevation-Storage-Area
evaporation part is higher as the majority of the
relationship too.
soil surface is exposed to the sun. However,
By giving due consideration to the above facts,
when the plant grows up, most of the area is
[1] guided all the way to calculate the irrigation
covered by the leaves of the plant so reducing
water requirement and do the reservoir
the evaporation while increasing the
operations on monthly basis.
transpiration.
Apart from [1], other publications and studies
done on this field are mainly by international
organizations. Out of such organizations, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) has done much research and
publications that are applicable to the Sri Lankan
context. Their findings on Crop Water
Requirement (CWR) is very useful in reservoir
operation study. The effect of the climate and the
behaviour of the crop are clearly explained in
their publication, Guidelines for computing crop
Figure 2 - Factors affected on Crop Water Requirement
water requirements [2].
CWR for the crop being cultivated is a combined
effect of the climatic factors and crop

The factors affected on CWR including the selected combination of general data, meteo data
management factors is illustrated in figure 2 and cropping pattern.
above. CRIWAR 3.0 is a useful tool in the design of
irrigation systems, because it quickly calculates
2.2 Similar Systems the summarized irrigation water requirements
There are several software available to calculate of a complex cropping pattern for a large area
the crop water requirement under different with ready-to- use output tables and graphs.
climatic conditions, but none of them is designed This allows the design engineer to review
to calculate the reservoir water balance in an alternative cropping patterns under various
irrigation system. Advantages and drawbacks of meteorological conditions.
two popular systems are discussed below.
3. Background and current Status
2.2.1 CROPWAT 8.0
CROPWAT 8.0 [6] is a free software developed Reservoirs used for irrigation can be categorized
by FAO, to calculate the crop water requirement mainly into two categories. In the first category
(CWR) and irrigation requirement(IR) based on are the reservoirs which are fed only by their
soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the own catchment. This can either be due to
program allows the development of irrigation rainfall, inflow from upstream reservoirs or the
schedules, which shows the irrigation combination. In the other category are reservoirs
frequency, under different management that get the water from rainfall from their own
conditions. FAO developed the early versions of catchment as well as from the trans-basin
this programme in 1980s for the DOS operating diversions. In many cases, the water from their
System. own catchment due to rainfall is not sufficient
CROPWAT 8.0 includes standard crop and soil for the full extent cultivation in both seasons. In
data that could be used when local data is not case of reservoirs under trans-basin diversions,
available. When local data are available, these practically the reservoirs in Mahaweli system,
data files can be modified and saved with a new the general practice is to divert water only when
name. The development of irrigation schedules there is a shortage. Whenever such a diversion
in CROPWAT 8.0 is based on a daily soil-water is granted, it is mostly at the cost of
balance using various user-defined options for Hydropower. In some cases, decisions have
water supply and irrigation management been taken to forgo the cultivation due to
conditions. uncompromised hydropower demand.
All calculation procedures used in CROPWAT At present, however, the irrigation water
8.0 are based on the FAO publications of the demand is not properly presented to the
Irrigation and Drainage Series [2] and Crop yield authorities who do the water allocation, by the
response to water [3]. respective organizations. This is basically due to
the lack of tools, primarily the hardware and
2.2.2 CRIWAR 3.0
software, which are capable enough to calculate
such requirements under different constraints
CRIWAR 3.0 [7], is a commercial software
and present the results in an understandable
available for the calculation of CWR. This
format. Even though the hardware part can
software is basically designed for the complex
easily be solved, software component is not that
combinations of different climatic conditions
straight forward to find. The software should be
and different crop combinations. CRIWAR 3.0
strong enough to check the alternative solutions
runs on Windows environment, which is
under practical conditions and arrive at an
developed by The Netherlands Professionals.
optimal solution.
This software is developed based on the text
book water requirements for irrigation and the
It is the bitter truth that in a forum like Mahaweli
environment [4]. It too follows the FAO norms
Water Panel, if a political authority asks to
and methods as well.
calculate and present the minimum monthly
CRIWAR 3.0 calculates the crop irrigation water
Mahaweli diversions necessary for a particular
requirements of a cropping pattern in a given
reservoir under given constraints, recognized
irrigated area. The input data of CRIWAR 3.0 are
software is not available to do it then and there.
organized through three files; a general data file
Many organizations, if not all, follow the rules of
on the irrigated area, a meteorological data file and
thumb or their own experiences to forecast the
the cropping pattern file. The cropping pattern file
irrigation demand and diversion requirements
can be composed of 50 CRIWAR programmed
in demanding the Mahaweli water.
crops and of any user defined crop for a user-

Even though the calculation of the water standard reservoir operation study
requirement for the cultivation can be done methodology specified by the [1].
systematically, it is not very easy to couple it 3.3 Crop Related parameters
with reservoir specific parameters, crop specific Calculation of the CWR, ETc, plays a major role
parameters, climatic parameters, management in the software. Effect of the management and
practices and determine the final storage of the environmental factors over ETc is addressed by
reservoir on monthly basis without a computer introducing the application efficiency in the
application. There is no such software available software.
commercially so far in Sri Lanka for this ET0 values are published on monthly basis and
purpose. Even though it was tried by many Kc values can be found on growth stage basis.
organizations, it has not materialized basically Duration of the crop growth stages which
due to tedious calculations and failure in obviously do not run parallel with the calendar
mapping the problem correctly by the months. As the reservoir operation study goes
developers. on monthly basis, there will be more than single
There are spreadsheet applications developed Kc value for a month. This makes the calculation
by individuals for their convenience. Major very complex, as the climatic parameters are
drawbacks of these worksheets are the lack of available on monthly basis while crop
user interface facility, (UI), and the inability to parameters do not. Part, if not all, of the CWR is
retrieve the data from a database. Due to this catered through the rainfall or more accurately
reason, spreadsheets developed for a particular the effective rainfall. The reservoir needs to cater
reservoir cannot be used for another one. for only the deficit between CWR and effective
rainfall.
3.1 Components of the Software
it is expected to quantify the Crop Water 3.4 Reservoir Related parameters
Requirement, Irrigation Demand and Mahaweli Reservoir related parameters can be clearly
(or trans-basin) diversion requirements identified under two categories. One is directly
scientifically through the software. PHP is used associated with the physical properties and/or
as the main programming language. HTML the geographical properties of the reservoir.
together with CSS is used for the web page and Those are very common parameters such as
User Interface design. JavaScript, AJAX and catchment area, command area, elevation-area-
JSON components have been used to make the capacity relationship, FSL, MOL, conveyance
system more efficient, light weight and user- efficiency. Figure 3 shows the typical cross
friendly. Data is stored in MySQL database. section of a reservoir and it illustrates many
parameters used in the reservoir operations.
3.2 Streamlining the data for the Software
Three primary data fields have been identified
in developing the software. Those are reservoir
system, climate and the crop. Climatic
parameters are absolutely independent. In one
way the crop too has independent parameters.
However, when the crop combines with the
climate, the parameters of the crop adjusts to suit
the climate. The reservoir is also an independent
system. However, it should be noted here that
depending on the cultivation season of the crop,
the reservoir should serve the needs of the crop.
Depending on the cultivation starting dates, the Figure 3 - Typical cross-section of Reservoir
reservoir will get different rainfall and
evaporation rates which are important in Other component related to the reservoir
reservoir operation. Finally, the system ends up represents the climatic properties of the area to
with a harmonisation among climate, crop and which the reservoir belongs. Seasonal specific
reservoir. The behaviour of the reservoir and yield is one such property. Climatic properties
crop with the climate are evaluated and are discussed in detail in the next paragraph.
addressed in the software system.
3.5 Climatic and Seasonal Influence
Data for the calculations and model verification
The effect of the climate and the starting date of
have been obtained from [1], Watersheds of Sri
the cultivation is another important area of the
Lanka [5] and from the Irrigation Department.
software. All the climatic data are published on
The calculations are done in accordance with the
the calendar month basis. For the reservoir

operations, monthly rainfall inflows, Figure 4 - System at a glance
evaporation losses, etc. can be calculated from
the climatic data. In some cases, climatic data are 4.2 Basic facilities of the software
published on seasonal basis. One example is Reservoir Operation System software comes
specific yield which is published on seasonal with the following facilities. Access to some
basis. Rainfall, evaporation and seasonal specific facilities will depends on the privilege level of
yield cannot be categorized as climatic data. the user.
Those are directly associated with the reservoir  Add, edit or delete the Data
itself. Under the above identification those  Programme Execution & Print
factors can more reasonably categorized as  User Management
reservoir specific climatic parameters. Through the user interfaces, the user can execute
the above facilities which will be discussed in
4. Methodology next section.
Reservoir Operation Study software is expected 4.3 Logging & User Management
to be used as a tool of calculating the irrigation Reservoir Operation system starts with the
water needs and supporting tool for accurate & welcome page. Once the user intends to log onto
flexible decision making for management. This the system, the user can do so through the
will help management to take decisions with logging UI shown in figure 5 below.
high confidence.
4.1 Structure of the Software

The software is equipped with different user
privileges which will address the hierarchy in
decision making. To have more privileges, one
should register with the system.
Reservoir water balance on monthly basis for the
season, the final output, is expected to be
calculated from the two files extracted from the
database. One file represents the reservoir-
season combined data and the other represents
the crop-season combined data. User can create
these two files and save them in the database or
can use existing files. To create these two files
users will have to select relevant data from the
database together with his own inputs. There are Figure 5 logging window
eight different relational tables where the raw
data required for the above files are stored. After successful logging in, the user can select
Users are given the facility to add new crop the activities that he wants to start through the
varieties, new reservoirs and other related data interface shown in figure 5 below.
fields. Further the user will be able to view the
existing data through the interfaces. Figure 4
illustrates how the software works.

Figure 6 Home page of the system
A logged user can perform the facilities shown

in the home page (figure 6) depending on his user
level. The home page will differ based on the
user category. For example, level 1 user can
delete the data but not the level 2 user. There are
three user levels plus the Administrator who can
only handle user management such as
registration and removal of users. User
management is not discussed in detail in this
paper as it limits the attention on the key subject
of the paper. Figure 8- Interface to add new Reservoir
4.4 Add and delete the data respective interface. For the purpose of
To commence the Reservoir Operation System, illustration, the interface for adding the
the user can add data, or one can use the already Reservoir data is shown in figure 8.
stored data to create the reservoir-season file Using the interfaces similar to the interface
and crop-season file which will be used to run shown in figure 8 the user can add the data for a
the model. new reservoir or a new crop. Deletion works in
In case of adding the data, the user can add a similar way, but with a warning massages
reservoir data, evaporation data, rainfall data, before deleting the data.
etc. Further the user would add the crop data
too. All the data fields are shown in the figure 7 4.5 Create files for calculations
below. Once the raw data is added, the same user or any
other user can create reservoir-season file and
crop-season file that is used in calculations. To
create these two files, any authorized user can
retrieve the data from database.
The interface for creating the reservoir-season
file is shown in figure 9 below. In figure 9, the
reservoir is selected as Minneriya. Once it is
selected reservoir specific parameters are
retrieved from the database and fill the
respective textboxes.
After selecting the reservoir, the start date of the
cultivation should also be selected. For this,
jQuery date picker interactive calendar is used.
Once the start date of the cultivation is selected,
seasonal data relevant to the specific reservoir
such as seasonal specific yield, seasonal rainfall
will appear. Months of the season will also
Figure 7 - Interface for adding the data
appear in the interface.
Interfaces for deleting the data and viewing the
data also look similar to figure 7. Due to limited
space it is not discussed here.
Users with a fair knowledge of the subject can
add relevant data by selecting the options in the

individual durations of each growth stages will
appear in relevant textboxes.
User should fill up the durations of land soaking
and land tillage with respective daily water
requirements. Finally, the data could be saved
with the user preferred file name. As in the case
of saving the reservoir-season file, data
validation messages, or other instructions will
appear in case of invalid data inputs or the
success message will appear in case of correct
data inputs on saving.
5. Results and Discussion
The final part of the Reservoir Operation System

is the execution of the operation which will
produce the final results. The user can select the
reservoir-season file and crop-season file from
the interface available for execution. These two
files could either be created by the user him/her
self or created by any other user. Before selecting
Figure 9 - Reservoir-season interface
these files, user can check the data in these files
so that the user can select the files that comply
Users should next fill up the remaining fields with his requirements.
such as percentage of irrigable area forgone, Once the two files are selected the same interface
initial storage, variation of expected rainfall, expands to present the results. The result of the
monthly diversion requirements, inter reservoir operation study in tabular form is shown in the
releases, application efficiency and conveyance figure 11. It presents important information such
efficiency, etc. that are necessary to perform the as file names selected to run the programme,
operation study. Finally, the data should be name of the season, start date and last date of the
saved with the user preferred file name. Data season, crop duration, reservoir name, crop
validation messages, or other instructions will variety, dead storage, etc. in the specific cells. In
appear in the case of invalid data inputs or else addition to that initial storage, catchment inflow,
the success message will appear in case of trans-basin inflow, releases to other reservoirs,
correct data inputs on saving. field water requirement, effective rainfall,
The user can next create the crop-season file, if irrigation demand, spilling, losses, final storage
he does not intend to use an available data file. and the status of the cultivation is presented in
Figure 10 below shows the interface for creating the table on monthly basis.
the crop-season file.
Figure 11 - Results of the operation study
The result is presented in graphical form as well.

Figure 10 - Crop-season interface
The results in graphical form is shown in the
In figure 10, a crop variety is selected using the figure 12 below. Graphical view shows the
dropdown arrow in the left-top select option. variation of water levels in the reservoir,
After the selection, total duration and the inflows, outflows, FSL, MOL and the spilling. BY

analysing the both form of results, one can easily interfaces to suit the user cases. According to the
suggest to increase the trans-basin inflows in requirements gathered, user cases were finalized
case of crop failure ( or when reservoir reaches and converted into functional units through
to MOL) or decrease the same in case if the interfaces. However, the database design was
reservoir reaches to FSL. These modifications changed on several occasions to develop a
can be incorporated in the reservoir-season file comprehensive database structure. With a
and do the next trial. Accordingly, within a proper database and the understanding about
couple of minutes, the software will produce an the domain, it was not difficult to design the
acceptable result. This model can run in any prototype of the interfaces.
forum and can convince the audience and One technique used for the development of the
authorities. This is a great advantage of this interfaces was, backward designing and check
solution. the interfaces for functionality. This method
made the work a little bit easier in interface
design.
After finalizing the above steps, coding was
done for different modules. The individual
modules were then tested through the interface
inputs, database updates and even with echo
commands. Finally, those modules were
coupled in forward integration. Outputs were
subsequently checked, validated and verified.
As the last part is the testing, testing was done
for many test cases with different data inputs
and scenarios to ensure the model functionality.
Figure 12 Graphical view of the results
Apart from the facilities discussed, the software
For the convenience of reporting, software makes an initiative to do the Reservoir operation
facilitates both forms of the result to be printed study in SI units. Many organizations, if not all,
as well. carry out their designs, estimation, construction,
6. Conclusions etc. in SI units but not the Reservoir operation
study. Even after several decades of establishing
This software is based on the practical the SI units in the society, it is a well-known fact
requirements of reservoir operation study. that irrigation-water vocabulary is still in
There has been a real need for user friendly outdated Imperial units such as Acre-feet,
software for this purpose for a long time. After Square Miles, etc. One reason for this is
going through many websites to find out most unavailability of a software which works in SI
convenient way of implementation of the units. Authors believe that this software will be
system, PHP was selected as the programming an enthusiastic tool for future developments and
language. Reasons for selecting the PHP are its to go forward with the SI units as well.
potential for future expansions of the system
and ease of coupling with HTML, JavaScript Acknowledgement
libraries and AJAX. It should be noted here that
this work is associated with mathematical The authors would like to convey their sincere
calculation and security wise the system is less gratitude to the officers of the Irrigation
vulnerable. In that extent, one of the earliest and Department, Mahaweli Authority and the
remarkable achievement is the selection of the Agrarian Services Department for their
correct language. cooperation extended by providing the required
One of the key components of the success of a data for the development and verification of the
software package is the requirement gathering. software. Furthermore, the authors wish to
As both the authors have been involved in their acknowledge the assistance given by the
specialized subject areas for long periods, the University of Colombo, School of Computing for
requirements have been clearly identified and the successful development of the software and
formulated to model with the proposed IESL for giving the opportunity to publish the
development, present and future needs. Such software among the most interested society of
needs were discussed with the senior officers of professionals in the subject.
the respective organizations to get the
requirements with wider coverage.
The next challenge was the identification of user
cases, design the database and design the

References
1. A.J.P.Ponrajah, Irrigation Headworks, Colombo:

Irrigation Department, 1982.
2. R.G. Allen, et al., Guidelines for computing crop
water requirements, Rome: Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, 1980.
3. P Steduto, et al., Crop yield response to water,
Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations, 2012
4. M.Bos, et al., Water Requirements for Irrigation
and the Environment, Wageningen: Springer
Science & Business Media, 2008
5. P.Witharana et al., Watersheds of Sri Lanka,
Colombo: Department of Agrarian
Development Sri Lanka, 2011
6. CROPWAT 8.0
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_databa
ses_cropwat.html,
Visited, 12th Oct., 2016
7. CRIWAR 3.0
http://www.bos-
water.nl/index_bestanden/Page568.html,
Visited, 23rd Oct, 2016
8. Software testing and other coding techniques
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/software_test
ing/software_testing_quick_guide.htm,
Visited, 5th Oct. 2016
9. Software testing standards
http://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/test-
case-template-examples/,
Visited, 5th Oct 2016
10. Software testing standards
http://www.ufjf.br/eduardo_barrere/files/20
11/06/SQETestCaseSpecificationTemplate.pdf,
Visited, 10th Jan. 2017

Parkes Radio Telescope is an International Celebrity
Trevor S. Bird1,2 and Karu P. Esselle3
1. Antengenuity, PO Box 306, Eastwood NSW 2122, Australia
2. Global Big Data Technologies Centre (GBDTC) University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
[email protected]
3. School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2019, Australia, [email protected]
The “star” of the acclaimed movie The Dish for its unique Tranquility [2]. After Armstrong and Aldrin had landed and
role in the moon landing is in the headlines again. It is now had checked out all systems, the intention was for them to rest
fifty years since Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the Moon’s for about 8 hours and then explore the surface nearby. By that
surface and the Parkes radio telescope received the signal time also the main receiving station at Goldstone, CA would
from the Moon that conveyed this event to millions of TV be in view to receive signals from the moon. Understandably,
sets world-wide. For this achievement, the international the astronauts were keen to get out and explore so sleep was
engineering body, IEEE, has granted Australia’s first ever out of the question. It was decided by Mission Control that
IEEE Milestone. IEEE Milestones are considered world they should venture out of the landing module sooner than
planned. At that time, signals from the Lunar Module (LM)
heritage items in Science and Technology, recognised by
were being received simultaneously by the 64-metre
IEEE for their historical technical significance and
Goldstone antenna in California, the 26-metre antenna at
achievements. IEEE is the world’s largest global professional Honeysuckle Creek in Australia [1], and the 64-metre radio
association for technology (previously also known as the telescope at Parkes [3].
Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers) with about half
a million members worldwide. Celebrations of the Parkes During the broadcast of the first moon walk, NASA
Milestone are being planned in Parkes on 11th of October initially alternated between the signals being received from its
2019. two stations at Parkes and Honeysuckle Creek, searching for
the best quality picture. A little under nine minutes into the
In May 2019, IEEE Board of Directors approved the new broadcast, the Parkes signal proved superior. NASA stayed
milestone with the following citation: “Reception of First with Parkes as the source of the TV for the remainder of the
Communication to Earth from a Human Walking on the Moon, five-hour broadcast.
1969: Parkes radio telescope and Honeysuckle Creek stations in
Australia received voice and video signals from the Apollo 11
moonwalk, which were redistributed to millions of viewers.
Parkes' televised images were superior to other ground stations,
and NASA used them for much of the broadcast. One of the first
to use the newly developed corrugated feed horn, Parkes became
the model for the NASA Deep Space Network large aperture
antennas.” This milestone was proposed to the IEEE New South
Wales history committee, which has now been accepted.
The visitors centre at Parkes Observatory is open to the

public 7 days a week. It is located 20 kilometres north of
Parkes town, off the Newell Highway (the main highway
between Brisbane and Melbourne) and approximately 370km
from Sydney. From the dedicated viewing area, you can watch
as the dish moves, controlled by astronomers as they explore
the Universe. The 3D theatre shows a variety of short 3D films Fig. 1: The Parkes site has been recognized as a National Engineering
together and lasts for 30 minutes. AstroKids Scavenger Hunt Landmark for its involvement in the Apollo 11 moon landing.
is suitable for students 7–14 years of age and takes about 30
minutes to complete. The award-winning Dish Café is open
for breakfast and lunch every day.
About the Landing, on July 20th 1969, as astronaut Neil
Armstrong set foot on the moon and said, “one small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind” the video signal from the
moon was being received by NASA's antenna at Honeysuckle
Creek near Canberra [1] and shortly after by the Parkes radio
telescope provided signals from one of humanity's most
significant achievements namely the first moonwalk. The
pictures were distributed to millions of people watching here
on earth. It is because of this historical episode as well as
major technical achievement of the Australian stations, which
allowed this to happen, are worthy of recognition In coming
into land, the lunar module, piloted expertly by Armstrong,
skirted over a boulder field and landed safely in the Sea of

Fig. 2: The 64m Parkes radio telescope is in farming country in far- Thomas undertook an improved and detailed analysis of a
western New South Wales for radio quietness. parabolic reflector and this influenced the design of Parkes
The overall technical achievement of the moon landing and predicted the aperture field of the feed for a conjugate
was immense. On the communications side [4], signals in S- match at the focus [6]. This led to their development in 1966
band were used for continuous tracking information, analog of the corrugated feed horn for Parkes [7-8] as shown in Fig.
voice transmission and digital data transmission between 3. The corrugated horn has, since the 1970s, become dominant
spacecraft and earth when line-of-sight viewing conditions in large ground station applications. Both features and some
existed. The Apollo telecommunications system consisted of others were first used on the Parkes radio telescope. As well,
special equipment on board the command and service module for the Apollo program, the original inner ring of solid panels
(CSM) and the LM, and the Manned Space Flight Network shown in Fig. 2 were extended outwards to cover about two-
(MSFN) provided a variety of communications and tracking thirds of the dish and this improved Parkes’ signal-to-noise
functions that fullfilled these requirements. In addition, this ratio. Therefore, in 1969, the Parkes radio telescope was
system had to have a capability for television transmission superbly equipped to receive the small signals under adverse
from the lunar surface. Ground stations in three countries local weather conditions. During the moonwalk, the reception
including Australia were used to support LM powered descent at Parkes took place in very high winds gusting to 110 km/h
and TV transmission from the moon’s surface. The Parkes (68 mph) at 60 degrees’ inclination, risking damage to the
radio telescope, along with NASA's antenna at Honeysuckle dish, to keep the antenna pointed at the Moon. A fictionalized
Creek, was chosen to be part of the earth receiving network account of Parkes’ role in the moon landing is dramatized in
and these stations were fully equipped to communicate with the movie ‘The Dish’ [9].
Apollo 11. Other improvements over the years include further
The NASA Honeysuckle Creek station has now been resurfacing of the dish, a larger focus cabin, stronger struts, a
dismantled. The Parkes radio telescope is still an operational rotatable feed mount, and a 13-element multi beam feed [10]
observatory and the site has been recognized as an Australian to complement new high-performance feeds.
National Engineering Landmark as shown in Fig. 1.
DEVELOPMENT OF PARKES
The Parkes radio telescope pictured in Fig. 2 is a unique
instrument. It was commissioned in the late 1950s by CSIRO
which developed very tight specifications [3]. Freeman, Fox
and Partners of London prepared a design that met these
requirements and it was fabricated by Machinenfabrik
Augsburg-Nurnberg AG (MAN). The driving force behind
this telescope was Taffy Bowen FRS, who had very high
standing because of his involvement in early radar on aircraft Fig 3: The first Parkes corrugated feed horn [7].
[5]. As well, he carried the secret and vital component of radar,
the high-power magnetron, to the US as part of the Tizard CONCLUSION
mission at the commencement of WWII. Later, as a Chief of When a human being first stepped onto the surface of our
the Radio Physics Division at CSIRO, he was able, through Moon, there was international earth station receiving network
his American contacts, to raise more than 40% of the cost of that made this singular event possible. In Australia, the
the telescope from the Rockefeller Foundation and the receiving stations were the Parkes radio telescope, along with
Carnegie Corporation in the United States. Bowen wanted a NASA's antenna at Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra.
steerable dish comparable in size and more accurate than the Although Honeysuckle Creek took the first seven minutes,
250 ft Mk I radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in the UK, which Parkes was the source of the remainder of the 5-hour TV
had been completed in 1956 and was the first large steerable broadcast from the Moon. Parkes was used as a test bed for
reflector telescope. Parkes was used as a testbed for several several future radio telescope then in the planning stage. It
future radio telescopes, then in the planning stage. It has has several unique technical features including a master
several unique technical features including a master equatorial equatorial that followed a celestial track for controlling the
- designed by Barnes Wallis FRS of WWII dam-busters fame direction of the telescope. It has a longer focal length giving
- located in the column in the concrete tower supporting the a focal length to diameter ratio of 0.41, which allowed more
telescope. The dish is ‘slaved’ to follow its master, which can efficient feeds to be used in a front-fed position. A detailed
be programmed to follow a celestial track and thus control the study of the focal region fields of a parabola led to the
direction of the telescope. CSIRO scientist Harry Minnett was development of the corrugated horn feed, which has now
seconded to Freeman-Fox in London during the design phase become commonplace in earth station applications.
where he made some unique contributions to the antenna
structure. The Parkes radio telescope and Honeysuckle Creek stations
THE INNOVATIONS in Australia received the telemetry from the Lunar Module
“Eagle”, including the first television pictures from the first
One contribution was that the parabolic dish at Parkes has moonwalk for distribution to millions of people on Earth.
a longer focal length than at Jodrell Bank. The focal-length to
Parkes' TV picture quality was superior to those received at
diameter ratio (f/D) of Parkes is about 0.41, which subtends a
the other ground stations, therefore NASA used Parkes as the
half-angle from the focus to the rim of 62.69° and allows more
efficient horn feeds to be used. Minnett and co-worker Bruce TV source for all but the first nine minutes of the over 5 hours

of the TV broadcast. The Parkes radio telescope is Prof. Bird has been awarded three CSIRO Medals, the IEEE
historically important for its contribution to the first Moon Third Millennium Medal, and a Centenary Medal for service
landing as well as its design and for the corrugated feed horn to Australian society in telecommunications. He has received
first used at Parkes. five best paper awards, was named 2003 Professional
Engineer of the Year by the Sydney Division of Engineers
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Australia, in 2012 he was awarded the M.A. Sargeant Medal
The authors wish to thank John Sarkissian and Mal Smith from Engineers Australia for achievement in the field of
and of CSIRO for their comments and supply of Fig. 1. electrical engineering and he received the James R. James
Different versions of this article have been published Lifetime Achievement Award of the IET in 2016 for
previously at 2019 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society outstanding contributions to the field of Antennas and
International Symposium, Atlanta, USA, Business Events Propagation.
Sydney (NSW government) newsletter and IEEE New South He was a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Antennas &
Wales quarterly newsletter – IEEE Circuit. Propagation Society from 1997 to 1999, In 2010 he
REFERENCES completed six years as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE
Transactions on Antennas & Propagation and in 2013 he was
President of the IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society.
[1] H. Lindsay, ‘Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station: 1967–1981: Apollo
11’, https://honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/Apollo_11_mission/ .
hl_apollo11.html. Professor Karu P. Esselle, IEEE ‘M
[2] J. Hansen, ‘The First Man’, Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2018 ISSBN: (1992), SM (1996), F (2016), received
9781471177873. BSc degree in electronic and
[3] B. Collis, ‘Fields of discovery: Australia’s CSIRO’, Allen & Unwin, telecommunication engineering with
Crows Nest, Australia, 2002, pp. 386-400. First Class Honours from the University
[4] H.R. Rosenberg (ed.), ‘Apollo experience report- S-band system signal of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and MASc and
design and analysis’, NASA Report, Washington DC, Mar. 1972. PhD degrees with near-perfect GPA in
[5] E.G. Bowen, ‘Radar days’, Adam Hilger, Bristol, UK, 1987. electrical engineering from the
[6] H.C. Minnett & B. McA. Thomas, ‘Fields in the image space of University of Ottawa, Canada. He is a
symmetrical focusing reflectors’, Proc. IEE, Vol. 115, pp. 1419-1430, Professor of Electronic Engineering,
Oct. 1968.
Macquarie University, Sydney, Past
[7] H.C. Minnett & B. McA. Thomas, ‘A method of synthesizing radiation
patterns with axial symmetry’, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat, Vol.
Director of WiMed Research Centre and Past Associate Dean
AP-14, pp. 654-656, Sept. 1966. – Higher Degree Research (HDR) of the Division of
[8] T.S. Bird, ‘The early development of corrugated horns’, IEEE Information and Communication Sciences. He has also served
Antennas & Propagation Society Symposium, Puerto Rico, USA, 27 as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and the Division
June - 1 July 2016, pp. 1009-1010. Executive and as the Head of the Department several times. In
[9] The Dish’, Roadshow Entertainment & Warner Bros movie, 2000, 2018, he has been selected to chair the prestigious
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dish. Distinguished Lecturer Program Committee of the IEEE
[10] L. Staveley-Smith,W.E.. Wilson, T.S. Bird, M.W. Sinclair, R.D. Ekers, Antennas and Propagation (AP) Society – the premier global
& R.L. Webster, ‘The Parkes 21cm multibeam receiver", in D.T. learned society dedicated for antennas and propagation -
Emerson & J.M. Payne (ed.), "Multi-feed Systems for Radio
Telescopes’, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, which has over 8,000 members worldwide and was re-selected
Vol. 75, 1995, pp. 136-143. in 2019. After two stages in the selection process, Karu was
also selected by this Society as one of two candidates in the
ballot for 2019 President of the Society. Only three people
from Asia or Pacific apparently have received this honour (one
of them was the co-author Prof. Bird from Australia and the
Prof. Trevor S. Bird is Principal of other two were from Japan) in the 68-year history of this
Antengenuity a specialised consultancy Society. Karu is also one of the three Distinguished Lecturers
firm, an Adjunct Professor at Macquarie (DL) selected by the Society in 2016. He is the only Australian
University, and a Distinguished Visiting to chair the AP DL Program ever, the only Australian AP DL
Professor at the University of in almost two decades, and second Australian AP DL ever
Technology, Sydney (UTS). He (after Professor Trevor Bird). He has been continuously
graduated with a PhD in engineering serving the IEEE AP Society Administrative Committee in
from the University of Melbourne in several elected or ex-officio positions since 2015. Karu is also
1977. Afterwards he worked in the UK the Chair of the Board of management of Australian Antenna
and returned to Australia to lecture at Measurement Facility, and was the elected Chair of both IEEE
James Cook University of North Queensland. He was a New South Wales (NSW), and IEEE NSW AP/MTT Chapter,
consultant to Plessey Radar in 1982-83 and he joined CSIRO in 2016 and 2017. He directs the Centre for Collaboration in
in 1984. He held several positions in CSIRO and was Chief Electromagnetic and Antenna Engineering. Karu was elevated
Scientist of the CSIRO ICT Centre from 2004 to 2011. He to prestigious IEEE Fellow grade for his contributions to
was made a CSIRO Fellow in 2007. resonance-based antennas. He is also a Fellow of Engineers
Australia.
He has published over 350 papers, 1 book, 12 book chapters,
and he holds 12 patents. He is a Fellow of the Australian Karu has authored approximately 600 research
Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Life publications and his papers have been cited over 8,250 times.
Fellow of IEEE, an IET Fellow, and an Honorary Fellow of In 2018 alone his publications received 1077 citations. He is
the Institution of Engineers, Australia. the first Australian antenna researcher ever to reach Google

Scholar h-index of 30 and his citation indices have been Karu’s awards include selection as a Finalist for the
among the top Australian antenna researchers for a long time forthcoming 2019 Macquarie University Research Excellence
(in July 2019: i10 is 163 and h-index is 43). Since 2002, his Awards for Innovative Technologies, 2019 Motohisa Kanda
research team has been involved with research grants, Award (from IEEE USA) for the most cited paper in IEEE
contracts and PhD scholarships worth over 18 million dollars, Transactions on EMC in the past five years, 2019 ARC
including 15 Australian Research Council grants, without Discovery International Award, 2017 Excellence in Research
counting the 245 million-dollar SmartSat Corporative Award from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, 2017
Research Centre, which started in 2019. His research has been Engineering Excellence Award for Best Innovation, 2017
supported by many national and international organisations Highly Commended Research Excellence Award from
including Australian Research Council, Intel, US Air Force, Macquarie University, 2017 Certificate of Recognition from
Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Australian Department of IEEE Region 10, 2016 and 2012 Engineering Excellence
Defence, Australian Department of industry, and German and Awards for Best Published Paper from IESL NSW Chapter,
Indian governments. 2011 Outstanding Branch Counsellor Award from IEEE
headquarters (USA), 2009 Vice Chancellor’s Award for
Karu is in the College of Expert Reviewers of the Excellence in Higher Degree Research Supervision and 2004
European Science Foundation (2019-22) and he has been
Innovation Award for best invention disclosure. His mentees
invited to serve as an international expert/research grant have been awarded many fellowships, awards and prizes for
assessor by several other research funding bodies as well, their research achievements. Forty-eight international experts
including European Research Council and national agencies who examined the theses of his recent PhD graduates ranked
in the Netherlands, Canada, Finland, Hong-Kong, Georgia, them in the top 5% or 10%.
South Africa and Chile. He has been invited by Vice-
Chancellors of Australian and overseas universities to assess Karu has provided expert assistance to more than a dozen
applications for promotion to professorial levels. He has also companies including Intel, Hewlett Packard Laboratory
been invited to assess grant applications submitted to (USA), Cisco Systems (USA), Audacy (USA), Cochlear,
Australia’s most prestigious schemes such as Australian Optus, ResMed and Katherine-Werke (Germany). He is an
Federation Fellowships and Australian Laureate Fellowships. Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Antennas
In addition to the large number of invited conference speeches Propagation as well as IEEE Access. Karu is the Technical
he has given, he has been an invited keynote speaker of several Program Committee Co-Chair of ISAP 2015, APMC 2011
IEEE and URSI conferences and workshops. and TENCON 2013 and the Publicity Chair of ICEAA 2016,
IWAT 2014 and APMC 2000. His research activities are
posted in the web at http://web.science.mq.edu.au/~esselle/ .

Foundation Selection, Design Methodology and Construction of
Electrical Transmission Line Structure Foundations -
New Zealand Experience
Srilal Weerasinghe BSc (Eng) Hons; MEngSc(Struct.Eng), CPEng, MIEAust, NER, RPEQ
Charted Civil and Structural Engineer
Abstract: Electrical power is now an indispensable requirement for comfort, safety and welfare of mankind
in the 21st century. No matter what the source of power generation is, its destination is the abode of the
individual consumer – a household, a factory, a city or an organization. The primary operation of overhead
transmission lines is the safe and reliable transmission of electrical current through conductors over various
climatic, environmental and ground conditions as well as a diverse range of terrains. This calls for the
requirement to satisfy design criteria related to both electrical components of the transmission system as well
as the mechanical support systems which include steel lattice towers as well as steel, concrete and timber
monopoles and foundations. The basic design philosophy of transmission lines anywhere in the world is the
same. All structures and their associated foundations must safely withstand the electrical and mechanical
loads without excessive stresses and deformations. However, different regions impose different rules and
regulations, mostly associated with safety and reliability. In design and construction of transmission line
structures and foundations, a significant contribution is made by civil engineers (structural and geotechnical),
electrical engineers, surveyors, drafters and finally construction workers who build what the engineers design.
This paper discusses geotechnical, structural and construction aspects of 400kV transmission line project
from Auckland to Hamilton in New Zealand which comprised construction of 426 transmission line structures
and foundations within 186km span.
1. INTRODUCTION
Transpower New Zealand owns and operates the National Grid – the high voltage transmission network
connecting areas of generation with towns and cities across New Zealand. As part of the electrical
transmission line upgrade projects implemented in New Zealand, Transpower New Zealand Ltd proposed to
construct a new 400kV transmission line between Whakamaru power station in Waikato and the Brownhill
substation in southeast of Auckland. The transmission line is a double circuit line, supported mostly on
steel lattice towers and a few steel monopoles on various types of foundations depending on the different
local soil conditions. The route length is 186 kilometres (116 m) and there are 426 structures. The average
height of the towers is 60 metres, with some up to 70 metres tall. The average span length between
towers is 437 metres, with a maximum span length of 824 metres. Transpower New Zealand Ltd formed
a partnership (The Northern Grid Alliance) with Balfour Beatty United Group Ltd (BBUGL- A Joint venture of
Balfour Beatty (UK) and UGL (Australia)) to oversee the design and construction process. The purpose of this
paper is to outline the geotechnical investigation, various foundation designs and construction methodologies
adopted in the design and construction of 426 towers and monopoles built along 186km long 400kV
transmission line from Auckland to Hamilton. The report is based on the author’s experience of the project.

2. GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION
Subsurface exploration is the process of identifying soil strata and the characteristics of the strata underneath
a proposed transmission structure. It is common in overhead line practice to undertake detailed soil
investigation at set distances along a line or at noticeable changes in geology or ground conditions. A less
rigorous, supplementary investigation will then be undertaken at individual tower sites to confirm the soil
profile and for the purpose of selecting foundations from a suite of designs.
A similar strategy was assumed and later adopted for this project. The detailed investigation comprised of
boreholes and the associated in-situ and laboratory testing while Static Cone or Dutch Cone Penetration
Testing (CPT or DCPT) formed the supplementary testing.
DCPT, which provides a continuous read out of tip resistance, pore pressure and sleeve friction, is often used
to design piles directly (i.e. without recourse or correlation with other investigation methods). However, on this
project, the tendency of soils to become soft or loose after becoming hard often rendered the DCPT invalid. It
meant that on harder layers, it usually provided incomplete or unreliable data. Furthermore, it was discovered
that there was usually variability across the site, which a single test at or near the centre-peg could not detect.
In order to remedy these problems, The Alliance initially mobilised a tracked auger drill rig (termed the pre-
drill). This pre- drill rapidly and powerfully drilled a water flushed 100mm diameter hole that provided tailings
for soil identification and graphs of penetration resistance and torque against depth. Undertaken at diagonally
opposite legs, the results could be used to confirm the consistency of the soil profile across the site. It was not
prone to refusal and gave qualitative information on soil strength. However, due to lack of established
correlations and the inability to perform investigations, the potential of the rig was not fully realised. Eventually,
due to cost and access considerations, the 'pre-drill' was replaced by a more traditional testing regime of
boreholes at every site and DCPT at diagonal leg positions.
The soil investigation philosophy was based on investigation being carried out at each site prior to foundation
design works. Generally, Cone Penetrometer Tests (CPT) was carried out wherever feasible and its
equipment was either truck or track mounted as appropriate. Auger bores have been used to provide
supplementary information at majority of tower sites as CPT’s are likely to meet refusal at a shallow depth.
Initially, the agreement was that The Alliance normally would provide a schedule of nominal soil investigation
depths that were generally based on 5m below the expected tower foundation depth. However, due to the
complexity of soil profiles, Alliance design engineers provided investigation depths required during the testing
process which was based on desk top analysis of foundations.
Geotechnical Investigation report included the following information which were subsequently used for design
of tower and monopole foundations.
1. Bore logs of test holes

2. Water table reading
3. Soil classification
4. SPT readings
5. CPT readings

Page 70
6. Shear Vane test results
7. Any such information as required to calculate the relevant soil parameters (for example, the Shear
Vane torsion readings are to include both the torque required to cause soil shearing, as well as the
relevant shear vane "k" constant, which is required to calculate the shear strength of the material).
Cone Penetrometer Testing (CPT)
It was proposed to undertake one CPT test at all sites which could be accessed by truck. Where the
CPT refuses on hard ground at shallow depth, an auger borehole would be undertaken to provide the
necessary information at the required depth.
CPT is a fast-effective means of obtaining soil profile and strength data. Some correlation boreholes
were required in conjunction with the CPTs to confirm the nature of the soils encountered. Therefore,
a rig having both auger and CPT capability would be advantageous. A Dutch Cone Penetration Test
(DCPT) rig may be considered as a suitable alternative to combined CPT and auger testing. Where
truck access was not practical, track-mounted CPT equipment were used at sites where it was
expected that the CPT would penetrate to the required depth. However, if the CPT could not reach
the required target depth wash-bore boreholes would be used.
Auger Boreholes
Auger boreholes were proposed at selected tower sites to add to the information provided by the CPT.
These would be used for soil classification and sampling as well as determining ground water levels.
SPT and Shear Vane type tests were carried out and bore logs were produced. The advantage of
hollow-stem auger boreholes relative to other boring techniques is their speed. An auger borehole
can be drilled in less than half the time of a rotary-wash borehole. The disadvantage of the auger is
that it is slow in weak rock and refuses in strong rock as well as penetration in deep, soft sediments
can be limited.
Wash-bore Boreholes
Track-mounted wash-bore boreholes were proposed at selected locations where access or ground
conditions required this rig rather than a track-mounted auger rig. These would be used for soil
classification and sampling and determining ground water levels. Like the above, SPT and Shear
Vane type tests were carried out and bore logs were produced.
3. FOUNDATION TYPES
Based on the soil/rock profile that the Alliance had developed through desktop analysis and
geotechnical site investigation, several foundation types had been selected to suit various
geotechnical conditions. The systems selected had been based on local availability experience and
the knowledge of the Alliance, Tonkin and Taylor Ltd (the geotechnical consultant for the alliance) and
several piling contractors and represent a good mix of economical and installation method.
During the tender design stage, various foundation options were considered and evaluated. These
options were further assessed by BBUGL during the design and the selected options are summarised
below.

Auger (A)
An auger is used to drill a hole to the required depth where a reinforcing cage and stub leg is placed,
and the hole is filled with concrete. These are typically used in good soil conditions. Typical pile
diameters are 0.9m, 1.2m and occasionally 1.7m.
Grooved Auger (AG)

Identical to an auger, except that a spiral groove is made around the outside of the hole when soil
conditions permit. This allows the foundation depth to be decreased due to improved uplift capacity.
Recommended in stiff or stronger cohesive soils. Typical pile diameters are 0.9m and 1.2m.
Lined Auger (AL)

Lined auger is used when ground conditions are not expected to stand unsupported in an augured
hole and the required depth is less than 15m; where driven tube refuses at a depth too shallow to
achieve required uplift capacity or other constructability issues dictate against the use of a steel tube.
Steel Tube (T)

Top driven open-ended steel tube that is typically used in poor soil conditions where the ground is
not expected to stand unsupported in an auger hole. A steel tube is driven to the required depth
using a piling rig. The top 3m of the steel tube is then cleaned out with an auger, and shear rings and
a stub leg are placed in the steel tube which is then filled with concrete. Typical pile diameters are
0.9m and 1.2m.
Twin Steel Tube (2xT)

Where the required embedment depth for a single driven steel tube would be greater than 26m or
where a single pile cannot achieve the required capacity, two single steel tube foundations are
installed in close proximity to each other and tied together with a reinforced pile cap in which the stub
leg is placed. Typical pile diameters are 0.9m and 1.2m.
Twin Lined Auger (2 x AL)

Where a single auger/lined auger/ tube/twin tubes cannot achieve the required capacity, twin lined
auger design is recommended. Two lined auger foundations are installed for each leg with a pile cap
on which stubs are set up in 0.9m concrete pedestals
Screw Piles (S)

Screw-in steel piles and a pile cap were proposed where a driven steel tube was >23m deep, medium
dense or denser granular soils were present within 15m of ground surface, and ground conditions
were not suitable for an unlined augur shaft.
Preliminary cost analysis had revealed that at depths greater than 15m, lined augers became less
cost-effective relative to driven tubes. Unless there are any constructability issues such as presence
of harder materials which had to be penetrated by forced-driving, driven tubes were recommended in

Page 72
place of lined augers. Generally, 26m has been selected as a maximum preferred length for a driven
tube based on the assumption that this would entail the welding of a fourth section of pile.
4. FOUNDATION SELECTION METHODOLOGY
Several piling systems have been considered - it had already been established that pad and column
foundations were non-preferred for reasons of cost, safety issues, environmental impact and disruption
to the landowner.
Using this principle, a flow diagram (Appendix A) had been developed that could be used to select
the foundation types, based on soil conditions at each site. The bases of flow diagram are summarised
as follows.
 Augured un-lined shafts (A) are preferred where ground conditions allow as they are the most
economical and easily installed foundation type.
 Generally, where most of the pile length is in firm or stiff clays, it is beneficial to groove the auger
(AG). Grooving can be considered to obtain an enhanced pile skin friction, and the savings
resulting from the reduction in overall pile length allows it to outweigh the cost of the grooving.
 It is expected that loose, granular soils (GL), or soft, firm cohesive soils (CSF) and medium
dense granular soils (GMd) below the groundwater level will not stand in an augured, un-lined
shaft. In these ground conditions, either a lined auger (AL) or a driven steel tube (T) is proposed.
Generally, depending on ground conditions, it is considered that auger lined foundations will be
more economic than equivalent steel tube foundations up to a depth of about 15m. Installation
of augers becomes more difficult with depth and at a certain point, the weight and size of cages
may require the use of an additional crane. The piling rigs required to install tubular steel piles
are much larger than equivalent auger rigs and therefore require wider and more sure access
roads and working platforms. For steep sites or those with long accesses, the relative costs of
the piling systems will be affected
 A pair of driven steel tubes (2T) is proposed where a singular driven tube (T) would be in excess
of 26m in length (the maximum length achievable with three sections). A pile cap will be used
to tie the two tubes together. Twin augers (2 x A) may also be adopted for similar reasons.
 Screw-in piles (S) can be efficient in medium dense and dense granular soils. In these
conditions, the helices can achieve high uplift bearing capacity. A preliminary analysis revealed
that where the required pile was greater than 23m long and the depth to the medium dense or
denser soil was less than 15m, the screw pile option could be cost effective. However, the
decision to adopt a screw pile solution would be influenced by the number of sites available at
a given time to justify the mobilisation costs.
The ground conditions at each site have been determined from the geotechnical investigation.
Applicable skin friction values have been determined based on established practice and the results
of the full-scale pile tests. Maximum foundation loads for each tower type were obtained from the
tower designs. Following the flow chart and the design methodology outlined in the next section, an
initial foundation selection and depth were obtained for each site.

For reasons of simplicity, the flow chart does not account for constructability issues. The most critical
issue was the slope across the site. Driven tubular piles were installed using a piling rig that required
larger working areas and wider access roads than auger rigs. This is especially true when compared
with the 'low drill' auger rig with an extendable drilling arm. On steeper sites, an auger type foundation
(usually lined) had been selected in preference to a tubular pile foundation even though the flow chart
would indicate that the tubular pile was the best option. In these instances, the cost of the piling
platform and additional access works had been considered to make it a less cost-effective option.
Stakeholder concerns about excessive benching would also influence the selection. In order to
minimise disruption to the stakeholder and to reduce transport and mobilisation costs, in some cases
it may be preferable to adopt a single piling system for a given property. Again, for reasons of
simplicity, this element of the decision-making process has not been included in the flow chart.
Foundation selection methodology is summarised as per the table below.
Table 1: Foundation selection
Abbreviation Foundation Type Proposed Application

A Augered Shaft Preferred where ground conditions allow as they
are the most economical and easily installed
foundation type
AG Augered Grooved Shaft Where grooving allows reduced length of
augured shaft, i.e. in stiff or stronger cohesive
soils.
AL Augered Lined Shaft Where ground conditions are not expected to

stand unsupported in an augured hole and the
required depth is less than 15m, where a driven
steel tube refuses at a depth too shallow to
achieve required uplift capacity; or other
constructability issues dictate against the use of
a steel tube solution.
T Top driven open-ended Where the ground is not expected to stand
steel tube (steel tube unsupported in an augured hole and pile length
piles) dictates that this option is lower cost than
augured lined i.e. >15m approximately.
2T Pair of steel tube piles Where the required embedment depth for a
and a pile cap. single driven steel tube would be greater than
26m.
S Group of Screw-in Steel Where a driven steel tube would be >23m deep
Piles and a Pile cap and medium dense or denser granular soils exist
within 15m of ground surface, and ground
conditions are not suitable for an unlined
augured shaft.

Page 74
5. FOUNDATION DESIGN OVERVIEW
This section discusses the geotechnical design of augured and steel tube piles in uplift and
compression (thrust).
5.1 Geotechnical Design Methodology

The geotechnical design considered two separate failure mechanisms to establish the
minimum embedded length required and considered the site-specific soil profile at the tower
location:
- Uplift considering shaft friction on the outside of the auger + dead weight of pile
- Compression considering plugged condition; external shaft friction + end bearing
5.1.2 Uplift Capacity

Generally, uplift capacity has been found to be critical in the design of these piles.
Method of Calculation
The uplift capacity of a pile has been calculated as follows:
T ≤QT
QT = SRF1 x W + SRF2 ∑qs x ⫪ x De x h
T = Ultimate limit state uplift load

QT = Factored (reduced) uplift capacity of the pile
SRF1 = Strength reduction factor for foundation weight (0.9)
SRF2 = Strength reduction factor for shaft resistance (0.65)
W = Weight of foundation (buoyant weight has conservatively been
assumed)
∑ = Sum for the various soil layers penetrated by the pile
qs = Ultimate shaft resistance in each soil layer and pile type
De = Pile Diameter
h = Pile length in each soil layer. The first 1m below ground surface is
ignored.
Strength Reduction Factors

The strength reduction factors proposed have been assessed by a conservative application
of Transpower Technical specifications (TP. DL01.01) and AS 2159:1995. This conservative
approach has been adopted to promote the order of potential failure requirements of Section
B1 of TP. DL01.01. i.e. reduce the risk of early failure of foundations. AS 2159 and TP.
DL01.01 specify strength reduction factors relative to the extent of site investigations and
pile testing undertaken. The proposed strength reduction factors and comparison with AS
2159 and TP. DL01.01 are as follows:

SRF1 (Foundation weight) = 0.9
TP. DL01.01 proposes 0.8 for soil weight and did not specify for concrete weight. New
Zealand Standard AS/NZS:1170 proposed 0.9 for concrete weight.
SRF2 (Shaft resistance) = 0.65
All structure sites are to be subject to geotechnical investigation and 0.7% (12 piles) have
been static load tested. For this level of investigations TP. DL01.01 proposed 0.7 and AS
2159:1995 proposes 0.7 to 0.9
5.1.2 Ultimate Shaft Resistance in Uplift (qs)
The shearing resistance between the shaft and the ground (qs) was the critical parameter in
the design of these piles. The weight of the foundation (W) was a relatively small component
of the piles’ uplift capacity. For soil, the values of qs are based on average CPT tip resistance,
qc, values for assessed soil layers. Where only SPT or S u results are available, these are
converted to equivalent qc values to obtain an appropriate a shaft resistance.
The relationship between qs and qc, is given in document number BK/PTD/6256/148, Interim
Foundation Design Report, and summarised below in Table 2. Similarly, shaft resistance
values for rock are given in Table 3.
Table 2: Shaft Resistance in Soil

Cohesive Granular
Cohesive-A/AL Cohesive-Steel Cohesive -AG Granular A/AL Granular Steel
tube tube
qc qs qc qs qc qs qc qs qc qs
(MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (kPa) (MPa) (kPa)
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.5 25.0 0.5 25.0 0.5 25.0 4.0 20.0 4.0 20.0
1.0 35.0 2.0 40.0 1.0 40.0 12.0 60.0 20.0 100.0
5.0 80.0 4.0 50.0 5.0 140.0 20.0 80.0

Page 76
Table 3: Shaft Resistance in Soil
Shaft Resistance (qs)
Symbol Description (1) Unconfined Steel Augered Augered

Compressive Tube (kPa) Grooved
Strength (UCS) (MPa) (kPa) (kPa)
RVW Very weak 1 to 5 100 150 250
RW Weak 5 to 20 Refusal 350 N/A
RMS Moderately 20 to 50 Refusal 500 N/A

strong
RS Strong >50 Refusal Refusal Refusal
These values have been determined based on a Tonkin & Taylor in-house method and are
consistent with the values proposed for hard soils (su=500kPa qc=10MPa).
5.1.3 Downward (Thrust) Capacity

Method of Calculation
C ≤ Qc
Qc = (SRF2 ∑ qs x D x ⫪ x h) + (SRF3 x qu x ⫪ x D2/4) – SRF4 x W
C = Ultimate limit state downward load

Qc = Factored (reduced) downward capacity of the pile
qu = Ultimate end bearing capacity of the pile
qs = Ultimate shaft resistance in each soil layer and pile type
SRF3 = Strength reduction factor for end bearing (0.5)
SRF4 = Strength reduction factor for foundation weight (1.1)
D = Pile Diameter
H = Pile length in each soil layer. The first 1m below ground surface is
ignored
Ultimate Bearing Capacity (qu)
The references and values of qu assumed in the calculations are presented in Table 4. Lower
bound soil strength design parameters Su and N have been assumed in this assessment rather
than mid-range values because foundation depths will be selected to meet uplift (shaft
resistance/length) requirements and therefore piles could terminate at any level within a soil
layer.
Strength Reduction Factor
Strength reduction factor SRF2 has been taken as 0.65 as discussed above. For end
bearing strength reduction factor SRF3 the lower value of 0.5 has been nominated because

pile testing of end bearing capacity was not proposed. This was consistent with AS2159 and
TP. DL01.01.
Table 4: Ultimate End Bearing Capacity (qu)
Soil/Rock Type Pile Type qu Reference
Cohesive, C Augered or steel tube 0.35qc Bustamante and Gianselli

1982
Granular, G Augered 0.3qc Bustamante and Gianselli

1982
Granular, G Steel tube 0.4qc Bustamante and Gianselli

1982
Very weak rock, RVW Augered or steel tube 2.5MPa T&T in-house
Weak rock RW Augered 5MPa T&T in-house
Moderately strong rock Augered 7MPa T&T in-house

RMS
Strong rock, RS Augered 10MPa T&T in-house
5.1.4 Lateral Capacity
The piles were to be raked to reduce the lateral loads imposed on piles. Lateral pile
analyses were undertaken to confirm that the proposed piles could resist the residual lateral
loads.
5.1.5 Effect of Lining and Pile Displacement
The effect of the proposed construction methods was discussed in relation to the design
methods described above. In particular, the following issues were given due consideration.
a The effect of lining of augured piles
b The effect of the relatively low displacement of the proposed open- ended driven steel
tube piles.
Linings
Linings were to only remain in place over the upper portion of the pile to form the pile head,
and in weak soils where the hole wouldn’t stand unsupported. The proposed design methods
ignored shaft resistance over the top 1m of pile embedment. This compensated for possible
reduced shaft resistance over the upper lined section of pile. In weak soils where lining may
remain in place, the presence of a lining was not expected to significantly reduce shaft
resistance. The test piles were not lined. Testing of lined piles was recommended to verify
the capacity of lined piles.

Page 78
Displacement
In cohesive soils the degree of displacement was not expected to significantly reduce shaft
resistance. In granular soils this effect has been considered in the selection of the design
method. The results of the pile tests supported the proposed design method for the low
displacement driven steel tubes.
Auger and steel tube foundations were designed to resist residual bracing shears, taking full
benefit of resistance due to passive pressure. The ultimate lateral resistance of piles was
established according to Tomlinson (ref. 5), and considered whether the pile was short & rigid,
or long & elastic. Short & rigid piles were assumed to rotate about a given point, whereas long,
elastic piles were to reach a point of fixity, about which point bending moments were assumed
to be maximised.
Auger Designs
Reinforced concrete design was in accordance with NZS 3109 Concrete
Construction, taking cognisance of AS 3600 & NZS 3101 for detail design where
appropriate.
Steel Tube Designs
Steel tube was checked for design stresses under the design load with allowance for
sacrificial thickness of steel (corrosion) as set out in AS1250:1995, for a design life of
80 years.
Provision was made for steel shear rings, welded to the inside of the tube, to facilitate
load transfer from the stub. Due allowance was made for stresses due to driving.
5.2 Structural Design Methodology

The structural capacity of the pile is calculated taking full passive resistance according to
CIRIA Report 103 Design of laterally Loaded Piles, following Broms Theory. Bending
moments were calculated based on guidance given by Tomlinson (Pile Design &
Construction Practice Fifth Edition) and dependant on the stiffness of both the pile and
ground conditions, consider either a short rigid pile that rotates about a given point, or a
long, elastic pile, based on a calculated depth to fixity.
Where the foundation was designed as a short, rigid pile, passive resistance was calculated
assuming a parabolic distribution, and limited to a maximum of 9Su in cohesive soils, or
600kPa in granular materials (assimilating the bearing pressure adopted for loose, granular
material).
Tomlinson calculates the depth to fixity based on the stiffness factor, T, for the specific soil
type, and differentiates between over-consolidated clays, and normally consolidated clays &
granular materials. Once determined, the behaviour of the pile was established by
comparing with the embedded depth, L:
• Rigid (free head): L<= 2T

• Elastic (free head): L>= 4T

Where L is between 2T & 4T, both methods were followed, with the more conservative
design methodology being adopted. In order to simplify the calculations in varying soil
layers, a single soil strength has been considered for the entire depth of influence, and to
ensure conservative results, a lower bound strength is adopted.
Moments due to eccentricity of the auger position, relative to the stub, are also included in the
overall bending moment, and allow for a 75mm eccentricity in auger position. The design of
steel reinforcing is based on the requirements of AS 3600:2009 Concrete Structures, based
on the design assumptions for axially loaded beams. The requirements of AS 3109 Concrete
Construction were adopted as appropriate. Punching shear from the cleats was considered
for both uplift and compression forces, with additional shear reinforcement (hoops) provided
as necessary around the cleat group. Structural reinforcement detailing was as per AS/NZS
4671:2001 Steel Reinforcing Materials.
6. FOUNDATION DESIGN PROCESS
The following diagram shows the used foundation design process.

Page 80
7. TEMPORARY /ENABLING WORKS
Health and safety issues in construction

The variation in topography and geology in upper and central North Island poses several issues for
the safe construction of transmission line structures on the BHL — WHN 400kV overhead line. Low
lying, flat sites tend to be located on soft, highly compressible soils, such as the peats of the Cleveland
Valley. This demanded special measures to provide safe access and working areas for heavy plant
such as piling rigs, cranes and ready-mix concrete trucks. These measures often called temporary or
enabling works those are carried out to facilitate the installation of the permanent works. Steep slopes
pose similar challenges, where in some instances, sites had a fall of nine metres across the tower
base (approximately 1:1.5) with even steeper slopes being encountered beyond the immediate
confines of the tower. In addition to providing safe access to tower sites and secure working platforms
for both plant and personnel, the proposed solutions must consider the working parameters of the
plant and the possible effects of the enabling works on the integrity of tower foundations. Landowner
preferences and agreements, resource consent limits on the amount of earth moving and board of
Inquiry constraints on tower moves and relative height also need to be considered.
Addressing the issues and actions taken

Because of the known difficulties, a temporary works review was undertaken before the foundation
installation teams were mobilised. Using the existing leg extension analysis, sites were graded by
steepness (1 to 4 with 1 being the steepest) and typical temporary or enabling works designs produced
for each grade of slope for each plant type. This information was a key consideration in maximising
the use of excavator mounted Lo-DriIl rigs rather than the more standard but heavier SoilMech type
equipment. This approach helped to reduce the amount of enabling works and the associated health
and safety risks. Similar assessments were subsequently carried out for cranes for tower erection
work. These assessments also helped the project to understand the level and complexity of the
required enabling works, with a team of geotechnical, civil and geodetic engineers and CAD operators
being established later to mitigate any potential delays to the installation of the permanent works.
Specifications were obtained for all major plant, including drilling equipment, piling rigs and cranes.
Using this Information, acceptable safe working gradients and environments for plant and installation
personnel were determined. A process map showing how the enabling works design and
implementation would be undertaken was developed. This process was embedded in the construction
ITPs and work packs. Sites graded 1 & 2 were considered high risk and earmarked for a separate site
visit to consider the enabling works requirements. In total there were 94 of this type. Prior to each site
visit, a blank enabling works drawing was produced showing ground contours (based on the existing
aerial laser survey), tower centre and foundation drive points, which were also marked out on site (see
example in Appendix B). The site visits were attended by design and construction personnel involved
with temporary works, foundations and tower erection. This allowed enabling works design and
construction risks to be managed and site-specific solutions to be developed for each tower location.
In some cases, additional survey and geotechnical testing was commissioned.

8. CONCLUSION:
Given the large scale and conditions of this project, there have been many challenges to overcome
geotechnical investigation, foundation design and construction. Initially one of the largest challenges was
determining the type of foundation to use given the variation in topography and geology in upper and
central North Island and diverse range of terrain. Creating a design process for the different possibilities
was necessary. Geotechnical and environmental questions as well as issues encountered during the
actual construction have also provided significant challenges. Additionally, the unusually long project
timetable created challenges and required a massive coordination effort. Overall, Transpower’s 400kV
transmission line project from Auckland to Hamilton, which was finally commissioned on 30th October
2012 has been a great success.
9. REFERENCES
1. Design of Transmission lines – Structures and foundations; Sriram Kalaga and Prasad Yenumula
2. Preliminary Foundation Selection & Design Methodology - BK/PTD/6256/052
3. Brownhill Road – Whakamaru North A Line Schedule – BK/PTD/6256/090
4. Critical Loads for Foundation Design ASU Tower – BK/PTD/6256/094
5. Foundation Design & Selection Schedule – BK/PTD/6256/104
6. Design of Laterally Loaded Piles - CIRIA Report 103
7. Pile Design and Construction Practice (Fifth Edition); M.J. Tomlinson
8. Concrete Structures: AS3600 -2009
9. Concrete Construction: AS 3109 – 1997
10. Steel Reinforcing Materials: AS/NZ 4671:2001
10. BIOGRAPHY
Srilal Weerasinghe is a Chartered Professional Engineer, graduated from University of Peradeniya (Sri
Lanka) with B.Sc. (Engineering) in Civil Engineering and University of New South Wales (Australia) with a
Master of Engineering Science in Structural Engineering. Worked in various Structural engineering and
Project Management roles in Civil and Structural Engineering in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia as
Principle Structural engineer, Senior Structural Engineer, Resident Project Manager and Works manger.
He worked with State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka, Surath Wickramasinghe Associates, Lanka
Transformers Ltd, Worley Parsons, UGL, Daly International, Servicestream, Alfa Design Consultant and
CPS Global.

Page 82
Appendix A - Foundation Selection Flow Chart

Appendix B – Typical foundation types
Single Grooved Auger Pile Foundation Single Tubular Steel Pile Foundation
Single Auger Pile Foundation

Page 84
Appendix C - Foundation construction photos
Unloading steel tubes
Moving steel tubes into position
Holding the steel tube in position while welding

Welding two steel tubes together
Preparing to drive the next sections of steel tubes which have been welded
Cleaning out the top section of steel tube to allow the stub to be set and concrete poured

Page 86
Appendix D - Geotechnical Investigation Equipment
Cone Penetrometer
Borehole Rig

Appendix E - Temporary/ Enabling Work photos
Lo-Drill sitting on retained working platform whilst installing foundation
Retained working platorm with handrail
Engineered crane pad cut into hill side

Page 88
Scala used to test sternght of crane pad sub grade material
Overall site enabling work

Appendix F – Steel lattice Towers and Monopoles
Tower under construction
Steel monopoles near Lake Karapiro
Brownhill
Substation
Whakmura
Power station

Page 90
Leadership for Managing Virtual Project Teams by Dr Palitha Kuruppuarachchi,
D Tech, PSM
1 Introduction
The New South Wales Police Force’s (NSWPF) Land Mobile Radio (LMR) network is a critical part of the
NSWPF ICT infrastructure. It is the primary means of communication for frontline operational police.
Thus, ensuring a robust and reliable radiocommunications service is essential to support NSWPF’s
24x7x365 operational needs. The NSWPF has metropolitan and regional maintenance depots named
Metropolitan Wireless Network Services (MWNS, Potts Hill, Sydney) and Regional Wireless Network
Services (RWNS: Newcastle, Oak Flats, Wagga Wagga, Cooma, Grafton, Tamworth and Dubbo) with the
primary responsibility of maintaining the LMR network. Over one hundred well trained technical staff
are attached to the Wireless Network Services.
The state of New South Wales (NSW) has an area of 801,600 square kilometers. The distance from
Sydney to the remote city of Broken Hill is approximately 1,200 kilometers. The vast distance from
Sydney to the regional areas and the vast distances from regional areas to the remote radio sites make
it difficult for a co-located project team in Sydney to deliver state-wide Radio System Development
Projects. Thus, state-wide projects are to be delivered using virtual project teams with an added benefit
of immediate availability of over one hundred well-trained technical staff to undertake the project
activities. Being full-time employees of the NSWPF, MWNS, RWNS and Engineering team, members
already know each other when engaging in project teams. All members have autonomy within their
areas of responsibility.
The following Radio System Development Projects of NSWPF have been (or are being) delivered in
virtual team environments.
1. Greater Metropolitan Area Terminal Refresh and Police Communications Assurance

Program (GMATR and PCAP - $ 57 million, Sep 2017 to date).
2. Radio Communications Maintenance Program (RCMP - $80 million, Sep 2011 to Dec 2015).
3. Digital Radio Program (DIRAD - $ 19.9 million, Sep 2004 to June 2006).
4. Country Capital Works Program (CCWP - $20.5 million, Dec 2000 to Aug 2004).
The material contained in this article has been extracted from previously published papers by the author.
Those are: ‘How IT Project Managers are Leading Change’ (Management Services, December 2001, pp.
8-11) and ‘Virtual Team Concepts in Projects: A Case Study’ (Project Management Journal, June 2009,
pp. 19-33). The readers of the article may refer to these two papers for further details of the literature.
The article first suggests the most appropriate leadership characteristics for ICT project managers
followed by a summary of the most relevant virtual team literature. Finally, the specific undertakings
required in virtual project teams in comparison to traditional project teams are presented.
2. Leadership Literature
Leadership styles may affect employees in an organisation in many ways such as their behaviour,
attitudes, work habits, motivational patterns, communication processes, inclination to risk-taking,
openness to innovation, disposition to conflict and productivity. Management literature abounds with
concepts and theories of leadership and team work.
Page 91
Classical management models describe management in terms of the following activities: planning,
organising, leading and controlling. However, leadership and management have often been viewed as
two distinct, but complementary areas; each has its own function and characteristics, and both are
necessary for successfully managing and/or leading people. Managers create consistency and achieve
results through orderly and predictable processes, while leaders create the vision for the organisation
and the conditions necessary to achieve the expected goals. Furthermore, leaders go beyond simply
fulfilling management roles and responsibilities. Leading change, the creation of ideas, and the
motivation and celebration of people are the main functions of leadership.
The literature defines leadership in terms of individual traits, behaviours, influence over others,
interaction patterns, roles, relationships, hierarchical positions, power and others. The leadership
characteristics could vary from “power and authority to influence others (followers)” to “direct others
(followers) to lead themselves”.
A well-known leadership classification is transactional versus transformational. Transactional leadership

is associated with a follower-leader relationship, while transformational leadership is associated with
recognising and satisfying the higher order needs of workers.
Transactional Leadership
 Managers first understand accurately what goals the upper level leaders expect. Then they
define and communicate the work that must be done by the subordinates and the rewards for
the successful completion of the work
 Subordinates are motivated and directed to achieve the expected standards of performance.
Transformational Leadership
 Considering subordinates as individuals and assisting them to rise to higher levels of
attainment
 Encouraging critical thinking, creativity and analysis of new perspectives
 Inspiring subordinates through goal setting, visionary behaviour and role modelling of other
inspirational leaders
 Showing respect for others and building their confidence and trust in the overall mission.
There is a recognition that transactional characteristics are required for baseline performance whilst
transformational characteristics are required for performance beyond expectations. There is plenty of
literature available describing leadership concepts in terms of self-leadership, attributes of leaders and
shared power, where leaders are expected to:
 Share the common attributes of honesty, competence, and forward-looking and inspirational
behaviour
 Understand the benefits of human interaction, socialisation and teamwork
 Create a learning organisation and build confidence, competence and commitment in workers
to achieve extraordinary results.
Effective leaders are expected to have a high degree of what is termed as emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence is described in terms of its components: self-awareness, self-regulation,
motivation, empathy, and social skills.
 Self-awareness: The ability to recognise and understand your own moods, emotions, and drives,
as well as their effects on others
Page 92
 Self-Regulation: The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and the
propensity to suspend judgment to think before acting
 Motivation: A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status, and a propensity to
pursue goals with energy and persistence
 Empathy: The ability to understand the emotional make up of other people, as well as skills in
treating people according to their emotional reactions
 Social-Skills: Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, and an ability to find
common ground and build rapport.
A text titled ‘Emotional Life of Your Brain’ by a pioneer in neuroscience Richard J Davidson with Sharon
Begley (2012) provides a comprehensive explanation of emotional style of the brain and how to change
one’s emotional style through practice. Dr Davidson is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. The text explains the mind-body connection and provides practices
that work through the mind to change the brain’s neural systems.
Projects are usually undertaken in a team environment. The essential characteristics necessary for
effective functioning of teams are common goals, leadership, interaction and involvement of all
members, maintenance of individual self-esteem, open communications, power within the group to
make decisions, attention to process and content, mutual trust, respect for differences, and constructive
conflict resolution. In project teams, appropriate behaviours should be stipulated and the team effort
should be directed towards the project goals.
Figure 1: Ambiguity or misunderstanding of project goals
Page 93
3 Leadership and Situational Differences
The most appropriate leadership approach for a particular situation depends on the leader,
subordinates and the situation. Some key situational determinants are: organisation, level of
responsibility, power relationships, the impact of technology and leadership style.
The life cycle theory of leadership claims that leadership style must change according to the maturity
of the employees, job related experience, willingness to accept job responsibility and desire to achieve.
Leadership style may also depend on the internal organisational environment, external forces and the
task, as well as on the management level as tasks are different at the top, middle and operational
management levels.
Rigid and inflexible (bureaucratic) organisational structures are unable to cope with changes in a
dynamic environment. It may be possible however, to enforce decisions taken at higher levels more
easily in bureaucratic or chain of command organisations. Likewise, when projects are undertaken in
critical time frames with limited resources, authoritarian leadership may be appropriate, provided that
the project manager has necessary skills. When innovation or creativity is required, such as in design,
research and development (R&D) organisations, a democratic leadership style may be needed. Different
leadership styles may also be useful at different stages of a company life cycle, project phase or product
life cycle.
4 Leadership Skills for ICT Project Managers

ICT projects can be considered as specific situations and it is possible to identify appropriate
leadership skills for managing them.
In a project environment, managers typically influence team members to work cooperatively towards
achieving defined project goals. Team members are expected to manage themselves to a certain extent
and to take effective action to accomplish project plans and schedules, whilst the project manager (team
leader) provides direction to team members and facilitates them carrying out assigned tasks. Project
teams are often relatively unstructured and team members may be required to exert influence over
others in order to get a job done without formalised legitimate power. Leadership of a project is also
influenced by other situation-dependent considerations (referred to below as situational factors), such
as the organisational requirements, the organisational external environment and discipline specific
factors. Examples of situational factors relevant to ICT projects are identified and listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Examples - Situational Factors related to ICT Projects [Source: Management Services,
December 2001]
Related Entity Situational Factor
Organisational  Vision, strategies and operational direction

requirements  Organisational structures and work processes
 Organisational size, levels of responsibility and power
relationships
 Organisational culture
 Stages of an organisation life cycle
Organisational external  Global competition

environment:  Government policies
Page 94
ICT Project discipline  “Random” changes in the ICT field
 Impact of technology on existing systems
 Project phases or product life cycle
 Maturity of employees and job-related experience
Practical implementation of an ICT project typically involves a project manager (leader), project team
members (followers) and a particular project situation (organisational requirements, external
environment and project discipline). The identification of an appropriate set of leadership characteristics
for an ICT project should be determined by these factors, as shown schematically in Figure 2.
Project Manager
(Leader)
Team Members
(Followers)
Appropriate
Organisational Leadership
requirements Characteristics for
Project Managers
External
Environment
Project
Discipline
Figure 2: Leadership Characteristics of an IT Project Manager [Source: Management Services,

December 2001]
Effective management of others is underpinned by strong self-management. Development of self-

management skills requires self-awareness, self-regulation, self-set goals and self-motivation. In
addition, to lead their organisations effectively in a competitive environment, leaders require system
thinking and creativity.
Project managers should have sufficient skills to develop the project’s vision and delivery strategies, as
well as skills to sell ideas to and get support from top management. They need to be aware of the
organisational situation and external forces. In addition, they need to have technical expertise in the
project area and a wide knowledge of areas as diverse as law, accounting, economics, and human
resource management. The ‘Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge’ (PMBOK Guide)
categorises the knowledge required for project management into nine major areas: (i) integration (ii)
scope (iii) time (iv) cost (v) quality (vi) human resources (vii) communications (viii) risk, and (ix)
procurement management.
Essential requirements to lead project teams effectively also include: an awareness of the skills and
needs of team members, respect for others and empathy, and social skills to build confidence and trust.
Superior communication, conflict resolution, negotiation and stress management skills are also
Page 95
necessary to manage teams. Leaders should display visionary behaviour to motivate project team
members.
When leadership and teamwork characteristics are considered together with the project situational
factors (summarised in Table 1), it is possible to synthesise a set of essential leadership characteristics
for leading project teams. There is a requirement to develop followers able to handle a greater level of
responsibility and uncertainty. Leaders are expected to operate as change agents and develop
followers, raise their competency and empower them.
In summary, the following ten characteristics are suggested as the most appropriate leadership
characteristics for ICT project managers.
1. Self-awareness, self-regulation, self-set goals and self-motivation

2. Creative thinking
3. Systems approach to activities
4. Awareness of organisational situation and external forces
5. Technical competence in the project area and associated tasks
6. Awareness of the skills and needs of other team members
7. Respect for others and empathy
8. Social skills to build confidence and trust
9. Communication, conflict resolution, negotiation and stress management skills
10. Visionary behaviour.
4. Project Management in Virtual Team Environment

Virtual Teams
The emergence of effective and relatively cheap information and communication technologies (ICT -
ranging from simple e-mail to sophisticated groupware) has facilitated the increasing use of so-called
‘virtual teams’ to undertake projects in many organisations. ‘Virtual teams’ of people may exist across
time, space, and cultural boundaries. Any team of a virtual organisation can be considered a virtual
team. Such ‘virtual teams’ of people can work collaboratively and effectively despite the members of
the team being separated by large distances. However, the lack of direct person-to-person contact and
lack of immediate managerial oversight can cause problems in virtual team formations.
Drawbacks and Benefits

A number of potential difficulties associated with virtual teams have been described, with the main
difficulties listed in Table 2. For a detailed literature review, readers of the article may refer to the paper
‘Virtual Team Concepts in Projects: A Case Study’ (Project Management Journal, June 2009, p19-33).
Page 96
Table 2: Difficulties of Virtual Teams [Source: Project Management Journal, June 2009]
Difficulties
 Ineffective communication in the absence of face-to-face communication
 Loss of vision - members may not know the goals and objectives clearly
 Structure may not fit the organisation or operational environment
 Resistance to unstructured nature of teams
 Additional cost for setting up remote offices
 Possibility of too many members on a team
 Lack of lasting reports or reports that are not available centrally
 Lack of visibility of the work of the team members including work load and progress
 Conflicts are often invisible and complex; they could even be site specific
 Quality control is difficult
 Some members may not be psychologically fit for virtual teams
 Supervision, monitoring and performance management are difficult
 Require managing multiple time zones, different cultures, and languages
 Require developing skills of employees on special virtual teaming supporting applications
 Require developing skills of individual members to work in virtual teams
The above difficulties can be linked to the absence of face-to-face communication, heterogeneous
workgroups (e.g. people from a variety of cultural backgrounds in different locations) with different
habits and methods of working, unstructured nature of teams, physical isolation from the manager and
other team members, a lack of opportunities to develop relationships, and the nature of electronic
communications (asynchronous).
However, a carefully designed and implemented virtual team can offer multiple benefits. The main
benefits include improved productivity, reduced costs, increased competitive advantage, improved
customer service, flexible working hours for employees, potential for expanding labour force to include
skilled individuals regardless of location, and so on. Benefits of virtual teams are summarised in Table
3.
Table 3: Benefits of Virtual Teams [Source: Project Management Journal, June 2009]
Benefits
 Financial gains through improved productivity, reduced cost, reduced travel time
 Increased competitive advantages and improved customer satisfaction
 More flexible work hours for employees
 Improved business processes and cross functional and cross divisional interactions in the
organisations
 Skilled, qualified and talented work force is possible regardless of the distance
 Availability of a pool of employees regardless of location and possibility of easily expanding
the workforce
 Enhanced information dissemination and knowledge sharing within the organization
 Stimulation of creativity and innovation most likely due to diversity of the workforce
 Creation of opportunities for employees in remote offices
 Flexibility in resource allocations and work scheduling
Page 97
Benefits
 Speeding up of product development and project management
A comparison of “communications and team structures and leadership” of virtual versus traditional co-
located teams (derived from the existing literature) is provided in Table 4.
Table 4: Comparison of Virtual and Co-Located Teams [Source: Project Management Journal, June 2009]
Communication Team structures and Leadership
Co-  A rich form of  Well-developed traditional team leading concepts can
located communication face-to- be used
face is always available  Monitoring of work of the team members is not difficult
 Regular personal  Supervisor can motivate the members knowing their
interactions support attitudes and requirements
building relationships
 Easy to implement effective reporting procedures
and trusts
 Easy to implement a common set of standards for
various works including quality control
Virtual  A heavy reliance on  Require skills to manage the diversity of the team
electronic forms of membership, crossing national boundaries and different
communication, often time zones
use asynchronous media  Require skills to supervise without having direct
with several drawbacks observation of team members work and work progress
 Lacks opportunities for  Self-motivation and self- judgment are often required
building relationships from team members
and trust
 Different reward systems may be required, as it is
 Require careful planning difficult to admire well done work and motivate
for team integration and members
communication
 Establishment of standards for team works including
 Require clear and precise quality control is difficult
communication, as
 Different locations may have different habits (may be
immediate feedback or
site specific) and different methods of working
clarification is difficult
 Different assessment systems may be required for work,
 Problems can go
work structures and work processes
unnoticed
Overcoming Inherent Problems

A variety of activities have been suggested to ameliorate difficult issues in virtual teams and to promote
teamwork. It is important to set clear roles for each team member by assigning formal individual
responsibilities at the outset to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding.
Team cohesion can be encouraged if face-to-face meetings are held at three nominated points in the
life of a virtual team:
1. At commencement (to create social relationships, build mutual trust, establish reciprocal
commitment, and establish a shared set of business goals and objectives),
2. At an intermediate stage (to influence relationships, resolve misunderstandings, and clarify task
issues) and,
Page 98
3. At winding up (to finalise unresolved items, generate commitment to output, and celebrate
success).
Conventional management styles and techniques may not suitable in dealing with the issues
encountered in virtual teams. In addition, the virtual team challenges may be complicated by
organisational policies that do not support virtual teams or hinder team performance.
As communication is very important in virtual teams, there is a requirement to focus on accuracy,

linguistic precision, and simplicity in communication. Efficient monitoring mechanisms are also
important to detect early signs of problems with the team or the schedules. Problems should preferably
be solved within a team by face-to-face communication. If this is not possible, other possibilities include
video conferencing, telephone conferencing and e-mail.
It is important to have a well-organised plan for success. The initial effort required in designing,
planning, and implementing virtual teams is extensive. A number of qualities are also expected from the
team members such as good self-starters working remotely, self-discipline, a sense of individual
accountability and flexibility within a virtual team.
Over 30% of Australians were born in another country and over 46% had at least one overseas-born
parent. Sydney is Australia's largest and the most cosmopolitan city and its workforce is culturally
diverse. Thus, cultural diversity is an accepted norm of the Australian workforce and would have minimal
impact in virtual teams.
Suggested undertaking to overcome problems in virtual teams are summarised in Table 5.
Table 5: Overcoming Problems in Virtual Teams [Source: Project Management Journal, June 2009]
Area Suggested Undertakings

Communication  Have face-to-face meetings at commencement, intermediate stages as
required and at winding up
 Use multiple channels of rich media for precise and effective ongoing
communication to avoid miscommunication
 Provide feedback to members of the work progress, status of the project,
and the overall team environment
 Use face-to-face meeting for problem solving whenever possible
Team  Establish team operational guidelines or code of conduct, particularly aiming
Structures and to establish appropriate habitual routines, standard operating procedures,
leading teams and regulation of team performance
 Set clear roles and responsibilities for individuals (i.e. clear engaging
direction along with specific goals) as opportunities to resolve ambiguities
and misunderstandings are greatly reduced in virtual teams
 At the onset of the project, develop individuals into a sound and well-
integrated work unit through the development of trust and respect, and
cooperative relationships
 Use efficient structured formal approach to collect information in the
absence of immediate feedback
 Establish efficient mechanisms for dissemination of information and
collecting feedback, as well as effective monitoring mechanisms to detect
problems early
Page 99
 Maintain a snapshot of the members’ availability and work progress
 Carefully select members (if possible) who have qualities for self-
management and motivation
 Select skilled leaders with a collaborative leadership style and excellent
communication
 Establish a supportive work climate - examine the existing policies and
procedures of the organisation, and augment them if they are not supporting
virtual teams
 Provide the necessary training for team members on the use of technology
and project management
5 Conclusion
This article presented ‘some literature on leadership’ and thereafter presented ‘what specific
undertakings are required’ in virtual project teams compared to traditional project teams.
The author of the article experienced the following requirements in delivering projects in the NSWPF (in
a virtual environment). The following problems are considered common to virtual teams.
 At the beginning of projects, a considerable effort is required for full engagement of team
members in accepting the project-management framework and its monitoring and controlling
mechanisms
 An efficient project-monitoring mechanism is required to identify issues, problems, risks, and
scope creeps, and
 As some team members might not appreciate the importance of documentation, more
attention is required in maintaining comprehensive project documentation at the central office.
In addition, resource limitations were experienced in critical times because the team members were also
responsible for other business as usual operational activities. An organisation’s readiness to accept
virtual teams can be enhanced by augmenting the day-to-day activities of the organisation. Possible
initiatives could include:
 Enhancing project-management skills of staff (without limiting their skills for day-to-day
operational activities), and
 Facilitating development of relationships among members.
A carefully planned launch is vital for the success of any project including projects in virtual
environments. As expected, project execution, monitoring and control is more difficult with virtual teams
than traditional co-located teams.
The information contained in the article has mainly been extracted from previously published papers by
the author: ‘How IT Project Managers are Leading Change’ (Management Services, December 2001) and
‘Virtual Team Concepts in Projects: A Case Study’ (Project Management Journal, June 2009). Readers of
the article may refer to these papers for the initial references and further details.
Page 100
Impact made to Rail Industry through Leading-edge Research
Conducted on Ballasted Tracks at the University of Wollongong
Most of the world’s railways run on ballasted tracks with rails supported by concrete sleepers
placed on the ballast bed. Apart from commuters, these rail networks transport coal, heavy mineral
ore, agricultural goods and other bulk commodities between major cities, ports, mines and
agricultural sources. To keep pace with the growth in population and economic development, and
to supoort a sustained supply chain, train axle loads and speeds must increase in order to improve
transport efficiency and reduce track maintenance costs. Countries such as China, USA, Canada
and India, Australia are now seriously considering the development of heavy haul railway
operations that include freight trains up to 40 tonne axle loads and lengths up to 4 km to optimise
productivity of these networks.
The conventional track structure can be categorised into superstructure and substructure, where
the substructure consists of ballast, subballast and subgrade, while the superstructure consists of
steel rails, fastening systems, and sleepers. The efficiency and safety of ballasted railway track
depend entirely on the complex interaction between these components as they respond to the high
cyclic loading imparted by fast moving trains.
Even though the superstructure components are
predominantly elastic, and their deformations are
generally minimal, the granular substructure
layers such as ballast, subballast and soft subgrade
(soil foundations) often undergo significant
deformation under these dynamic stresses exerted
by increasingly heavier and faster trains. Indeed,

D/Prof. Buddhima Indraratna
Page 101
it is the substructure response that presents challenges to the track designer and subsequent
maintenance upon construction. Since late 1990s, the Center for Geomechanics and Railway
Engineering (CGRE) ITTC Rail at the University of Wollongong, under the leadership of
Distinguished Professor Buddhima Indraratna, has been conducting insightful research to improve
track performance and to provide promising approaches that can be incorporated into current track
Fig. 1 CGRE & ITTC-Rail UOW Research Group

design practices to cater for high-speed freight trains carrying heavier loads. Recently, the
Australian Research Council with the support of Industry servicing the rail sector funded the
National Industrial Transformational Training Centre for Advancing Rail Track Infrastructure
(ARC ITTC-Rail) for training young professionals including PhD students and research fellows,
and also the iconic National High Speed Rail Testing Facility (set up in Russel Vale, suburb of
Wollongong) under Prof Indraratna’s leadership, supported by an overall cash investment of more
than $12 million. Prof Indraratna is also an Advisor to the upcoming Indian Heavy Haul Rail
Research Institute in Delhi, funded by the Central Government of India, as well as being foreign
advisor to UK’s rail research consortium Track for the Future headed by University of
Southampton, through EPSRC (UK’s equivalence to Australian Research Council).
Page 102
Challenges for sustainable and resilient ballasted tracks:
As the sharp corners of aggregates break and weaker particles are crushed under heavy cyclic
loading, differential track settlement is almost inevitable. This problem is often more severe on
tracks on stiff foundations such as hard rock terrains or concrete bridge decks. The rapid
fragmentation of ballast aggregates adversely affects the strength and drainage of the track.
Moreover, as the ballast layer is fouled by upward migration of subgrade clay fines and the
downward migration of coal spilling from wagons, the drainage capacity of track is significantly
reduced (Indraratna et al., 2012, Tennakoon et al., 2012, Indraratna et al., 2011, Ngo et al., 2016,
Ngo et al., 2014). In severe cases, fouled ballast must be cleaned or replaced to maintain the desired
track stiffness (resiliency), bearing capacity and alignment. This routine replacement of fouled
ballast results in large stockpiles of waste ballast while the continuous replacement of used
aggregates with fresh ballast demands additional quarrying. Therefore, to preserve the
environment and minimise track maintenance, discarded ballast may be cleaned, sieved, and
recycled. However, its shear behaviour must be investigated under field loading and boundary
conditions before the use.
Since ballasted tracks have minimum lateral support, the lateral confining pressure must be
increased to control lateral stability (Indraratna et al., 2014, Lackenby et al., 2007, Indraratna et
al., 2005). The ballast behaviour is affected by the overall characteristics of a granular mass such
as the particle size distribution, the void ratio (porosity), and the relative density (Indraratna et al.,
2016). While the properties of individual grains of ballast such as size, shape, and angularity
govern its degradation under traffic loading, deformation is also influenced by the magnitude of
wheel (or axle) load, the number of load cycles, frequency (equivalent to train speed) and the
impact loads (Nimbalkar et al., 2012). The magnitude of the impact loads depends on the type and
Page 103
Ballast degradation (adopted from Differential settlement (adopted from
Indraratna et al. (2011)) Suiker (2002))
Lateral deformation (adopted from Mud pumping (adopted from

Indraratna et al. (2011)) Ghataora et al. (2017))
Fig. 2 Problems associated with ballasted tracks

nature of surface imperfections on the wheels and rails, as well as on the track’s dynamic response.
These impact loads are detrimental to other components of the track structure because designing
for imperfections is challenging to incorporate, which is why assessing the behaviour of saturated
clays (subgrade) under repeated train loading is necessary for the design of railroads. Furthermore,
the soft estuarine clays located along the coastline in Australia have undesirable geotechnical
properties such as low bearing capacity and high compressibility, which is why excessive
settlement and lateral movement adversely affect the stability of rail embankments built on this
soft compressible ground.n conventional track design, the ballast is regarded as an elastic medium
Page 104
where its degradation and associated plastic deformation is ignored. This problem stems from the
lack of understanding of the complexity of particle breakage and fouling mechanisms and a proper
stress-strain (constitutive) model. This leads to the application of overly simplified empirical
approaches in the design and construction of track substructure, which then requires frequent
remedial measures and costly maintenance. In the past, the effect of particle breakage on the
mechanical behaviour of granular materials was studied adopting different modelling approaches.
Extensive research has been carried out on the analytical and numerical modelling of ballast while
considering plastic deformation associated with ballast fouling, so the critical state of ballast must
be analysed relative to the extent of fouling and particle breakage (Salim and Indraratna, 2004,
Indraratna and Salim, 2002, Indraratna and Ngo, 2018). The constitutive behaviour of track
materials (ballast and sub-ballast) has been studie using the discrete element modelling (DEM)
approach (Indraratna et al., 2009b, Ngo et al., 2017, Ngo et al., 2014, Indraratna et al., 2009a).
This DEM approach to model the track granular media is appealing as it can handle particles of
different shapes and sizes. In addition, the DEM models have been supplemented with
computational fluid dynamics to model the phenomenon of subgrade soil fluidization (mud
pumping; see Fig. 2) which has been a game changer in the field of Australian track design under
Prof Indraratna’s guidance.
Geosynthetics: The use of planar geosynthetic products such as geogrid, geotextile or
geocomposite (bonding geogrid with geotextile) has drawn more attention, because they are
economical and relatively easy to install. Past research studies conducted at UOW have confirmed
that geogrid reinforcement reduces the settlement and degradation of ballast. The main principle
of geogrid reinforcement is to provide better interlocking that restricts lateral movement of ballast
(Hussaini et al., 2016, Indraratna et al., 2013). A layer of geogrid and geotextiles placed at the
Page 105
interface between ballast and subballast often gives encouraging results (Indraratna et al., 2019a,
Nimbalkar and Indraratna, 2016). Since the ballast-geogrid interface shear strength depends on the
size of the apertures, the optimum value of A/D50 (i.e. the ratio of geogrid aperture size (A) to the
mean particle size of ballast (D50)) is recommended to maximise the interface shear strength
(Indraratna et al., 2013, Hussaini et al., 2012).
Use of SEAL and 2-REAL: As train speeds increase, the capacity of the track is often unable to
withstand the substantially increased vibration and cyclic and impact loads, which is why they use
of synthetic energy-absorbing layers (SEAL) in rail track foundations has become increasingly
popular. Under Prof Indraratna’s initiation these SEAL products are now manufactured using
recycled rubber tyres. The use of recycled-rubber energy absorbing layers (2-REAL) was an
innovative concept introduced through both fundamental and applied research at UOW to reduce
vibration, noise, and damage to track components, thereby extending the service life of rail tracks.
Also, shredded rubber can be mixed with other waste materials such as coal wash to make
appropriate substructure fill, which upon sufficient compaction can provide excellent sub-ballast
or capping layer to strengthen the track further while absorbing energy imparted to the track by
moving load, i.e acting as a shock absorber (Indraratna et al., 2019b, Indraratna et al., 2017a, Qi
et al., 2018, Qi et al., 2017). Moreover, tyres have a three-dimensional cylindrical structure, so
they can be placed as part of the track substructure to stabilise the track by increasing the
confinement (tyres are filled with waste materials), thereby enhancing the bearing capacity and
reducing the settlement upon the passage of freight trains. In this new method of rail track design,
with superior bearing capacity, It is therefore expected that in railroad engineering, a capping layer
reinforced with rubber tyres could help reduce the thickness of the granular layer, improve the rack
Page 106
bearing capacity and reduce the frequency of maintenance (Indraratna et al., 2017c, Indraratna et
al., 2017b).
These recycled- rubber energy absorbing layers (2-REAL) or planar mats can be used as Under
Sleeper Pads (USP) or Under Ballast Mats (UBM) when they are placed under the sleepers and
beneath the ballast, respectively. The most common applications of these resilient mats in railways
are to: (i) reduce structure-borne vibration and noise, and thus improve the vertical elasticity of the
track substructure, (ii) reduce ballast degradation to improve the stability of the track foundation,
and thus increase the service life of rail tracks (Navaratnarajah and Indraratna, 2017,
Navaratnarajah et al., 2018, Jayasuriya et al., 2019).
Fig.3 National High Speed Rail Testing Facility at UOW
Page 107
Process Simulation Prismoidal Large-scale Direct Shear CNS and CNL Cyclic Drainage and Filtration
Triaxial Apparatus (PSPTA), 1992 Test Apparatus, 2011 Apparatus for sub-ballast, 2006
Hoist
VPL
PPT
PPT
PPT
PVD
Cyclic CNS Shear Rig for
particles-geosynthetic Large-scale Radial Drainage
Large Cyclic Triaxial Rig for testing Drop-weight Impact Test
interfaces, 1992 Consolidation Chamber, 1992
Pavement materials, 1991 Equipment, 2005
Fig. 4 Unique Railroad Test Equipment Designed and Built at University of Wollongong since mid-1990s
Page 108
References:
HUSSAINI, S. K. K., INDRARATNA, B. & VINOD, J. Performance of geosynthetically-

reinforced rail ballast in direct shear conditions. 11th Australia - New Zealand Conference
on Geomechanics: Ground Engineering in a Changing World, 2012. Australia: Engineers
Australia.
HUSSAINI, S. K. K., INDRARATNA, B. & VINOD, J. S. 2016. A laboratory investigation to
assess the functioning of railway ballast with and without geogrids. Transportation
Geotechnics, 6, 45-54.
INDRARATNA, B., HUSSAINI, S. K. K. & VINOD, J. 2013. The lateral displacement response
of geogrid-reinforced ballast under cyclic loading. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 39, 20-
29.
INDRARATNA, B., LACKENBY, J. & CHRISTIE, D. 2005. Effect of confining pressure on the
degradation of ballast under cyclic loading. Geotechnique, 55, 325-328.
INDRARATNA, B., NGO, N. T. & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. 2011. Behavior of geogrid-
reinforced ballast under various levels of fouling. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 29, 313-
322.
INDRARATNA, B., NGO, N. T., RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. & VINOD, J. 2012. Behavior of
Fresh and Fouled Railway Ballast Subjected to Direct Shear Testing: Discrete Element
Simulation. International Journal of Geomechanics, 14, 34-44.
INDRARATNA, B. & NGO, T. 2018. Ballast railroad design: smart-uow approach.

INDRARATNA, B., NIMBALKAR, S. & CHRISTIE, D. 2009a. The performance of rail track
incorporating the effects of ballast breakage, confining pressure and geosynthetic
reinforcement. In: TUTUMLUER, E. & AL-QADI (eds.) 8th International Conference on
the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways, and Airfields. London, UK: Talor and Francis
Group.
INDRARATNA, B., QI, Y. & HEITOR, A. 2017a. Evaluating the properties of mixtures of steel
furnace slag, coal wash, and rubber crumbs used as subballast. Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, 30, 04017251.
INDRARATNA, B., QI, Y., NGO, T. N., RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C., NEVILLE, T., FERREIRA,
F. B. & SHAHKOLAHI, A. 2019a. Use of Geogrids and Recycled Rubber in Railroad
Infrastructure for Enhanced Performance. Geosciences, 9, 30-56.
INDRARATNA, B., RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C., TAWK, M. & HEITOR, A. 2019b. Compaction,
degradation and deformation characteristics of an energy absorbing matrix. Transportation
Geotechnics, 19, 74-83.
INDRARATNA, B. & SALIM, W. 2002. Modelling of particle breakage of coarse aggregates
incorporating strength and dilatancy. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Geotechnical Engineering, 155, 243-252.
INDRARATNA, B., SUN, Q. & GRANT, J. 2017b. Behaviour of subballast reinforced with used
tyre and potential application in rail tracks. Transportation Geotechnics, 12, 26-36.
INDRARATNA, B., SUN, Q., NGO, N. T. & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. 2017c. Current research
into ballasted rail tracks: model tests and their practical implications. Australian Journal
of Structural Engineering, 18, 204-220.
INDRARATNA, B., SUN, Q. D. & NIMBALKAR, S. 2014. Observed and predicted behaviour
of rail ballast under monotonic loading capturing particle breakage. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 52, 73-86.
INDRARATNA, B., SUN, Y. & NIMBALKAR, S. 2016. Laboratory assessment of the role of
particle size distribution on the deformation and degradation of ballast under cyclic
loading. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 142, 04016016.
INDRARATNA, B., THAKUR, P. K. & VINOD, J. S. 2009b. Experimental and numerical study
of railway ballast behavior under cyclic loading. International Journal of Geomechanics,
10, 136-144.
JAYASURIYA, C., INDRARATNA, B. & NGO, T. N. 2019. Experimental Study to Examine the
Role of Under Sleeper Pads for Improved Performance of Ballast under Cyclic Loading.
Transportation Geotechnics, 19, 61-73.
LACKENBY, J., INDRARATNA, B., MCDOWELL, G. & CHRISTIE, D. 2007. Effect of
confining pressure on ballast degradation and deformation under cyclic triaxial loading.
Géotechnique, 57, 527-536.
NAVARATNARAJAH, S. K. & INDRARATNA, B. 2017. Use of Rubber Mats to Improve the
Deformation and Degradation Behavior of Rail Ballast under Cyclic Loading. Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143, 04017015.
NAVARATNARAJAH, S. K., INDRARATNA, B. & NGOC TRUNG, N. 2018. Influence of
Under Sleeper Pads on Ballast Behavior Under Cyclic Loading: Experimental and
Numerical Studies. JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING, 144, 04018068 1-16.
NGO, N. T., INDRARATNA, B. & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. 2014. DEM simulation of the
behaviour of geogrid stabilised ballast fouled with coal. Computers and Geotechnics, 55,
224-231.
NGO, N. T., INDRARATNA, B. & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. 2016. Micromechanics-based
investigation of fouled ballast using large-scale triaxial tests and discrete element
modeling. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143, 04016089.
NGO, N. T., INDRARATNA, B. & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C. 2017. Stabilization of track
substructure with geo-inclusions—experimental evidence and DEM simulation.
International Journal of Rail Transportation, 5, 63-86.
NIMBALKAR, S. & INDRARATNA, B. 2016. Improved performance of ballasted rail track using
geosynthetics and rubber shockmat. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 142, 04016031.
NIMBALKAR, S., INDRARATNA, B., DASH, S. K. & CHRISTIE, D. 2012. Improved
performance of railway ballast under impact loads using shock mats. Journal of
geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, 138, 281-294.
QI, Y., INDRARATNA, B., HEITOR, A. & VINOD, J. S. 2017. Effect of Rubber Crumbs on the
Cyclic Behavior of Steel Furnace Slag and Coal Wash Mixtures. Journal of Geotechnical
and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144, 04017107.
QI, Y., INDRARATNA, B. & VINOD, J. S. Dynamic Properties of Mixtures of Waste Materials.
GeoShanghai International Conference, 2018. Springer, 308-317.
SALIM, W. & INDRARATNA, B. 2004. A new elastoplastic constitutive model for coarse
granular aggregates incorporating particle breakage. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 41,
657-671.
TENNAKOON, N., INDRARATNA, B., RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C., NIMBALKAR, S. &
NEVILLE, T. 2012. The role of ballast-fouling characteristics on the drainage capacity of
rail substructure. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 35, 629-640.

CONCEPT PAPER: Kelani-Mahaweli Inter-Basin Diversion by Eng. Cyril H
Thalpe Gamage, BSc Eng-Pera/SL, MSC Env Eng-IHE/NL, Charter M-IESL, Former EIC-
Randenigala & Rantembe Complex and former Director- ICTAD
A. VISION:
Seasonal flood flows of the Kelani Basin in the Western Slopes of the Central Highlands
of Sri Lanka could be of immense value to the 186,000 ha of agriculture in the Mahaweli
Basin on the Eastern Slopes through a proposed diversion from the Norton Reservoir on
the Kelani Basin to the Mahaweli River at Diyagala.
B. NEEDS ASSESSMENT:
1. The contribution of the Mahaweli Basin towards national prosperity of the country is
incontrovertible with the completion of the five major reservoirs including
Moragahakanda; with large hydropower potential and irrigability of agricultural land
of more than 186,000 ha.
The sustainability of the second crop (subculture) in the Mahaweli basin however could
become problematic due to the inadequacy of river flows. Generally, the Mahaweli
basin receives precipitation under the ‘North East’ monsoonal winds during the period
from October to January. Though there are five large reservoirs including the recently
completed Moragahakanda, the system capacity is inadequate to provide water to the
massive irrigation network during the Yala season of dry weather.
During the same season (Yala) from June to September, the western slopes of the
country receives heavy precipitation and the Kelani River floods twice or thrice a year.
Following a comprehensive Island-wide Water Resources Management study, a need

has been found for a seasonal inter-basin diversion from the Kelani River to the
Mahaweli River.
2. Water Storage Retention Capacity in the upper Mahaweli River Reach from Watawala
to Gampola can be improved by construction of two reservoirs at Diyagala (800MSL)
and Gampolawela (540MSL).
There are no storages in the Mahaweli Basin upstream of the Polgolla Diversion other
than the major reservoir at Kotmale. It is risky not to have a buffer storage reservoir in
the Mahaweli basin after Kotmale from the point of view of flood mitigation measures
to prevent inundation at Gampola, Gelioya, Panideniya and Kandy.

Page 111
C. OBJECTIVES:
1) Diversion of an annual flow of 200MCM from Norton reservoir to Diyagala in the
upper Mahaweli basin through a tunnel of 5km in length. The tunnel must be large
enough to facilitate the seasonal flood flow into the Mahaweli basin in addition to the
mean annual diversion of 200MCM.
2) Construction of a small reservoir at Diyagala for hydropower production using a

generating head of 225m through a head raising canal or a tunnel of 4.5km up to the
proposed power plant at Ambalanovita.
3) Construction of a medium size reservoir with water retention capacity at Gampolawela

with a hydropower generating head of 45m.
The proposed reservoir at Gampolawela bears a special importance in flood mitigation

measures for the upper Mahaweli system as there are no reservoirs upstream of
Pollgolla along the main stem of the Mahaweli. In the case of a sudden operational
failure or a big delivery of a spillage from Kotmale reservoir, the need for a buffer
storage reservoir is essential for flood mitigation.
D. DESCRIPTION:
01. The Diversion: -
FIGURE-01
Page 112
01.1- Waters of the Kehelgamuoya basin that collects in the Norton reservoir could do a
better job rather than hydropower production. The loss of electrical power generation on
the Kelani system could be entirely recovered from the Mahaweli system. In addition to
that, even a drop of water from the diversion into the Mahaweli system becomes golden in
value, because it can assist the irrigation of 186,000 ha in the massive Mahaweli Irrigation
Network during the drought season.
01.2- The diversion is quite feasible with a power production too, in consideration of the
level gap 86m between Norton (886MSL) and Diyagala (800MSL).
FIGURE-02
01.3- The two river basins Mahaweli and the Kehelgamuoya of the Kelani come closest to
each other in the vicinity of Diyagala. But the Kelani basin is much deeper than the
Mahaweli at Diyagala. Therefore, the diversion has to be started from an upper stream
position and Norton reservoir is the best locality to start the diversion tunnel of 5.1km
02. Retention Capacity Improvement in Upper Mahaweli Basin: -
02.1- The Diyagala Pond is proposed to be the first reservoir in the Upper Mahaweli Basin
and it is fed by the small virgin flow of the upper Mahaweli stream (153MCM) as well as
by the proposed diversion(200MCM) at an elevation of 800MSL.

Page 113
02.2- The Diyagala Power Plant will produce power from the diversion (200MCM) with a
generating head of nearly 80m and will be the first power plant on the Upper Mahaweli
[the tunnel and plant capacity will be designed larger than that because the flood flow of
the entire upper Kelani basin will need to be diverted through the same way in future].
02.3- Diyagala dam will not be more than 20m in height and the water will be taken through
a head raising canal or a tunnel of 4.5km towards the second proposed power plant at a
further downstream location at Ambalanovita near Ginigathhena.
02.4- Ambalanovita Power Plant will be operated by a cumulative mean flow of 353MCM
with a generating head of 225m [the tunnel and plant capacity will be designed larger than
that because the flood flow of the entire upper Kelani basin will need to be diverted through
the same way in future].
02.5-Gampolawela Reservoir: -
FIGURE-03
Gampolawela reservoir is proposed as the second reservoir on the Upper Mahaweli Reach
and it will be operated with a mean annual flow of 583MCM= (353MCM +Inguruoya flow
of 230MCM) and a generating head of 45m.

Page 114
02.6- Gampolawela reservoir is of immense importance as a buffer storage downstream of
the large Kotmale Reservoir. Besides that, it is essential for flood mitigation in Upper
Mahaweli Reach to the Polgolla reservoir further down in Kandy District [the plant
capacity will be designed larger than that because the flood flow of the entire upper Kelani
basin will need to be diverted through the same way in future].
02.7- Polgolla is the pivot point for water diversions to either the North/North-Central
development areas or the North-East development from an agricultural point of view. No
additional capacity improvement in the downstream reaches beyond Polgolla reservoir is
required as the tunnel capacity at Ukuwela (2000cusec) is more than enough to deliver the
additional flow through the new diversion. On the other side, the two major reservoirs
Victoria and Randenigala are sufficiently large to hold any excess water.
E. ADVANTAGES:
1) ASSURANCE OF WATER SECURITY IN THE MAHAWELI SYSTEM
1.1- Sustainability of the Mahaweli sub-culture or in other words the downstream
farmer communities who are engaged in Agriculture under the massive Mahaweli
irrigation network of more than 186, 000 ha in land extend, will not face problems due
to scarcity of water during the Yala crop season.
1.2- Flow capacity of the Mahaweli River (8141MCM) is inadequate for the anticipated
agricultural development under the Mahaweli Master plan. Besides that, the ongoing
Umaoya diversion to Hambantota, deprives 50MCM of bulk of water from the
Mahaweli System and it directly affects the irrigation systems C, B and the right bank
development of Maduruoya.
1.3- It is well understood that, only two weeks’ water deficit of water could ruin the
entire agricultural productivity of the Yala season in the massive Mahaweli Irrigation
network of 186, 000 ha. As such, the proposed Kelani- Mahaweli inter-basin diversion
of 200MCM is certain to protect the cultivation and save the Mahaweli sub-culture.
1.4-Moragahakanda Reservoir the newest member of the five large dams in Sri Lanka
is fed by the Amban Ganga (Sudu Ganga the power outlet flow from Bowatenna
reservoir) and these flows are not adequate in the drought season to fill this large
reservoir. Therefore, the proposed Kelani-Mahaweli diversion is of immense
importance in achieving the anticipated development under the Moragahakanda
reservoir as well.

Page 115
2) IMPROVED WATER RETENTION CAPACITY IN THE MAHAWELI
SYSTEM
2.1- It is very important in a hydro-irrigation system to hold a standby stock of water

at higher elevations to handle any unexpected drought situations. Therefore, the two
proposed reservoirs in the Upper Mahaweli reach, Diyagala and Gampolawela, are
certain to improve the retention capacity of the Mahaweli System.
FIGURE-04
3) GAIN OF HYDROPOWER ON THE MAHAWELI SIDE
The loss of power production at Kelani System (465m. head at Old Laxapana and
255m. head at Polpitiya) could be re-gained on the Mahaweli side through the proposed
power production at Diyagala, Ambalanowita, Gampolawela and through the existing
reservoirs Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe, Ukuwela, Bowatenna, Moragahakanda
etc.

Page 116
FIGURE-05
4) PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS OF A UNIT MASS OF NORTON WATER

The analysis is to prove the productivity of a unit mass (1.0 m3) of water in Mahaweli
System is more than that of in the Kelani System.
4.1- Power Value of Norton water at Kelani side: -

Mass of 1 m3 of Norton water = 1000kg
Total height of power generation = 720m. (old Laxapana- 465M +Polpitiya- 255M)
Total potential energy (mgh) = 7,200,000.0 NM =7,200.0 kNM
Total loss of energy in the process= (plant loss 40% +system loss 20%)
Actual energy output =40% x7,200kNM = 2,880kNM
Equivalent power units = 2,880/3600 kW/h=0.8 kVA (billing unit=1kVA)
Valuation (0.8 x 25/=Rs) = 20/= Rs
4.2- Agricultural Value of Norton water at Mahaweli side:-

Area of Paddy cultivation by 1m3 = 1m2 (for one crop season-Yala)
Harvest of Paddy per 1m2 of land = 0.45kg (4.5Ton/ha), (1 ha =10,000m2)
Valuation (0.45x 50/=Rs) = 22/50Rs

Page 117
F. CONCLUSION:
01. The multipurpose gain in the Mahaweli System by the proposed diversions is much
greater than the loss of hydropower in the Kelani System and furthermore the power loss
is recovered on the Mahaweli side.
It is our experience that a two-week water deficiency could ruin the entire agriculture of
186,000 ha. of Mahaweli System and if the diversion from the Kelani basin could be
stored in the Mahaweli Reservoirs, to release in a timely fashion the savings for the
National GDP is incomparable in addition to all the other advantages.
02. However, the new North and East development schemes should not be entirely based
upon the limited flow capacity of the Mahaweli System any further. Our ancient
technology of rainwater harvesting within the agricultural fields, the ‘Cascade Tank
Based Irrigation’ has to be promoted for the low level mild sloping plane topographic
regions in the north, north-east, north-central and eastern regions of the country with
provision of only a main feeder canal (conduit or a lined canal) from the diversion in the
during serious droughts.
END
Note: This is an improved abstract of the original report ‘A Hydrological Solution Towards
Racial Integration for One Sri Lanka’ presented at Mahaweli conference room in 2004,
presented at IESL auditorium in 2006 and published in several newspapers later on.

Page 118
BALLISTIC PERFORMANCE OF MULTI-METAL SYSTEMS: A REVIEW
Prabhani Ranaweera1, Dakshitha Weerasinghe1, P.L.N. Fernando1, Damith Mohotti*1

1
School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Sydney,
Darlington 2006, New South Wales, Australia
Abstract
Enhancement in ballistic resistance of armours and structures has been a prominent area of
research over the years. Monolithic metallic plates have been the preferred choice for armours
against high-velocity projectiles. High-strength steel is a popular choice for such systems.
However, the high areal density deters in accommodating such systems in practical
applications, which require lightweight products. On the contrary, multi-metallic systems
produced by the combination of low–density materials with similar or superior ballistic
resistance as their monolithic counterparts, have become attractive candidates in defence
applications. However, there is only a limited number of comprehensive studies on the ballistic
performance of multi-metal multi-layered targets available in published literature. Moreover,
these studies have drawn contradictory conclusions on the optimum arrangement of different
layers and materials within the systems. In addition, existing knowledge in this area is scattered
in the published literature and there is a need to collate them to enhance the development of
multi-metal multi-layered ballistic-resistant plate systems in order to be optimised for ballistic-
related armour. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the effect of different
metals, thicknesses, fracture mechanisms, feasibility of the connection types and the order of
the metallic plates within targets on the ballistic performance.
Keywords: Multi-metal multi-layered systems; high-velocity projectiles; ballistic resistance;
explosive welding
1.0 Introduction
Ballistic penetration resistance against small arms, especially handguns, pistols, light machine
guns and assault rifles is considered as the critical parameter when designing structural systems
against high velocity impacts (1-11). These systems have ranged from vehicle and personal
armour to critical civil infrastructure such as embassies, parliaments, and military bases. A
reduction in weight without compromising on the structural integrity is the most desirable
feature in designing these structures, due to factors such as mobility and ductility (12-14).
Hence, composite systems with lower areal densities when compared to heavy monolithic
systems have become the focus of many recent studies.
Composite systems can be divided as non-metallic, metallic and a combination of both systems,
based on their constituent materials. Polymers, ceramics and auxetics are some of the most
commonly used non-metallic systems (15) in ballistic mitigation applications. Although these
non-metallic systems have shown benefits such as high-performance bonds, enhanced energy
absorption abilities and corrosion resistance, they have displayed vulnerability towards high
temperatures and susceptibility towards brittle fractures (16, 17), which are less likely to occur
in metals. Difficulties in machining, low heat capacity, susceptibility to high temperatures and
low structural rigidity can be considered as some of the drawbacks of polymers and auxetics
(15, 18). Moreover, ceramics undergo fragmentation, delamination and delocalization at the
fracture zone upon impact, as they are weak in tension (19).
Page 119
Hence, in order to counter these weaknesses in non-metallic composites, there have been efforts
to combine them with metals to enhance the ballistic resistance. Polyurea-coated aluminium
(20, 21), Dyneema with aluminium (22), Boron-Carbide with aluminium (23), alumina with
steel (24, 25) are some examples for such systems. These systems have shown advantages such
as low density, high specific strength, damage tolerance towards fatigue crack growth, and fire
resistance (15, 17). However, aforementioned composite systems also show disadvantages
such as high cost of fabrication when producing high-performance systems, lower ductility and
toughness. Hence, metallic composite systems have become a compelling option due to high
strength-to-density ratios, high stiffness-to-density ratios, enhanced ductility, better fatigue
resistance, elevated temperature properties, lower coefficients of thermal expansions and wear
resistance.
Over time, it was observed that not only the types of the material but also the nature of the
impact affects the ballistic performance of systems. Thus, understanding of the type of impact
is also important for the enhancement of the ballistic performance of metallic systems. In this
work, the mechanics of launching, flight, behavior and effects of bullets (which will also be
known as projectiles) have been referred to as ballistics. Ballistic limit velocity is the main
performance evaluation criterion used and is defined as the minimum velocity required for a
projectile to penetrate a system, without any residual energy. Previous studies have used
different types of projectiles as illustrated in Fig. 1, such as blunt, spherical, conical, ogival
(laboratory standard bullets) and various types of commercially available armour-grade bullets
such as 7.62 mm, 0.22”-calibre and 5.56 mm FMJ to impact targets. Hereafter, the systems that
will be impacted by the projectiles will be known as target or plate system. The shooting
velocity has been referred to as the projectile or initial impact velocity.
As illustrated in Fig. 2, three types of metallic systems are available in the literature; namely,
monolithic systems (MS), single metal multi-layered systems (SMMLS) and multi-metal
multi-layered systems (MMMLS). A system produced using a single material and single layer
is known as a monolithic system. In SMMLS, a single metal is used in a layered fashion with
the plates being in contact without a bond between them. In MMMLS, two or more metals are
used in layered formation to create the system. MMMLS can be further divided as
discontinuous and continuous systems based on the bond between metal layers. The afore-
mentioned systems have been produced with different types of metals such as steel, aluminium,
copper-based alloys, titanium, nickel-based alloys, etc. However, steel and aluminium has been
the most commonly used metals for such systems.
Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of the penetration Fig. 2: Metallic systems as (a) monolithic, (b)
process single metal multi-layered composites (c) multi-
metal double-layered composites and (d) multi-
metal triple-layered composites
Page 120
Out of the four options presented in Fig. 2, MS is the most popular and widely studied metallic
system (10, 33-39) as it is the basic form of protection with respect to ballistic performance.
Most of the systems were produced using high-strength steel due to its superior mechanical
properties. However, these systems are rather heavy and large which result in manoeuvrability
issues. As a new research perspective, researchers started to investigate whether there is an
effect to the ballistic performance due to layering and hence, SMMLS were introduced (5, 7,
40-42). Numerous studies were conducted on SMMLS and two schools of thoughts have
emerged from those investigations. Some of the studies suggest that SMMLS systems provide
better ballistic performance than MS (34, 40) because the thickness of each layer can be decided
in such a way that the specific energy absorption is optimised. However, some other
investigations suggested the opposite (4, 43). These authors observed that when the number of
layers were increased to maintain an equal thickness as MS, the resistance capability of
SMMLS decreases. Furthermore, it was reported that afore-mentioned systems showed inferior
performance due to less bending stiffness of targets. Such differences were also observed in
numerical investigations (41). Furthermore, observations also changed according to the
projectile type. For instance, Dey et al. (5) recorded that for ogival projectiles, MS showed
better performance than SMMLS and for blunt projectiles the reverse was observed. Hence, it
is evident that several contradicting conclusions have been drawn in different investigations.
However, the fact that the multi-layered systems have shown enhanced ballistic performance
in majority of studies reported, has been the motivation behind this review on MMMLS. These
systems have become even more desirable due to the need for lightweight systems and the
advancements in combining dissimilar metals. Thus, the aim of this review paper is to provide
a summary of existing experimental and numerical ballistic investigations on MMMLS and
thereby to identify potential future research directions.
2.0 Multi-metal systems
This section summarises previously conducted experimental and numerical investigations of
multi-metal systems. In all investigations, the target plates were manufactured using a
combination of steel and aluminium alloys. The key motivation of commonly selecting these
two materials was to achieve reduced areal density in comparison with monolithic steel plates.
The metals were combined in different ways to produce double and triple layered targets. The
effect of thickness, order of materials within the plate systems, feasibility of connections and
the fracture mechanisms are highlighted as key factors related to multi-metal systems and will
be discussed in detail in the subsequent sections. For clarity, the metal layer that faces the
impactor first will be called the anterior plate, while the following metal layer at the back of
target will be referred to as the posterior plate.
2.1. Multi-metal double-layered systems
As mentioned in the review of Ben-Dor et al. (48), the first study about multi-metal double
layered systems were conducted by Awerbuch using 0.22” (5.6 mm) calibre bullets with a
striking velocity of approximately 390 m/s. Several trials were carried for double-layered
targets where mild steel (SS) and pure aluminium (AL) were used. Two configurations have
been tested, namely, plates in contact and with a 20 mm air gap between them. It was observed
that the velocity drop of in-contact steel-aluminium targets was higher than the targets with an
air gap. It was also observed that the system was more effective if the steel acted as the anterior
plate as it provided a better resistance.
The target system proposed by Jena et al. (13) also considered heat treated armour steel as the
anterior layer and aluminium (Al-7017) as the posterior layer. However, a different
experimental setup was employed by using 7.62 mm armour piercing (AP) projectiles with an
initial velocity of 840 ± 15 m/s at an impact angle of 300. Moreover, two target setups were
Page 121
considered; plates in contact and plates with a 20 mm air gap. For the experimental setup,
targets of 150 mm × 100 mm were rigidly clamped at the corners. The thickness of the steel
and aluminium plates were 6 mm and 8 mm, respectively. As illustrated in the Fig. 3, the
projectile had created a ductile hole in the steel plate and lodged into the Al-7017 plate after
piercing the steel plate. Jena et al. (13) stated the reason for the steel-aluminium system to
have more resistance is mainly because the anterior steel plate provides the required strength
that is needed to break the projectile while the posterior plate (Al-7017) abets by absorbing the
energy off the fragments of the projectile. This is a common observation in ballistic tests
performed with deformable projectiles where the strength of the projectiles was reduced with
a hard, high-strength front layer before being exposed to the subsequent low-strength materials.
(a) (b)
Fig. 3: Penetration of the projectile; a view from (a) the steel plate at the front and (b) the
aluminium plate at the back (Jena et al. (13))
A similar experimental study was conducted by Babei et al. (45) where rigid steel projectiles
were used with an impact velocity ranging from 50 – 400 m/s. The authors used ductile metal
plates with varying thicknesses from thin to moderate, as targets. The target plates of steel
(Yield strength = 845 MPa)/aluminium (Yield strength = 103 MPa) (S-A) and aluminium/steel
(A-S) of 2 mm thickness were used for the investigations. During the experiments, the plates
were not in contact and thus no interaction between the plates was present during the
projectile’s perforation process. The experimental results concluded that for blunt projectiles,
perforation is caused due to plugging. Plugging is a shear-dominated failure mechanism and
can be considered as the removal of materials from the plates. It was observed that the projectile
perforated the anterior layer when the impact velocity was above the ballistic limit velocity and
it had created a plugging impact on the following layer. When impacted by blunt projectiles
these targets first showed dishing (a partial and less intense form of plugging), followed by
plugging failure. The authors presented that since steel had a higher yield strength compared
to aluminium, when the steel projectile impacted the anterior steel plate, steel plug hit the
posterior aluminium plate where the aluminium plate yielded due to the lower resistance.
However, in A-S targets, when the steel projectile accompanied with aluminium plug hit the
posterior steel plate, certain amount of projectile’s kinetic energy was expended to deform the
aluminium plug. The results exposed that the ballistic limit velocity of S-A target was higher
than that of A-S. Therefore, it was concluded that S-A targets possessed better ballistic
performance compared to A-S targets.
A fracture mechanism which is distinctive from other studies was observed in an experimental
study conducted by Ali et al. (46), where 7.62 mm AP projectiles with a velocity range of 710-
725 m/s were used. The tests were carried out to determine the resistance of a combination of
perforated steel (SECURE 500) and aluminium (AA5083-H116) base armour plate. 800 mm x
530 mm x 9 mm perforated plate with a perforation pattern consisting of holes of 10 mm
diameter was fixed in front of the base plate with a 110 mm gap in between. The two plates
were bolted to each other and spacers were used for the separation. The experimental results
showed that the perforated steel plate was unable to resist the penetration of the projectile and
ductile hole growth was visible on the failure surface. It was observed during the penetration
that the material was pushed aside, and lips were formed on the impact and rear side of the base
armour plate. Fig. 4 shows the observed lip formations in the targets during the experimental
Page 122
investigations. Ali et al. (46) concluded that even though the 9 mm perforated plate alone can
not stop the projectile, the combination of the perforated plate and the base armour plate was
able to stop the projectile from penetrating. The experiment only investigated the use of steel
as the sacrificial plate and did not consider about the reverse order of the plates, which can
have given an indication as to the effect of the order of plates in the target.
(a) (b)
Fig. 4: Lip formation at the (a) impact and (b) rear face of the base armour plate from the impact ,
obtained from an experimental investigation (Ali et al. (46))
Rahman et al. (49) conducted an experimental investigation using high velocity impacts to find
the best performance order of a target made using steel (Ar500) and aluminium (Al7075-T6).
An overall thickness of 25 mm was used for targets, which were clamped at the boundaries and
were impacted using 7.62 mm AP projectiles with a striking velocity in the range of 800-
850 m/s. Two specimen types were used namely steel-aluminium (S-A) and aluminium-steel
(A-S) and the results showed that in both cases the projectile penetrated the targets partially.
The average depth of penetration in S-A was around 1.5 mm and for A-S the penetration depth
was approximately 10.3 mm. The authors reported that both configurations caused the
projectile to shatter completely and immense heat was generated due to the deformation of
projectile nose during penetration, which caused the melting of material and loss of mechanical
strength. Fig. 5 shows the final condition of targets S-A and A-S after penetration. The fracture
caused in the anterior plate of the target was due to the reflected tensile wave, which is known
as spallation. In this study, the authors suggested that better ballistic performance can be
achieved by S-A compared to A-S due to high-energy absorption capability of the posterior
plate and higher strength and hardness of the anterior plate.
Failure
due to
spallation
(a) Anterior steel (b) Posterior aluminium plates

Crater
created due
to the
projectile
(c) Anterior aluminium (d) Posterior steel

Fig. 5: The final condition of the targets for SA ((a) and (b)) and AS ((c) and (d))(Rahman et al. (49))
All the studies discussed above suggested that the systems with anterior steel plate and
posterior aluminium plate provided better performance compared to the reverse order of plates.
Page 123
This is mainly because the steel can provide adequate strength to stop the projectile and the
aluminium can support by absorbing energy and reducing the damage due to the reflected
tensile stress wave at the back face. Different fracture mechanisms were observed during the
experimental investigations due to plugging, dishing, ductile failures, plastic deformation, etc.
However, the authors have drawn contradictory conclusions regarding the air gap between two
metal plates. Awerbuch (Ben-Dor et al. (48)) suggested that the spacing between plates
significantly weakens the ballistic resistance of the target, while Jena et al. (13) observed the
opposite effect in spaced targets. This may be due to the difference in impact velocities because
Awerbuch (Ben-Dor et al. (48)) used a low impact velocity of 390 m/s while Jena et al. (13)
used a high impact velocity of 850 m/s. Furthermore, majority of the studies did not address
about the ballistic limit velocity and the depth of penetration of the projectiles. In addition to
the fracture mechanism, these are the other main indicators to assess the ballistic performance
in MMMLS. Hence, it is essential to carry out further experimental investigations to validate
these systems and to present more comprehensive conclusions about the most resistive target
types. This in turn presents a direction for future research to explore the optimum steel-
aluminium target configurations that can yield superior ballistic impact resistance.
In all the afore-mentioned investigations, the metal layers were either fixed or clamped at the
edges. Hence, due to the lack of restraint, upon impact, a robust composite behaviour may not
be present throughout the target plate. Therefore, the targets can be considered to act as a
discontinuous system as no bond is present between the two metal layers. However, if the
metals can be bonded together, as done through explosive welding by Zhou et al. (50) and
Wang and Zhou (51), the influence of the composite behaviour on the ballistic behaviour can
be studied. Thus, such systems can be considered as continuous systems.
Zhou et al. (50) carried out ballistic experiments using target plates with a 5 mm resultant
thickness. Spherical steel projectiles with a dimeter of 6 mm, with an initial velocity ranging
from 260-900 m/s were used as the impactors. It was observed that the anterior steel plate failed
in shear and plugging while the posterior aluminium plate suffered deformation. Furthermore,
it was reported that at a constant thickness, a better resistance was achieved when the thickness
ratio of steel to aluminium exceeded 2:3. Hence, the authors concluded that ballistic
performance can be enhanced by improving the structural design of the targets. The authors
pointed that when the incident angle of impact increased, the ballistic limit velocity increased
accordingly. Wang and Zhou (51) reported an identical set of results for the experiment
conducted to find the ballistic performance of steel-aluminium explosively welded targets. A
plate arrangement similar to Zhou et al. (50) was used and the plates were impacted using
8 mm-diameter spherical projectiles with an initial velocity of 700 m/s. It was reported that the
anterior steel plate of the double-layered targets failed due to shearing and plugging while the
posterior aluminium plate failed due to prolonged ductile deformation. The tied interface of the
target failed due to either tension or plugging. The highest ballistic limit velocity was obtained
for the target with 4 mm thick steel and 1 mm thick aluminium, while the lowest was obtained
for the target with 1 mm thick steel and 4 mm thick aluminium. Even though these experiments
provide information about continuous systems, experiments have not been conducted to
compare the performance between continuous and discontinuous systems. Hence, it can be a
future research opportunity to conduct a comprehensive research on double-layered continuous
versus discontinuous systems, while also expanding the scope of materials beyond just steel
and aluminium alloys.
Table 1 in the appendix provides a summary of different experimental investigations presented
above. Although different thicknesses have been used for the experiments, the metal
combination used remains the same. Some experiments have been carried out at low velocities
in the range of 50-300 m/s. However, the usage of metal systems at such low velocities can be
Page 124
arguable from an applicability point of view. Ballistic resistance for these low velocity impacts
can be achieved by using other composite metal and non-metal systems as well which will give
better flexibility and weight reduction compared to metals (52-55). Nonetheless, experimental
investigations about diverse configurations such as plates in contact and plates with a varying
distance in between may improve the study as it helps to identify the optimum arrangement.
Since there is a clear research gap, more experiments need to be conducted in order to
understand the ballistic performance of multi-metal plates impacted with high velocity
projectiles.
2.2 Multi-metal triple-layered systems
Along with experiments for discontinuous double layered targets, Babei et al. (47) conducted
investigations for triple layered targets using rigid projectiles. For the experimental
investigations, targets of 140 mm × 140 mm with thicknesses of 1, 2 and 3 mm were used, and
they were fully clamped at the edges. Two target specimens, namely steel-aluminium-steel (S-
A-S) and aluminium-steel-aluminium (A-S-A) were used for the experiments. Targets were
impacted using 25.1 g hard steel projectiles with initial velocities ranging from 42 to 158 m/s.
It was observed that S-A-S targets exhibited the better performance in penetration resistance
compared to A-S-A. The reason for this high performance in S-A-S target is mainly due to the
absorption of more energy when steel acted as the anterior plate than that of those targets with
aluminium as the anterior plate. Further results of the experimental study revealed that, for an
impact velocity of 66 m/s, targets with the A-S-A arrangement can deform 1.22 times more
than that of S-A-S arrangement. Moreover, it is observed that A-S-A arrangement had the
smallest bending resistance while the S-A-S displayed the highest bending resistance. The
results obtained show that the combined targets of aluminium and mild steel are an attractive
choice for armour design due to their superior ballistic performance and comparative weight
reduction.
Several other experiments on multi-metal multi-layered systems have been conducted for
continuous systems, where the metal plates were metallurgically bonded to each other and
hence, acted as a single system. Zhou et al. (56), along with his experiments for double-layered
targets conducted a series of experiments using S-A-S and A-S-A targets which were impacted
using spherical projectiles with initial velocities varying in the range 250-650 m/s. It was
observed that the anterior plate failed due to shearing and the middle plate due to plugging,
while the posterior plate showed petalling deformation. Notably, when aluminium acted as the
posterior plate, failure occured due to ductile deformation. It was concluded that triple-layered
systems showed better ballistic resistance compared to the double-layered counterparts with
respect to the residual velocity and the ballistic limit velocity. The authors reported that the
ballistic limit velocity of triple-layered targets increased by 20.5% on average, compared to the
double-layered targets. Wang and Zhou (51) conducted similar experiments on double-layered
targets and triple-layered targets and observed similar fracture mechanisms as Zhou et al. (56).
Furthermore, it was observed that ductile prolonging deformation in the posterior plate
occurred when the target was penetrated completely. It was also pragmatic that the interface
failure mainly happened in between the middle aluminium plate and the posterior steel plate
due to ductile deformation. Especially, the steel fibres in the target failed due to bending and
tensile deformation. The authors reported that the ballistic limit velocity of triple-layered
targets was 15% greater than that of double-layered targets. Hence, triple-layered targets have
a better ballistic resistance compared to double-layered targets.
Summary of the above-discussed studies is presented in Table 2 in the appendix. Even though
majority of the studies reported that triple-layered targets perform better than double-layered
targets, further experimental investigations are required to find the best performance
Page 125
arrangement. Similar to the previous case, low velocities between 40 – 200 m/s have been used
to investigate the ballistic performance in metallic systems and the same question rises about
the suitability of application here as well. However, further experimental trials with different
metal combinations can enhance the quality of research. Moreover, comparison between
continuous and discontinuous triple-layered targets with different metal configurations can be
an interesting research direction.
3 Numerical modelling
3.1 Multi-metal double-layered targets
Numerical investigations of targets where two metals were modelled as two separate layers,
each with two layers will be discussed in this section. A numerical simulation for the
optimization of a multi-metal plate system using size optimization is reported in 2005 by Park
et al. (57), where a Lagrangian explicit time-integration code called the Net2D was used for
the impact analyses. A combined configuration of a circular plate system of mild steel and
aluminium with fixed boundary conditions around the perimeter was used for these
simulations. Aluminium was used as the anterior plate and mild steel was used as the posterior
plate. Several investigations were carried out using shell elements with different mesh sizes
and aspect ratios to check the influence of the mesh on the solution. 1.0 mm x 0.1 mm was used
as the size of coarse mesh while 0.5 mm x 0.05 mm and 0.25 mm x 0.025 mm were used as the
fine and very fine mesh sizes, respectively. Equivalent plastic strain (EQPS), design of
experiment (DOE), average temperature and response surface method (RSM) were used to
accomplish the optimization process. DOE is a quality optimization process which determines
the most influential variables in the process and improves them accordingly to affect the
outputs in the experiments (58). Johnson-Cook constitutive model was used as the material
card for the analysis as it had been widely used to simulate impact events that generate
significant deformation in metals. Park et al. (57) observed that the posterior steel plate
supported the anterior aluminium layer to avoid larger deformations and that the anterior layer
was easily perforated. In this analysis, EQPS was the assigned criteria to measure the
perforation. It was concluded that the anterior layer of the system, irrespective of its thickness
variations, maintained energy consistently and the layer did not contribute for the sensitivity
of the response. The study suggested an optimum plate configuration of a thick layer of
aluminium and a thinner layer of steel. This is an interesting outcome as it has the potential to
reduce the weight of the target by minimizing the areal density. However, the effect to the
ballistic performance when the order of the plates was reversed was not considered in this
study. Besides, the study does not provide any information about the separation of the two
layers due to the tensile stress waves, which is critical in such systems.
Similar results regarding the order of plates were observed by Flores-Johnson et al. (12) where
the best ballistic performance was observed when aluminium acted as the anterior plate and
steel as the posterior plate. Flores-Johnson et al. (12) conducted a numerical investigation on
the ballistic performance of monolithic, double and triple layered metallic targets of Weldox
700E (S) steel, aluminium (Al7075-T651 (A)) and combinations thereof. The plates were
impacted using 7.62 mm APM2 projectiles at a striking velocity range of 775-950 m/s. The
commercial non-linear finite element code LS-DYNA was used for the finite element analysis.
The analysis was considered symmetric and hence, a half model was used to reduce the
computational cost. The target was modelled as a 100 mm diameter circular plate and the
impact region was modelled to be a 30 mm diameter cylindrical zone at the centre with the 8
nodes solid elements. Three different mesh sizes were used in the impact region; 0.25 mm x
0.25 mm x 0.25 mm as fine mesh, 0.33 mm x 0.33 mm x 0.33 mm as intermediate mesh and
0.4 mm x 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm as coarse mesh. For the study, the plates were kept in contact
Page 126
without any gap in between. Contact between the parts was modelled using an eroding single
surface segment-based formulation. However, the authors did not mention about the friction
effect between layers. The projectile was modelled as three different components; brass jacket,
steel core and lead filler. Both projectile and the target were modelled using Modified Johnson-
Cook (*MAT 107) constitutive material model in LS-DYNA. The Cockcroft-Latham fracture
criterion - which considers plastic work per unit volume - implemented in *MAT 107 was used
to define the failure. For combined configurations, a total thickness of 20 mm was considered.
Trials were carried out with different configurations with steel as the anterior layer and
aluminium as the posterior layer and vice versa for double and triple-layered systems. When
aluminium acted as the anterior layer of the combined system, a reduction of bending stiffness
was observed with respect to changes in projectile velocity after impaction. Moreover, the
systems showed less resistance to penetration in aluminium anterior systems due to its low
strength. It was observed that double-layered 20 mm thick steel/aluminium (DM20SA) targets
showed brittle failure. However, such condition was not observed in double-layered 20 mm
thick aluminium/steel (DM20AS). This condition can be avoided in DM20AS because of the
back support provided by the steel plate. Furthermore, in multi-metal configurations of 20 mm
thickness, DM20AS had a higher ballistic limit velocity than that of DM20SA and it is detected
that the performance of A-S system was better than that of S-A system. Even though both Park
et al. (57) and Flores-Johnson et al. (12) argued that targets with aluminium as the anterior
plate and steel as the posterior plate performed well in ballistic resistance, majority of the
studies proved that the reverse order plate systems possesses better resistance.
Studies conducted by Babei et al. (45), Rahaman et al. (14), Ali et al. (46) and Rahman et al.
(49) reported that the best ballistic performance was achieved with steel-aluminium targets.
Numerical models of Babei et al. (45) and Ali et al. (46) were experimentally validated as well.
Babei et al. (45) conducted a numerical investigation along with experimental investigations
as discussed in Section 2.1. For the simulations, by considering symmetry, only a quarter of
the model was modelled using Lagrangian formulation in LS-DYNA to optimise the
computational time. The model consisted of a rectangular target plate and a cylindrical blunt
projectile created using Solid164 elements. *MAT 107 (Modified Johnson Cook) was used to
simulate the response of the projectile and the target. The failure criterion was modelled based
on the fracture model proposed by Johnson and Cook (59). Lagrangian-Lagrangian contact
algorithm based on slave grid/master concept was used for the interaction between the
projectile and the target. In this study, the frictional effect between the projectile and the target
was assumed negligible. As conferred in the above section, the numerical model indicated a
failure mechanism similar to the experimental results. It was found that the error level of the
numerical simulation with respect to ballistic limit velocity was approximately 7%. Hence, the
models were considered as reasonably validated, because it was able to provide a close
prediction for both ballistic limit velocity and residual velocity of ballistic impact on MMMLS.
It was observed that when the initial velocity increased, the residual velocity also had an
increasing rate. Furthermore, the authors concluded that when the striking velocity was higher
than the ballistic limit velocity, target deformation decreased. The numerical simulations depict
that when the projectile and the plug of the anterior plate hit the posterior plate, the plug
underwent compressive stress in S-A targets and such condition was not observed in A-S
targets. Moreover, it was observed that the S-A targets had a better penetration resistance
compared to A-S targets because steel absorbed more energy when the steel acted as the
anterior plate.
Further studies were conducted by Rahaman et al. (14) to investigated the ballistic limit of
multi-metal systems of high strength steel (Weldox 700E) and aluminium alloy (Al7075-T6).
The target plated had a thickness of 25 mm, which were fully clamped at the edges and were
impacted using 7.62 mm AP projectiles. ANSYS-AUTODYN, commercial finite element code
Page 127
was used for the finite element analysis. Initial velocities were selected according to the NATO
standards for personal armour (STANAG 4569 ballistic protection level 3), which is 930 ±
20 m/s. For the analysis, the projectiles were impacted at an initial velocity of 900 to 950 m/s
on to the combined metal targets. The projectile was modelled in three different parts as jacket,
core and filler. A finely resolved mesh of size 0.5 mm was selected and 50 elements through
thickness were used for simulations. A combination of quadrilateral and triangular elements
was used to mesh the target and projectile. For the simulations, the plates were kept in contact
and the trajectory contact algorithm (TCA) which is the default and recommended contact
option for explicit dynamics analyses was used for the contact between target and projectile.
Node-to-node connectivity along with geometric erosion was used to eliminate the elements
undergoing large distortions. The Johnson-Cook constitutive material model was used for both
the target and the projectile. Rahaman et al. (14) reported that it is efficient to use steel (S) as
the anterior plate as it eroded the projectile into fragments and acted as a disruptor. The
posterior aluminium (A) plate absorbed the kinetic energy through plastic deformation and
prevented the penetration of projectile fragments. Double-layered systems were fully
penetrated by all 950 m/s projectiles while the 900 m/s projectiles were successfully defeated.
The authors stated that the systems of double layer 17 mm thick steel with 8 mm thick
aluminium (2S17A08) and double layer 16 mm thick steel with 9 mm thick aluminium
(2S16A09) had the highest ballistic limit velocity. The outcomes of the study substantiated that
the double-layered systems showed lower ballistic resistance when the weight reduction of the
plates was amplified from 20% to 30% and the best performance was obtained when the weight
reduction was 23.3%. At this weight reduction, the target was able to stop a 950 m/s projectile
successfully. A similar kind of numerical analysis was carried out by Rahman et al. (49) in a
recent study. The effect of layering configurations towards the performance of laminated
aluminium-steel panels subjected to high velocity impacts. As mentioned in section 2.1, two
target specimens namely, steel-aluminium (S-A) and aluminium-steel (A-S) was used for the
simulations. The numerical results indicated that the projectile was completely shattered and
deformed when striking the target at a velocity of 800 m/s. The percentage difference of results
obtained from simulations and experimental investigations for depth of penetration and crater
diameter ranged between 10.7% - 20% and between 9% - 20%, respectively. It was reported
that a significant (600%) difference was observed between the experimental and numerical
results for the depth of penetration. This might be due to the improper fracture model
parameters used for the simulations as the authors had used their own material test results.
However, the authors reported that in terms of energy absorption the difference was marginal
(6%). Even though the modelling technique used can be considered as validated, it is vital to
fully understand about the target configurations and fracture mechanisms by conducting further
studies.
Ali et al. (46) conducted a numerical investigation along with the corresponding experimental
investigations on the ballistic response of multi-metal multi-layered plates against 7.62 mm AP
projectiles. Finite element analysis was conducted using the explicit finite element code
ABAQUS. The targets were fully constrained at the edges and an initial impact velocity of
718 m/s was used for the projectile. The target was meshed using eight node continuum
hexahedral elements with varying mesh configurations. The minimum mesh size of the base
and the perforated plate was approximately 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm x 0.8 mm. In order to define
hydrodynamic behaviour at impact, Mie-Grüneisan equation of state (EOS) was used. Johnson-
Cook material model was used as the material card and Johnson-Cook damage criterion was
defined for the failure analysis. The numerical model was able to predict the penetration,
residual velocity and ductile crater creation relatively well. The material model, fracture
criterion, mesh and EOS were able to successfully envisage the ductile hole growth and brittle
Page 128
failure of the projectile. As such, the numerical model was able to predict the lip formation on
the impact side and rear side of the plate similar to those of the experimental results.
In all afore-mentioned investigations, the metal layers were connected by assigning
constraining boundary conditions at the edge of the plates. Hence, the targets act as
discontinuous systems with no bond in between the metal layers. Zhou et al. (50) and Wang
and Zhou (51) conducted numerical simulations for explosively-welded double-layered targets
to validate the experimental results. LS-DYNA was used for simulations in both the studies.
TIE_BREAK_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE (TBSS) contact algorithm was defined to describe
the interfacial bonding strength between material layers. Hence, the system acted as a
continuous system without any duplicate nodes in between. The pressure for compressed
materials were determined using the Grüneisan EOS. The ERODING_SURFACE_TO_
SURFACE (ESS) algorithm was used to describe the interaction between projectile and the
target. For both cases, advanced material card *MAT 107 (Modified Johnson-Cook) was used
and the fracture criterion implemented in the material card was used to analyse the damage.
Fracture mechanisms similar to the experimental studies were obtained for the both cases.
Table 3 in the Appendix provides a summary of the existing numerical investigations of multi-
metal double-layered systems.
3.2 Multi-metal triple-layered targets
Numerical simulations of targets where two metals were modelled as three separate layers will
be discussed in this section. High-strength steel (Weldox 700E and Ar500) and aluminium
alloys (Al7075-T651) with different arrangements were used for the modelling of these
combined systems (12, 14, 56). Flores-Johnson et al. (12) conducted simulations to find the
ballistic performance of triple-layered targets in addition to the work presented on double
layered targets. A “sandwich” plate arrangement with two layers of steel or aluminium were
used in the triple layered system. It was observed that the aluminium-steel-steel (A-S-S) system
performed better than steel-steel-aluminium (S-S-A) system with regard to the residual
velocity. The residual velocity of A-S-S was approximately 146 m/s and it was 182 m/s for S-
S-A. The authors reported that the ballistic limit velocity obtained for 20 mm-thick triple
layered targets was 794 m/s whereas the double layered aluminium-steel target indicated a
ballistic limit velocity of 810 m/s. Hence, it was concluded that triple-layered configurations
showed inferior performance when compared to double-layered configurations. Flores-
Johnson et al. (12) proposed that an increase in the number of layers can lead to an increase in
the permanent deformation in the system, which was in line with the conclusions made by
Corran et al. (34).
Further studies on triple-layered systems were conducted by Rahaman et al. (14). The study
was conducted for steel-aluminium-steel (S-A-S) targets with a thickness of 25 mm and
impacted using a 7.62 mm projectile with different velocities. Rahaman et al. (14) observed a
contradicting observation to the conclusions drawn by Flores-Johnson et al. (12) regarding the
performance of triple-layered targets. The authors reported the ballistic limit velocity of triple-
layered targets were higher than that of double-layered targets. Hence, it was concluded that
triple-layered targets were better than double-layered targets in ballistic performance. Besides,
the triple-layered systems were able to successfully resist the penetration of both 900 m/s and
950 m/s projectiles. The numerical results exposed that the systems 3S09A08S08 (triple
layered steel 9 mm- aluminium 8 mm- steel 8 mm) and 3S08A98S08 (triple layered steel
8 mm- aluminium 9 mm- steel 8 mm) appeared to have the best ballistic limit velocities of
1050 m/s and 1020 m/s, respectively. It was concluded, that the armour designed using panels
of two different metals can perform better than the existing monolithic systems and double-
layered systems, in addition to the greater manoeuvrability due to the lower weight. Yet, the
Page 129
overall thickness can be further reduced in order to provide better performance and this needs
to be further investigated.
Zhou et al. (56) and Wang and Zhou (51) conducted numerical investigations on continuous
explosively-welded triple-layered targets using non-linear finite element code LS-DYNA. The
TBSS contact algorithm was used to define the contact between metal plates. Grüneisan EOS
was used to define the pressure for compressed materials. It was observed that the anterior and
middle plates failed due to shearing and plugging, respectively, while the posterior steel plate
deformed due to petalling and the aluminium due to ductile deformation. Wang and Zhou (51)
reported that tensile failure was observed at the interface. Spherical projectiles with an initial
velocity of 900-950 m/s were used in simulations by Zhou et al. (56). It was observed that the
results obtained from experimental and numerical investigations were in line, not only in terms
of deformation, but also in the tensile failure mode of MMMLS. It was reported that the triple-
layered targets indicated better performance compared to double-layered targets. The authors
reported that the projectile velocity after the impact on steel-aluminium-steel (S-A-S) was less
than that of aluminium-steel-aluminium (A-S-A). Hence, it was concluded that S-A-S targets
were better in ballistic resistance than A-S-A. The average error found between experimental
results and numerical simulations for V50 performance of the target S-A-S and A-S-A were
approximately 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively. Thus, it was concluded that the numerical model
correctly predicted the anti-penetration process of explosively welded continuous systems. The
results obtained were in line with the work conducted by Wang and Zhou (51). The triple-
layered simulations of Wang and Zhou (51) indicated a fracture mechanism similar to the
experimental study.
As summarised in Table 4 in the Appendix, only a limited number of studies have been
conducted on the triple-layered multi-metal systems. Even though majority of the studies
reported that triple-layered targets performed better than double-layered targets in ballistic
resistance, the limited amount of studies available is insufficient to confidently validate this
claim. Hence, there is a clear knowledge gap in this area of study and it is essential to conduct
further research to first verify this and then to carry out modelling with different material
combinations, thickness arrangements and different projectile velocities and shapes.
Furthermore, the results of numerical investigations should be validated by conducting
necessary experimental investigations.
4.0 Conclusions and Prospects
This paper provided a comprehensive review of the experimental and numerical investigations
conducted on the ballistic resistance of MMMLS. The study debated about the effect of
different types of metals, overall thickness, arrangement of plates, fracture mechanism and
feasibility of connection types within target. The performance of targets was quantified with
respect to ballistic limit velocity, residual velocity, depth of penetration and failure
mechanisms. Up to now, for all the experimental and numerical studies, the materials
considered were steel and aluminium. Different failure mechanism such as plugging, dishing,
shear failures and brittle failures were observed in the anterior and posterior target plates in
both experimental and numerical investigations. Two types of systems, discontinuous and
continuous, based on the connection between the metal layers of the targets were discussed.
Clamped and fixed targets were used for discontinuous systems while explosive welding
technique was used to produce existing continuous targets.
Interestingly, it has not been clearly distinguished as to the best order of plates in a MMMLS.
Contradictory conclusions have been drawn for the best order of plates in the available
experimental and numerical investigations. However, majority of the studies suggested using
steel and aluminium as the anterior and posterior plates, respectively.
Page 130
Furthermore, research can be directed in several directions to enhance the ballistic performance
in MMMLS. Studies can be conducted by mixing other metals such as titanium, nickel, copper,
etc. and their alloys with existing steel. The combination of lightweight metals with steel will
enhance the manoeuvrability of targets due to the low areal densities. Up to now, double and
triple-layered systems have been studied and as a future research direction, the number of layers
in MMMLS can also be increased. Studies can be conducted by changing the connection types
in between the metal layers as well. Since continuous MMMLS are also a compelling research
option, it is worth pursuing different continuous MMMLS manufacturing techniques such as
explosive welding, thermal spraying and 3D printing. More research can be directed to
investigate the ballistic performance of the above-mentioned targets and comparisons can be
carried out for continuous versus discontinuous targets to establish the most resistive target.
As discussed previously in this paper, the focus in the composition of protective structures
against ballistic impact has shifted from single metal (monolithic) systems to multi-metal
systems. While an optimum configuration of multi-metal systems is yet to be experimentally
identified, the studying of the response of materials under extreme dynamic loads such as
ballistic impacts can be considered as an interesting future research direction.
When a small projectile travelling at a high velocity impacts with a comparatively large plate,
the impact region can be considered to behave in a uniaxial state of strain. This is due to the
extremely quick nature of the event. Under such conditions, solid materials tend to behave as
fluids, where, the material strength becomes negligible and the behaviour of the material is
governed by the hydrodynamic pressure. Thus, it is possible to generate stresses, which are
significantly greater than the strength of materials. An accurate analysis of materials under
these conditions must consider the effect of stress wave propagation within them. This
phenomenon of stress wave propagation can be clearly observed in numerical models with very
fine mesh discretization. These stress waves can take the form of either elastic, plastic or shock
waves. The readers are referred to the authors’ previous work (67, 68) for a fuller account on
stress wave propagation. Since stress wave propagation is of major concern, the impedance,
which is a function of the velocity at which stress waves propagate in materials, becomes a key
factor. It has been experimentally proven that an impedance-graded multi-metallic system,
where the impedance is gradually reduced along the direction in which the stress waves
propagate, has the potential to prevent the development of excessive compressive and tensile
stresses. Prevention of excessive compression can prevent most commonly observed failure
patterns related to ballistic events, previously discussed in this paper. On the other hand,
minimizing the magnitude of tensile stresses can prevent debonding between different material
layers, as well as spalling or scabbing. Thus, it is worth exploring the potential of an
impedance-graded multi-metallic system in resisting ballistic impacts.
References
1. Awerbuch J, Bodner S. Experimental Investigation of Normal Perforation of Projectiles in Metallic
Plates1973. 37 p.
2. Børvik T, Hopperstad OS, Berstad T, Langseth M. Perforation of 12mm thick steel plates by 20mm
diameter projectiles with flat, hemispherical and conical noses: Part II: numerical simulations.
International Journal of Impact Engineering. 2002;27(1):37-64.
3. Børvik T, Langseth M, Hopperstad OS, Malo KA. Perforation of 12mm thick steel plates by 20mm
diameter projectiles with flat, hemispherical and conical noses: Part I: Experimental study. International
Journal of Impact Engineering. 2002;27(1):19-35.
4. Børvik T, Clausen AH, Hopperstad OS, Langseth M. Perforation of AA5083-H116 aluminium plates
with conical-nose steel projectiles—experimental study. International Journal of Impact Engineering.
2004;30(4):367-84.
Page 131
5. Dey S, Børvik T, Teng X, Wierzbicki T, Hopperstad OS. On the ballistic resistance of double-layered
steel plates: An experimental and numerical investigation. International Journal of Solids and
Structures. 2007;44(20):6701-23.
6. Demir T, Übeyli M, Yıldırım RO. Investigation on the ballistic impact behavior of various alloys
against 7.62mm armor piercing projectile. Materials & Design. 2008;29(10):2009-16.
7. Teng X, Wierzbicki T, Huang M. Ballistic resistance of double-layered armor plates. International
8. Alavi Nia A, Hoseini GR. Experimental study of perforation of multi-layered targets by
hemispherical-nosed projectiles. Materials & Design. 2011;32(2):1057-65.
9. Sinmazçelik T, Avcu E, Bora MÖ, Çoban O. A review: Fibre metal laminates, background, bonding
types and applied test methods. Materials & Design. 2011;32(7):3671-85.
10. Mohotti D, Ali M, Ngo T, Lu J, Mendis P, Ruan D. Out-of-plane impact resistance of aluminium
plates subjected to low velocity impacts. Materials & Design. 2013;50:413-26.
11. Yunfei D, Wei Z, Guanghui Q, Gang W, Yonggang Y, Peng H. The ballistic performance of metal
plates subjected to impact by blunt-nosed projectiles of different strength. Materials & Design (1980-
2015). 2014;54:1056-67.
12. Flores-Johnson EA, Saleh M, Edwards L. Ballistic performance of multi-layered metallic plates
impacted by a 7.62-mm APM2 projectile. International Journal of Impact Engineering.
2011;38(12):1022-32.
13. Jena PK, Ramanjeneyulu K, Siva Kumar K, Balakrishna Bhat T. Ballistic studies on layered
structures. Materials & Design. 2009;30(6):1922-9.
14. Rahman NA, Abdullah S, Zamri WFH, Abdullah MF, Omar MZ, Sajuri Z. Ballistic limit of high-
strength steel and Al7075-T6 multi-layered plates under 7.62-mm armour piercing projectile impact.
Latin American Journal of Solids and Structures. 2016;13(9):1658-76.
15. Sadighi M, Alderliesten RC, Benedictus R. Impact resistance of fiber-metal laminates: A review.
International Journal of Impact Engineering. 2012;49:77-90.
16. Cantwell WJ, Morton J. The impact resistance of composite materials — a review. Composites.
1991;22(5):347-62.
17. Gama BA, Bogetti TA, Fink BK, Yu C-J, Dennis Claar T, Eifert HH, et al. Aluminum foam integral
armor: a new dimension in armor design. Composite Structures. 2001;52(3):381-95.
18. Patil S, Reddy D M, Reddy M. Low velocity impact analysis on composite structures – A
review2018. 020009 p.
19. Garshin AP, Kulik VI, Nilov AS. Shock-Resistant Materials Based on Commercial Grade Ceramic:
Achievements and Prospects for Improving Their Ballistic Efficiency. Refractories and Industrial
Ceramics. 2016;57(2):207-19.
20. Mohotti D, Ngo T, Raman SN, Ali M, Mendis P. Plastic deformation of polyurea coated composite
aluminium plates subjected to low velocity impact. Materials & Design. 2014;56:696-713.
21. Mohotti D, Ngo T, Raman SN, Mendis P. Analytical and numerical investigation of polyurea
layered aluminium plates subjected to high velocity projectile impact. Materials & Design. 2015;82:1-
17.
22. O'Masta MR, Deshpande VS, Wadley HNG. Mechanisms of projectile penetration in Dyneema®
encapsulated aluminum structures. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 2014;74:16-35.
23. Zhang H, Ramesh KT, Chin ESC. High strain rate response of aluminum 6092/B4C composites.
Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2004;384(1):26-34.
24. Sadanandan S, Hetherington JG. Characterisation of ceramic/steel and ceramic/aluminium armours
subjected to oblique impact. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 1997;19(9):811-9.
25. Übeyli M, Yıldırım RO, Ögel B. On the comparison of the ballistic performance of steel and
laminated composite armors. Materials & Design. 2007;28(4):1257-62.
26. Justice NIo. Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor NIJ Standard–010104 Washington,
DC 1987.
27. RUSSIA GO. GOST R 50744-95. Armor clothes Classification and general technical requirements.
Russia2003. p. 15.
28. Constructions Aotlfbrma. General basis for ballistic material, construction and product testing.
Requirements, test levels and test procedures Germany2006. p. 29.
29. TEIJIN. Military armor. NATO STANAG 4569 and AEP-55 Vol 1 2005.
Page 132
30. Dong S, Ye ZY, Geng HB, Zhang H, Zou Y, Yang DZ, et al. Damage of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Induced
by Hypervelocity Impact. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. 2011;48(2):256-65.
31. Zhang X, Liu T, Li X, Jia G. Hypervelocity impact performance of aluminum egg-box panel
enhanced Whipple shield. Acta Astronautica. 2016;119:48-59.
32. Deng SS, Wang G, Chi RQ, Pang BJ, Wang DJ, Shen J. Dynamic Mechanical Behavior and
Hypervelocity Impact Performance of an Al-Based Nanocrystalline Alloy. Acta Metallurgica Sinica-
English Letters. 2017;30(12):1169-76.
33. Awerbuch J, Bodner SR. Analysis of the mechanics of perforation of projectiles in metallic plates.
International Journal of Solids and Structures. 1974;10(6):671-84.
34. Corran RSJ, Shadbolt PJ, Ruiz C. Impact loading of plates — An experimental investigation.
35. Dikshit SN, Kutumbarao VV, Sundararajan G. The influence of plate hardness on the ballistic
penetration of thick steel plates. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 1995;16(2):293-320.
36. Børvik T, Langseth M, Hopperstad OS, Malo KA. Ballistic penetration of steel plates. International
37. Børvik T, Dey S, Clausen AH. Perforation resistance of five different high-strength steel plates
subjected to small-arms projectiles. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 2009;36(7):948-64.
38. Børvik T, Hopperstad OS, Pedersen KO. Quasi-brittle fracture during structural impact of AA7075-
T651 aluminium plates. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 2010;37(5):537-51.
39. Forrestal MJ, Børvik T, Warren TL. Perforation of 7075-T651 Aluminum Armor Plates with 7.62
mm APM2 Bullets. Experimental Mechanics. 2010;50(8):1245-51.
40. Gupta NK, Madhu V. An experimental study of normal and oblique impact of hard-core projectile
on single and layered plates. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 1997;19(5):395-414.
41. Zukas JA, Scheffler DR. Impact effects in multilayered plates. International Journal of Solids and
Structures. 2001;38(19):3321-8.
42. Teng X, Dey S, Børvik T, Wierzbicki T. Protection performance of double-layered metal shields
against projectile impact. Mechanics of Materials and Structures. 2007;2(7):1309-29.
43. Radin J, Goldsmith W. Normal projectile penetration and perforation of layered targets.
44. Awerbuch J. Projectile Penetration in Metals and Composite Materials [Master Thesis]: Israel
Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; 1969.
45. Babaei B, Shokrieh MM, Daneshjou K. The ballistic resistance of multi-layered targets impacted
by rigid projectiles. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2011;530:208-17.
46. Ali MW, Mubashar A, Uddin E, Haq SWU, Khan M. An experimental and numerical investigation
of the ballistic response of multi-level armour against armour piercing projectiles. International Journal
of Impact Engineering. 2017;110:47-56.
47. Babaei H, Mirzababaie Mostofi T, Alitavoli M. Experimental and analytical investigation into large
ductile transverse deformation of monolithic and multi-layered metallic square targets struck normally
by rigid spherical projectile. Thin-Walled Structures. 2016;107:257-65.
48. Ben-Dor G, Dubinsky A, Elperin T. New results on ballistic performance of multi-layered metal
shields: Review. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics. 2017;88:1-8.
49. Abdul Rahman N, Abdullah S, Abdullah F, W Zamri WFH, Zaidi Omar M, Sajuri Z. Experimental
and Numerical Investigation on the Layering Configuration Effect to the Laminated Aluminium/Steel
Panel Subjected to High Speed Impact Test2018. 732 p.
50. Zhou N, Wang J-X, Yang R. Study on the anti-penetration performance of two-layer explosively
welded plates impacted by a spherical projectile. Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves.
2013;49(3):374-81.
51. Wang JX, Zhou N. Experimental and numerical study of the ballistic performance of steel fibre-
reinforced explosively welded targets impacted by a spherical fragment. Composites Part B:
Engineering. 2015;75:65-72.
52. Bienias J, Jakubczak P, Dadej K. Low-velocity impact resistance of aluminium glass laminates –
Experimental and numerical investigation. Composite Structures. 2016;152:339-48.
53. Jakubczak P, Bienias J, Surowska B. The influence of fibre orientation in aluminium–carbon
laminates on low-velocity impact resistance. Journal of Composite Materials. 2017;52(8):1005-16.
Page 133
54. Rahman AS, Mathur V, Asmatulu R. Effect of nanoclay and graphene inclusions on the low-velocity
impact resistance of Kevlar-epoxy laminated composites. Composite Structures. 2018;187:481-8.
55. Wang Z, Sun Y, Wu H, Zhang C. Low velocity impact resistance of bio-inspired building ceramic
composites with nacre-like structure. Construction and Building Materials. 2018;169:851-8.
56. Zhou N, Wang JX, Yang R, Dong G. Damage mechanism and anti-penetration performance of
multi-layered explosively welded plates impacted by spherical projectile. Theoretical and Applied
Fracture Mechanics. 2012;60(1):23-30.
57. Park M, Yoo J, Chung D-T. An optimization of a multi-layered plate under ballistic impact.
International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2005;42(1):123-37.
58. Alikarami S, Kordani N, SadoughVanini A, Amiri H. Effect of the yarn pull-out velocity of shear
thickening fluid-impregnated Kevlar fabric on the coefficient of friction. Journal of Mechanical Science
and Technology. 2016;30(8):3559-65.
59. Johnson GR, Cook WH, editors. A Constitutive Model and Data for Metals Subjected to Large
Strains, High Strain Rates, and High Temperatures. Proceedings 7th International Symposium on
Ballistics; 1983; The Hague.
60. Ben-Dor G, Dubinsky A, Elperin T. On the order of plates providing the maximum ballistic limit
velocity of a layered armor. International Journal of Impact Engineering. 1999;22(8):741-55.
61. Ben-Dor G, Dubinsky A, Elperin T. The optimum arrangement of the plates in a multi-layered
shield. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2000;37(4):687-96.
62. Ben-Dor G, Dubinsky A, Elperin T. Effect of air gap and order of plates on ballistic resistance of
two layered armor. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics. 1999;31(3):233-41.
63. Ben-Dor G, Dubinsky A, Elperin T. Optimization of multi-layered metallic shield. Nuclear
Engineering and Design. 2011;241(6):2020-5.
64. Filippov YA. Geometric programming—theory and application: R. J. Duffin, E. L. Peterson and C.
M. Zener. XI + 278 p. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York—London—Sydney, 1967. USSR
Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Physics. 1969;9(4):334-5.
65. Hui D, Dutta PK. A new concept of shock mitigation by impedance-graded materials. Composites
Part B: Engineering. 2011;42(8):2181-4.
66. Cooper PW. Explosive Engineering. 1997.
67. Fernando PLN, Mohotti D, Remennikov A. An innovative approach of using continuous
impedance-graded metallic composite system for attenuation of stress waves. Journal of Applied
Mechanics. 2019;86:061002.
68. Fernando PLN, Mohotti D. Design of an impedance-graded metallic composite system as a
protective mechanism for concrete structures. Journal of Applied Mechanics. 2019;86(9):094501.
Page 134
Appendix
Table 1: Summary of experimental investigations conducted on multi-metal double-layered systems

Authors Projectile Striking Overall Order of plates
type velocity thickness Anterior Posterior Findings
(m/s) (mm)
Discontinuous systems
Awerbuch (Ben- 5.6 mm 390 5.5 Steel Al -Steel provided better resistance than Al.
Dor et al. (48)) -Air gap worsened the performance.
Jena et al. (13) 7.62 mm 840±15 14 Steel Al -Steel provided required strength, while Al posterior plate supported by
absorption of energy.
-Better performance in targets with air gap.
Babei et al. (45) Blunt 50-400 2 Steel Al -Perforation caused due to plugging.
-Highest penetration resistance when steel in front layer.
Ali et al. (46) 7.62 mm 710-725 9 Steel Al -Steel plate was unable to resist penetration and ductile hole growth was
detected.
Continuous systems
Zhou et al. (50) Spherical 260-900 5 Steel Al -Better ballistic resistance when thickness ratio exceeded 2:3
-Anterior plate failed in shear and plugging while the posterior
plate suffered deformation
Wang and Zhou Spherical 700 5 Steel Al -Front steel plate failed due to shearing and plugging.
(51) -Failure mode for Al plate was ductile deformation.
-Interface failed by tension.
Table 2: Summary of experimental investigations conducted on multi-metal triple-layered systems

Projectile Striking Overall Order of plates Findings
Authors type velocity thickness Anterior Middle Posterior
(m/s) (mm)
Babei et al. Rigid 42-158 1 Steel Al Steel -Boundary conditions did not influence on plastic
(47) 2 response of targets.
3 -Steel absorbed more energy when steel acts as the front
plate.
-At 66 m/s A-S-A deformed 1.22 times more than S-A-S.
Continuous systems
Page 135
Zhou et al. Spherical 250-650 5 Steel Al Steel -Front and middle plates failed due to shearing and
(56) plugging, respectively.
-Rear plate showed petalling deformation.
Wang and Spherical 700 5 Steel Al Steel -Front and middle plates failed due to shearing and
Zhou (51) Plugging, while rear plate failed by ductile deformation.
-Ballistic limit velocity of triple-layered targets was better
than double-layered targets.
Table 3: Summary of numerical investigations conducted on multi-metal double-layered systems

Projectile Striking Overall Order of plates Mesh size of Material Contact Findings
Authors type velocity thickness Anterior Posterior impact zone model algorithm
(m/s) (mm) (mm)
Park et al. Die steel 300 2 Al Steel 0.25 x 0.025 JC - -Backing steel plate supported Al to avoid
(57) pellets large deformations.
-Front Al plate was easily perforated and it
helped to maintain energy.
Flores- 7.62 mm 775-950 20 Al Steel 0.25x0.25x MJC ESS -Reduction in bending stress and less
Johnson et AP 0.25 penetration when Al was in front.
al. (12)
Babei et al. Rigid 50-400 1,2,3 Steel Al MJC ESS -Failure mechanism similar to experiments
(45)
Rahaman 7.62 mm 900-950 25 Steel Al 0.5 JC TCA -Front plate erodes and acts as a disruptor
et al. (14) AP -Rear plate absorbs kinetic energy through
plastic deformation.
Ali et al. 7.62 mm 718 9 Steel Al 0.4 x 0.4 x JC - -Successfully predicted the ductile hole
(46) AP 0.8 growth, residual velocity and penetration.
-Lip formation on the plate was observed
Rahman et 7.62 mm 800-850 25 Steel Al 0.5 JC TCA -At 800 m/s, the projectile was completely
al. (49) AP shattered and deformed.
-The absorption capabilities increased at high
impact velocities.
Continuous systems
Zhou et al. Spherical 260-900 5 Steel Al - JC TBSS,ESS - Failure mechanism similar to experiments.
(50)
Wang and Spherical 700 5 Steel Al - JC -TBSS,ESS - Failure mechanism similar to experiments.
Zhou (51)
Page 136
Table 4: Summary of numerical investigations conducted on multi-metal triple-layered systems
Projectile Striking Overall Order of plates Mesh size of Material Contact Findings
Authors type velocity thickness impact zone model algorithm
(m/s) (mm) Anterior Middle Posterior (mm)
Flores- 7.62 mm 775-950 20 Al Steel Steel 0.25 x 0.25 x MJC ESS -Double-layered systems
Johnson et 0.25 were better than triple-
al. (12) layered systems.
Rahaman 7.62 mm 900-950 25 Steel Al Steel 0.5 JC TCA - Resisted the penetration of
et al. (14) 900 m/s and 950 m/s projectiles.
-Better performance compared to
double-layered systems.
Continuous systems
Zhou et al. Spherical 250-650 5 Steel Al Steel - JC TBSS - Results similar to experiments.
(56)
Wang and Spherical 700 5 Steel Al Steel - JC TBSS - Results similar to experiments.
Zhou (51)
Page 137
FABRICATION AND INSTALLATION OF VERTICAL STEEL PRESSURE SHAFT by
Eng. Amarakoonge Pradeep Sampath BSc. Eng. (Hons), MEng, CEng, MIE (SL) AM (SLEMA),
NDT (UT, MT, ET)
ABSTRACT
Energy is a major strategic aspect that concerns the overall social and economic development.
Hydro energy is a very important part of Sri Lankan energy, but the development and utilization
rate of our water resources is relatively low. In hydro sector, vertical shafts in comparison to
inclined shafts may serve as a cost alternative in case of favorable ground conditions.
With the development of high strength steels and high head Pelton turbines, highly loaded pressure
shafts and tunnels with pressures of more than 150 bar can be designed in new hydro power
projects to increase the installed capacity [1]. Using high strength steel for pressure shafts and
tunnel liners and taking into account significant rock mass participation allows the design of
comparatively thin steel liners in hydro power projects which definitely lead to save significant
amount of money. Nevertheless, during emptying of waterways, these steel linings may be
endangered by buckling. Compared with traditional measures such as increased steel liner
thickness and stiffeners, pressure relief valves are a very economical solution for protection of
steel liners against critical external pressure and therefore buckling during emptying.
The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project includes two dams, Puhulpola RCC dam (Roller
Compacted Concrete) and Dyraaba RCC Dam. Main waterway starts from Dyraaba intake which
feeds water in to the Alikota-ara dam via long headrace tunnel, vertical pressure shaft (including
upper and lower bends), bifurcation, 2 x 60 MW hydroelectric machines and long tailrace tunnel.
The steel liners have different diameter in different location and about 800 m in length. During
fabrication and installation processes, welding is the most crucial factor which demands to comply
with standards and more third-party attention.
The aim of the technical paper is to explain all steps of fabrication and installation procedure of
all the components mentioned above and problem uncounted during the process and how to solve
them.
Page 138
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the steel penstocks of the Uma Oya Hydropower Plant
The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project intends to divert 168 million cubic meters of
water annually from the Uma Oya Basin to the Kirindi Oya Basin for irrigation development and
hydroelectric energy generation. Puhulpola dam at, m.a.s.l, 985.3 m, feed water in to the Dyraaba
dam at m.a.s.l, 970 m, via a link tunnel which is length of 3,975 m. Main waterway starts from
Dyraaba intake, which feeds 19.50 m3/s water in to the Alikota-ara dam at the elevation of 217.78
m via 15,150 m long headrace tunnel, 100 m long base plate tunnel, 630 m high vertical pressure
shaft (including upper and lower bends), bifurcation, 2 x 60 MW hydroelectric machines and 3,630
m long tailrace tunnel. The steel penstocks are embedded in rock mass, extending over a length of
about 800 m with a difference in elevation of 630 m and having a maximum design head of 722
m, of which the static head is 630 m, and inside diameters ranging from 3.2 m to 1.55m. At the
end of headrace tunnel, Ø 3,200 mm inlet cone of steel liner is placed horizontally as first pipe of
waterway. Then, it is connected to base plate (Ø2500 mm) which occupy 90 m in length until it is
Page 139
connected to the portal valve. Portal valve (penstock guard valve) which is used to isolate the
MIVs is connected to upper bend. Upper bend is turned the tunnel to downside vertical direction
and connected to vertical pressure shaft which is 610 m in length. Then, vertical pressure shaft is
coupled to lower bend at the end. The lower bend which turns the tunnel again to horizontal
direction is coupled to lower pressure tunnel (LPT). Before the bifurcation branch of LPT, the
dewatering valve is formed on the LPT. The bifurcation branch is divided the pipeline in to two
tunnels which provided water for both turbines through MIVs. The fabrication of the pressure shaft
was started in April 2017, with the installation on the site completed in July 2018.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
2.1 INTRODUCTION
During the fabrication and installation of steel tunnel of water way much needed attention is paid.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code and AWS standards are followed to achieve quality weld
during the process. Welding Procedure Specification (WPS), welders and welding operators were
qualified in accordance with Section IX of the ASME code. Procedure Qualification Record (PQR)
was used to verify the WPS. The WPS is qualified by welding procedure qualification test
coupons. The variables and tests used were recorded on a PQR. The performance of the welders
was verified by welding performance qualification test coupons. The variables and tests used with
the particular variable ranges qualified were recorded on Welders’ Performance Qualification
(WPQ) record. In this process, all relevant parameters such as related parameters, welding current
and voltage, welding speed, characteristic of electrode, temperature and so on were presented in
welding PQR. The success of welded work pieces was tested for bend test and non-destructive test
or observe cross section of the welded work pieces as prescribed by PQR. Ten (10) WPSs were
produced to apply on water way fabrication and installation in the project. Also, Twenty-five
Iranian welders and three Sri Lankan welders were qualified in the project.
2.2 SHOP FABRICATION AT GERMANY

2.2.1 Material Inspection
The material use for the pressure shaft is S690 QL which is structural high-strength steel with
minimum yield strength of 690 MPa supplied in quenched and tempered condition (Q). Plates of
S690 steel grade comply with EN 10025-6 standard.
Page 140
2.2.2 Material Testing
Yield and Tensile Strength of the material were tested at Material Factory, Dillimax, Germany.
The sizing of all the plate and measuring, Non Destructive Testing (NDT) of cutting areas (Bevel
angle) had been done in the factory. Further, Material Test Certificate (MTC) for all materials have
been produced by Drillinger.
2.3 SHOP FABRICATION AT SITE

2.3.1 Material Receiving Inspection
All materials were received to the site on April 25, 2017. They were inspected by the
representatives of CEB and main contractor (FARAB company, Iran) on May 16, 2017. During
the inspection, documents (Packing list and MTC) were reviewed and the quantity of the material
and surface condition were inspected.
2.3.2 Dimension and Visual Test (DT & VT)

Dimension and surface condition of the plates, bevel angles (varies as per the drawings on each
section), were inspected before starting the rolling. The metal sheet surface was cleaned. `
Figure 01: Dimension and Visual Test

Page 141
2.3.3 Bevel angles
Plate Single or
No Location Thickness (mm) Bevel Angle Double V
01 Longitudinal & Circumference welding 18 to 24 30° + 30° = 60° Single V
at shop
02 Longitudinal & Circumference welding 26 to 40 30° + 30° = 60° Double V
at shop
03 Circumference welding at site 18 to 40 10° + 35° = 45° Single V
(with Back strip)
04 Circumference welding of LPT 38 to 40 30° + 30° = 60° Single V
Table No. 01: Bevel angels
Figure 02: Bevel angles
2.3.4 Edge preparation

Most of the edges of steel plates were prepared at the DILLIMAX Factory, Germany. According
to ASME BPVC Section IX standard, single V bevel angle was cut for the steel plates that has
thickness lower than 25mm and double V angle was cut for the plates with thickness higher than
25mm. However, some edges (Bifurcation, Reducers and so on) were prepared at the site to
prevent practical difficulties. After preparing edges, cutting areas were inspected using PT/MT
technique to verify the free form discontinuities.
Page 142
Figure 03: Edge preparation
2.3.5 Numbering & Notification

There are three type of numbering system.
1. All plates are numbered for identification, (20-1-9). Therefore, the rings show unique number
for their identities.
2. All the pressure shaft stacks (stack, three rings are welded together) are numbered (V1 to V68).
3. All the lower pressure tunnel stacks are numbered (HL1).
4. All the upper valve chamber stacks are numbered (HU1).
5. Total circumference length of a ring is equally divided by 900 in to four parts and numbered as
00,900,1800 & 2700.
Page 143
2.3.6 Rolling (Cold Rolling)
Cold rolling is done for all metal sheets which are used for the pressure shafts. Rolling process of
the plates was completed at site using Haeusler VRM-hy 3000-610 machine which has capacity of
9100 KN (Maximum) with horizontal rolling shaft. During the rolling process, roundness of the
ring is checked using a template and, the rolling process is being continued until it reaches the
required diameter, 2.2 m. After completing the rolling process, roundness should be checked on
both start and end sides again. Maximum deviation of the roundness for one circumference area
(00 - 900) is 5 mm. Also, internal diagonal diameters on both sides are measured again.
Figure 04: Rolling process

2.3.7 Fit-up
There are two types of fit up during the fabrication,
a) Fit up is completed for a rolled plate for making a ring.
These rolled plates are kept on the floor horizontally (Longitudinal axis of a ring is placed
horizontally). The welding joints must be positioned with the aid of a specialized machining up
Page 144
key plate (with taper pin & wedge) or by using direct tack welding method. The number, length
and position of the tack welds should be determined in accordance with the principle that the tack
welded seam is not torn apart and deformed when the matching up key plates are removed. Before
starting any welding, the material should be preheated. If a wedge is used for temporary positioning
in the groove for the thick-walled large diameter pipes after the wedge is removed the base metal
should not be damaged and the residual craters should be cleared up ground off and trimmed
properly. Those areas should be inspected with PT or MT to verify with free from discontinuities.
Also, during the fit-up, 3 mm (According to ASME IX) welding gap between two ends (In practical
scenario, this gap may be varied 0 mm to 4 mm) must be maintained. After clamping, curved two
ends are welded together only on few locations about 3 to 4 inches lengthy through longitudinally
inside the pipes (Only tag welding).
b) Fit up is completed to join rings together.

This is also same as above method. However, this type is complicated, and it demands hydraulic
jack to complete the fit up since fit up is completed on circumference area of the rings. During the
fit-up process, parameters such as, Alignment, Bevel Angle, Root Gap (using gap gauge), Hi-Low
/ Overlap of welding joints of Longitudinal / Circumferences (using welding gauge), Maximum
and minimum internal diameter on both inlet and outlet are checked, Again, length of a ring is
measured at four locations, 00, 900, 1800 & 2700.
Figure 05: Fit up Figure 06: Fit up using hydraulic jack
Page 145
2.3.8 Preheating
According to the specification of material, preheating is an essential factor for any welding of the
material. Electric heating elements or direct gas fire flame were used to meet required preheating
temperature that was given by the material manufacturer. Following table describes the preheating
temperature for different thicknesses. Any of above heating methods will be used for preheating,
which shall begin from the center of the matched-up joint. Also, preheating shall be made evenly
at least 3 times of the thickness of the weldment at each side of the joint. Below table is prepared
according to material data sheet/standards.
Water way (Pressure shaft/Penstock) Heat Treatment Table

Thickness Preheating Welding Temperature Post Heating (Soaking)
10mm - 20mm 50 °C 50 °C – 150 °C 200 °C – 250 °C/2hr
20mm - 25mm 60 °C 60 °C – 150 °C 200 °C – 250 °C/2hr
25mm – 30mm 75 °C 75 °C – 200 °C 200 °C – 250 °C/2.5hr
30mm – 35mm 100 °C 100 °C – 200 °C 200 °C – 250 °C/2.5hr
35mm – 40mm 150 °C 150 °C – 200 °C 200 °C – 250 °C/2.5hr
Table No. 02: Preheating and soaking temperatures
Figure 07: Pre heating

Page 146
2.3.9 Root Welding
Root welding shall be started after the work piece is preheated to the required temperature. Ignition
of electric arc and test current or random welding of temporary support on the surface of the
weldment is strictly prohibited. Root is only one pass and, it is the first metal bonding area of the
rolled pipe. Therefore, welding condition must be carefully in time. Root was completed using
SMAW or FCAW at every location. Also, it has some process variation according to the type of
bevel angle and the location of the welding (Longitudinal and Circumference).
Figure 08: Root welding

2.3.10 Welding for Single V bevel (Longitudinal)
Single V bevel is used only for steel plate thickness range of 18 mm to 24 mm. Root welding is
started from outside. (some time inside) After completing root pass, it shall be cleaned by brush
or grinding and visually inspected to confirm that weld is in good condition (free from
discontinuities). If root pass is ok, outside filling welding shall be started after the work piece is
Page 147
preheated to the required temperature. SAW or FCAW technique shall be used for welding.
However, if it is SAW, welding shall be done under 1G position. If it is FCAW, welding shall be
done under 2G position. Attention shall be paid to that the inter pass temperature should be not
lower than the preheating temperature. Also, temperature shall be monitored and maintained
according to Table no: 02.
The quality of the joints and the arc finish during the welding process must be observed and
noticed. The welding pool should be completely filled when the arc is finished. The joints of the
multi layers and multi passes should be staggered. The welding process should be completed in a
continuous way, if it is interrupted. Measures (such as post heat treatment, slow cooling, etc)
should be taken to prevent the occurrence of cracks and further welding should be carried out in
accordance with the requirements of welding process after the incomplete weld is carefully
examined and confirmed the free of cracks. If abnormal problem is found by welder during the
welding process. it should be reported in a timely manner and, construction works may resume
after the reason is identified. And the problem is resolved. Parameters such as No: of passes, Time
and Inter pass Temperature were checked during the welding.
According to the type welding technique, required current, voltage, travelling speed and shield gas
ratio were inspected to maintain the welding quality. After completing outside welding, soaking
shall be started, and temperature should be maintained according to the table no 02.
2.3.11 Soaking (Post heating)

Post heating should be carried out immediately after the welding is
finished. This is the way to back to basics of prevention of cold
cracking and reducing distortion. Relieving residual stress
through welding technique as well as temperature control can greatly
reduce weld distortion. It relies upon the fact that, as the temperature of
the metal is raised, the yield strength decreases, allowing the residual
stresses to be redistributed by creep of the weld and parent metal. Cooling
from the stress relief temperature is controlled in order that no harmful
thermal gradients can occur (Refer, DILLIMAX-Technical information 2007). According to the
specification of material, soaking is also essential factor for welding of the material. Electric
Page 148
heating elements or direct gas fire flame were used to meet required soaking temperatures that
were given by material manufacturer as indicated in table no 02. After completing the soaking,
visual inspection of the welding shall be done.
Figure 09: Soaking process
2.3.12 VT of Weld
Visual testing (VT) is the oldest and most common NDT technique. It is typically the first step in
the examination of the weld elements. After completing the welding, all the welded areas are
inspected with mechanical or optical aids such items as, Magnifying glasses, Micrometers, Mirrors
and Welding gauge. If carried out correctly, this type of inspection can often be an extremely
effective method of maintaining acceptable welding quality and preventing welding problems.
There are many areas within the welding operation that can be verified and evaluated by this
method of inspection. During the visual inspection Welding defects, (Under cut, Spatters, Poor
starting & ending and so on) should be checked.
Page 149
2.3.13 Back gauging and PT
Now, outside welding is finished and inside welding shall be started. Since root is the welding
foundation of a ring, it shall be free from any defect. Therefore, back side of the root pass welding
shall be tested to identify the status. Back gouging is the removal of excessive slag, weld metal
and base metal from the weld root side of a welded joint to facilitate complete fusion and complete
joint penetration upon subsequent welding from that side. This can be done with a grinder, Air
Carbon Arc, or other methods. Depth of the gauging area can be varied 4 mm to 8 mm. After back
gauging, PT is done for all root pass welding to inspect the condition of back side of the root. If
PT gives any indication, back gauging should be repeated until PT gives no indications. After
confirming that root pass is with free of defects, inside welding shall be started with matching the
required preheating. To fill the inside groove, few welding passes are required. Then, welding is
subjected for soaking same as mentioned above.
Figure 10: Back gauging Figure 11: Penetrant test
2.3.14 VT of Weld
After completing soaking, VT should be started as mentioned in 2.3.12.
2.3.15 Re-Rolling (Only for every single ring)

After completing both side welding Cold re rolling is completed for all rings before starting NDTs
of weldments. When increasing the thickness of the steel plate, it demands more pressure and time
to achieve same radius (2.2 m) throughout the total periphery during the rolling process. Radius at
longitudinal seam is always away from required diameter. Cross sectional shape of rolled pipe is
like a apple or a heart. Therefore, rerolling is necessary for high thickness plates. Re rolling process
Page 150
of the rings were done at site using same machine which was used for rolling. During the rolling
process, load is applied for longitudinal welded area to achieve same radius throughout the
periphery. Roundness of the ring is checked using a template and re rolling process is being
continued until it reaches to required diameter, 2.2 m. After completing the re rolling process,
roundness should be checked again. Also, it is checked on both starting and end sides. Maximum
deviation of the roundness for one circumference area (00 - 900) is 5 mm. After rolling, internal
diagonal diameter on both sides are measured.
Figure 12: Rerolling process

2.3.16 VT on Weld surfaces
After completing the re rolling process, longitudinal seam is visually checked to find any indication
(discontinuities) that can be happened on welding during the re rolling process. If any indication
is found, first step is to remove them using grinding (if they are small indications, it is possible to
remove them by doing grinding). If grinding does not work here, it is required to cut and remove
Page 151
the indications and weld again after preheating. During this repair welding also, preheating is
compulsory.
2.3.17 MT & UT
After finishing the visual inspection and confirming that visual quality of the welding is ok, welded
area is inspected with 100 % Magnetic particle Testing (MT) and Ultrasonic Testing (UT). If weld
is free from any defects, rings can be released for making stacks.
Figure 13: Magnetic particle test Figure 14: Ultrasound test

2.3.18 Weld Repair
If any of above NDT techniques shows discontinuities of the weld, those areas should be opened
and remove the indication from angle grinder. Then, those areas should be weld again after pre
heating as mentioned above. After completing the repair, those areas should be inspected with MT
and UT again. This should be repeated until longitudinal weld is free from discontinuities. Also,
repair should be done according to method explained in ASME IX or AWS. Finally, rings are kept
on the rest until it is required for making stacks.
Page 152
Figure 15: Welding repair
2.3.19 Welding for Double V bevel (Longitudinal)
Double V bevel is used only for steel plate thickness range of

26 mm to upwards. This is also same as single V bevel
(Longitudinal) method. Only difference is that inside also
needs more welding passes comparing to single V bevel
(Longitudinal) method. If pipes have double v bevel, root can
be started from either side. However, in this project, root is
done outside of a ring to prevent cracks on weld during
rerolling process.
Page 153
Figure 16: SAW process for double V bevel (Longitudinal)
2.3.20 Welding for Single and double V bevel (Circumference)
Circumference welding comes during the process of making stacks using the rings that are
fabricated early. Welding for Single and double V bevel (Circumference) is also same as above
except rerolling process. Also, SAW, welding is done under 1G position and FCAW, welding is
done under 3G position (pipe should be rotated).
2.4 DELIVER TO POWER HOUSE

After finishing the painting, stacks are transported to the power house for the erection.
Page 154
3.0 PRESSURE SHAFT INSTALLATION (CIRCUMFERENCE WELDING)
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Total length of pressure shaft is about 630 m (upper valve chamber to lower valve chamber). It is
a vertical shaft and stacks are installed top to bottom. First stack is lifted using tripod which is
placed on the ground floor at level m.a.s.l. 850 m.
3.1.1 Fit-up
This fitup is also same as explained in 2.3.7. However, this process is very difficult, and time
consume since it is done inside the vertical tunnel. Normally, Clamps are used to fit two stacks
together. In the fitup, same welding gap (3mm) shall be maintained. After clamping, stacks are
welded together only on few locations about 3 to 4 inches lengthy through circumference of inside
of the pipes (Only tag welding).
Figure 17: Fit up at installation area
Page 155
3.1.2 Preheating & Root Welding
Preheating is played same as 2.3.8. (use both coil & gas). After preheating, root welding was
performed same as 2.3.9. FCAW is used for welding and pipes are placed in vertically. Normally,
root is with some welding defects. Therefore, gauging plays significant role here. Hence, Gauging
shall be done using power grinder until it is removed all defects from root face.
3.1.3 NDT & Weld Filling (Inside, single V bevel)

NDT for root pass was made as describe in 2.3.13. Since the welding is proceeded inside the tunnel,
outside welding is not possible. Therefore, back strip and single bevel is used for every installation
joints (J0 to J 69). Also, 450 bevel angle was applied following way to accumulate (settle) welding
bore inside the bevel. Except these differences, all other techniques are same as described above.
3.1.4 Soaking & VT on Weld surfaces

After completing inside welding, soaking shall be started same as described in 2.3.11. After
completing soaking, VT shall be started same as described in 2.3.12
3.1.5 NDT
After finishing the visual inspection and confirming that visual quality of the welding is ok, welded
area is inspected with 100 % Magnetic particle Testing (MT) and Ultrasonic Testing (UT). If weld
is free from any defects, pipe inside welding is started. Otherwise after completing the repair, pipe
inside welding should be started (for double V bevel).
3.1.6 Repair & NDT

Any defects found from NDTs, they should be repaired according to method explained in ASME
or AWS. After that, the area was inspected with 100 % MT and UT. If weld is free from any
defects, circumference joint (J0 to J67) is released for painting.
Page 156
4.0 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Problems are common things in large construction work, and hydropower projects are no
exception. Also, problems in large projects always create two things, delays and cost to the
contractor. In the hydropower sector, problems are usually caused by multiple factors. They
can be divided into two broad types. Technical risks include engineering and commercial
problems, while non-technical risks include environmental and social factors, community
issues, and health and safety challenges. The main issue of the project is water leakage of
underground tunnel during the tunnel boring process which still making colossal burden on
the contractor and the client. However, in the paper, I am going to discuss the factors which
affect to delay the fabrication and installation activities of water way. Rerolling Cracks, Water
leakage in vertical tunnel, Electricity supply for vertical tunnel during the installation and
Insufficient space for welding at installation, these are the main problems which are faced by
the contractor.
4.1.1 Rerolling Cracks

This was the main issue on the water way fabrication process faced by the contractor. All the
required pipes for water way were fabricated at the shop located Karandagolla, Wellawaya.
According to the design data, Minimum plate thickness of water way pipes is 18 mm and installed
at starting of pressure shaft (just after upper bend). Since water pressure increases throughout
vertical pressure shaft, thickness of the pipes is gradually increased up to 38 mm to withstand the
water pressure. In between, pipes thicknesses are increased by 2 mm. During the rerolling process,
Cracks didn’t appear on the weldment of the pipes that have thickness 18 mm to 24 mm (Low
plate thickness). However, cracks start to appear surface of (throughout) the longitudinal weldment
with 26 mm plate thickness and continue for maximum thickness. These cracks were identified
using both UT & MT. They were very small in size (Hair cracks) on the pipe thickness 26mm to
30mm. After that, these cracks can be identified with naked eyes since they are getting large in
size.
Initial stage, contractor stops the rerolling process to find the root cause for the cracks. Information
and activities of the rerolling and other relevant processes, Preheating and soaking related to the
Page 157
welding, Material properties and how to react to cold rerolling, how to load the pipe in to the
rolling machine, Amount of load applied on the weldment and how long does it take to complete
rerolling (Slow or Fast rerolling) were investigated to discover proper solution. After the
investigation, contractor informed that the reason for appearing cracks may be due to fast rerolling
process. Therefore, it was informed to machine operator to increase the time consume for rerolling
process and start the process. However, rerolling cracks are still present on the weldment. Until
complete the rerolling process, contractor could not find the solutions for it. All the cracks were
repaired as usual.
Figure 18: Rerolling cracks

4.1.2 Water leakage in vertical tunnel
External water pressure around tunnels is a main influential factor in relation to the seepage safety
of underground chambers and powerhouses which make managing external water pressure crucial
to water conservation and hydropower projects. During the construction stages of pressure shaft
vertical tunnel, initially, Pilot hole was drilled by mechanized Raise Boring Machine (RBM).
Then, Reaming by RBM from bottom to top level of the tunnel. After the reaming, Shotcrete and
rock bolting and grouting were done as initial supporting. Due to fractures of the rock, seepage
water drips to the vertical tunnel at masl 800 m. since, it was about 20 l/s, contractor didn’t give
much attention to grout it even though they have plenty of time to do it. Therefore, the seepage
Page 158
water streams through vertical tunnel. Once, project comes to the installation stage, first few stacks
until water leaking point were installed without any problem. However, water strikes against stack
when installation comes to that area. It causes to reduce the stack temperature down and difficult
to continue the welding due to lack of preheating and present of water in welding area. Therefore,
contractor has to stop the welding and take remedial actions to prevent for seepage water. Since
time has been passed to do the grouting, the contractor had to find alternatives for it. Initially,
conical shaped, aluminum cone which has similar diameter to stack was attached to outer surface
of the stack. However, it does not work, and they had to find another solution to start the welding.
As a second option, polythene cover was replaced instead of aluminum cone and polythene cover
was tied on outer surface of stack. Since second option is also fail, contractor decided to go
traditional method of collecting water and send water through a pipe. A Funnel shaped
(infundibular)
4.1.3 Electricity supply for installation area

Total height of the vertical tunnel is 630 m and electricity supply for whole tunnel length was
provided from upper chamber side. Welding machine, blowers, grinders and lights are the main
power consumers at installation area. Maximum electricity demand for above equipment is about
400 kW. Available maximum length of the wire in the market is about 40 m and therefore, sixteen
(16) wire cables have been joined together to supply electricity for total length of the pressure
shaft. It took significant amount of time to perform the wire joining process. In addition, self-
weight of the wire builds many difficulties to handle when the length of the wire is getting increase.
Therefore, the wire was mounted on the inner surface of shell. Time consuming with these reasons
leaded to delay the project in different ways.
4.1.4 Insufficient space for welding at installation

Since installation welding is carried out inside the pipes in vertical tunnel, available space for the
job is crucial as far as concerning the safety and the health of the workers. Welding smoke, high
surrounding temperature and grinded dust particles were main disturbances for the works who
stayed inside the tunnel during the fabrication time. Natural dilution ventilation was utilized as the
ventilator due to practical limitation of application of mechanical or local exhaust ventilators.
Page 159
5.0 CONCLUSION
Fabrication and installation of vertical steel pressure shaft is one of the most critical areas in hydro
power sector which requires more attention to harvest the penstock with minimum defects.
Furthermore, poor construction of the steel pressure shaft definitely leads catastrophic failures in
operation which decidedly consume excessive time and funds to rectify for functioning. All the
important steps that should be followed during the fabrication and installation of vertical steel
pressure shaft have been included in the paper which provide guidance to improve the quality in
similar type of applications. The extension of the time duration of a project depends on unknown
problems that contractor has to encounter during the construction. Familiarization with those
problems exactly produce easy channels to complete the project on pre-defined time frame.
Therefore, the issues encountered in the project provide extra strength to overcome them in future.
REFERENCE
[1] Anton J Schleiss, Pedro A. Manso,: Design of pressure relief valves for protection of steel-
lined pressure shafts and tunnels against bucking during emptying,: Rock Mechanics and Rock
Engineering, January 2011.
Author is Chartered Mechanical Engineer, working for Ceylon Electricity Board for last 10 years.
He severed as Mechanical Engineer for Maintenance of Gas Turbines at Kelanitissa Power Station
in first seven years and currently working at Uma Oya Hydro Power Project which is located at
Uva Province in Sri Lanka. He obtained his Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Ruhuna with Second Class Upper Division in 2008 and Master of Engineering
Degree from University of Moratuwa in 2013.
Page 160
Improving Road Safety in Sri Lanka by Eng. Dayantha Jayarathna, BSc(Eng.) Hons, MEng,
CEng, MIE(SL)
 3,003 road deaths last year
 A road death every three hours:
 30 killed in road accidents during Sri Lanka's new year holiday
 Is there anything engineers can do to prevent these tragic deaths?
Figure 1: Road accidents in Sri Lanka, (Courtesy of dailynews)
Statistics compiled by the Sri Lanka Police reveal that our road fatalities are increasing alarmingly every
year. The number of deaths due to road accidents is a significant percentage of the total annual deaths
in the whole country. In addition to the fatalities, there are over 5000 injuries occurring every year
due to road accidents. It is well-known that the traffic congestion and other safety related issues are
contributing to this regrettable situation. It should be noted that most people involved in accidents
are either active members of families or young children those who could live many more years
supporting their families and contributing to the society.
There had been many research work1 conducted and reports have been produced identifying factors
contributing to this unfortunate situation. Based on observations made by the Sri Lanka Police
Department2, there are 25 main reasons for road accidents. They have been listed in Sri Lanka Police
official website together with eleven recommendations to prevent them.
The intention of this article is to draw the attention of the Sri Lankan engineering community to take
the initiative to contribute to the efforts made by the government and the Police Department to
improve the situation and to save valuable lives.
Mother Sri Lanka cannot afford to lose this many valuable citizens every year.
Although the primary responsibility for improving this tragic situation lies with the government, as
responsible citizens, every individual has a duty to contribute in whichever way they can to help those
efforts made by the government. As responsible citizens, engineers, especially members of IESL, have
Page 161
an additional capacity to make a difference as they possess the technical skills and the knowledge to
solve major problems.
IESL as an incorporated body of the Government by an Act of Parliament, is in a unique position in Sri
Lanka to assist the government and advise the general public about road safety and other engineering-
related activities. Therefore, members of IESL do possess the authority to actively work on solving
issues such as road safety in Sri Lanka, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders.
In this regard, IESL has a number of key strengths. They are, the recognition it has as a well-established
institution, it’s capacity to approach all levels of the government and high acceptance of the general
public. In order to find a lasting solution to the road safety problem in Sri Lanka, it requires to engage
with all relevant stakeholders including the general public. IESL as a highly recognised institution in Sri
Lanka is well placed to approach the full spectrum of stakeholders associated with the problem.
In the process of attempting to find solutions to this problem, it must be understood that this is a
multi-dimensional issue. Therefore, one single action or activity will only improve the situation by a
certain amount. According to the findings of the Sri Lanka Police Department, the major contributors
to this situation are reckless and negligent driving habits, lack of knowledge about road rules, fatigue
and road infrastructure defects. There is an unusually high number of accidents happening at railway
crossings, mainly due to lack of road discipline.
The police department has provided a number of recommendations to address this situation, with
most of the actions aimed at improving the driver behaviours and imposing various restrictions on
drivers. There is one action pointing to Road Development Authority to address the problems in road
infrastructure. But one of the underlying reasons for road discipline has not been given enough
attention so far. That is the unsafe work practices and improper road infrastructure in Sri Lanka.
Inconsistent road signs, inconsistent traffic signal lights, improper lane marking, lack of road signs and
outdated road rules, lack of safety measures taken when road work is being carried out, lack of
warning signs (lights), problems with streetlights, unsafe pedestrian crossings, unsafe bus shelters are
few examples for improper road infrastructure and work practices. It should also be noted that Sri
Lankan roads are equally shared between extremely slow vehicles such as bicycles, three wheelers as
well as cars, buses, heavy vehicles, pedestrians and animals.
All the above contributory factors are clearly visible and highlighted by many researchers in the past.
The importance of establishing safe road infrastructure system is universally accepted by all
stakeholders of the government and the society. The difficult issue here is to find an effective and
lasting solution which can improve road safety and save valuable lives of people within a short period
of time.
It is a challenge for the government as there is no visible strategy and clear authority to address the
problem. Perhaps the multi-layer government model could be another reason.
Under this situation, the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka has a unique opportunity to play a major
role to find a solution by becoming the interface between different layers in the government, decision
makers, subject matter experts, media and the public. IESL has a great reputation in the country as a
group of highly-skilled engineers who are willing to make a positive contribution to the country
without bias. Therefore, a significant contribution can be made to improve road safety by establishing
a taskforce under a Sectional Committee. IESL can harness a wealth of knowledge and expertise of
members in Sri Lanka as well as those who are scattered around the world to clearly identify problems
associated with road safety and work with the government, service providers and the public. By
applying scientific methods and techniques to identify the problem and contributing factors, careful
Page 162
analysis of the incidents and collecting statistical information, it will be possible to derive effective
solutions improve road safety in Sri Lanka, saving over 3000 lives each year.
The process will not be straight forward, there could be challenges, difficulties and major obstacles to
this program. But IESL has most capable citizens in the country as members. If those strengths can be
properly utilised, IESL can contribute in a significant way to overcome the tragic situation Sri Lanka.
Among possible steps which can be taken by a group formed under the IESL leadership are:
a) Make representations to the Ministry of Highways and other relevant ministries and all
political parties to receive all-party acceptance for the efforts made by IESL.
b) Form working groups with all stakeholders, such as engineers, ministry representatives,
road and rail construction companies, automobile associations, insurance companies,
doctors and representatives from ministry of health, education department and schools,
school children, media and members from general public. This group can be the pioneers
to take the message of “Safe Roads Sri Lanka” to the country.
c) Form specialist groups to gather information, analyse the problem/s in an orderly manner
and formulate solutions.
d) Draft standards for traffic light systems, lane marking, streetlights, pedestrian crossings,
railway crossings, etc. in collaboration with Sri Lanka Standards, RDA and other relevant
authorities.
e) Review road rules, driver licencing procedures, driver training, procedures of traffic police,
effectiveness of fines for offences, fairness of rules and regulations etc.
f) Explore the possibility of using technology such as speed cameras, adaptive traffic
signalling systems, variable speed signs, improved lane marking etc. to ease the traffic
congestion and improve road safety.
g) Make it compulsory for Road Development Authority to conduct a road condition report
and incident analysis about all fatal accidents. This investigation should be aimed at
identifying possible accident preventive measures, which should be used to improve the
safety in similar road conditions Island-wide.
h) Organise media and fundraising campaigns as required to support community awareness,

participation, helping victims of accidents, road safety improvements etc.
i) Organise educational campaigns through schools, worksites, religious places, community

organisations, political parties etc. to spread the message that road accidents are
preventable, and it requires the support of all road users.
If IESL can take the leadership and harness the wealth of skills and knowledge it possesses to save
valuable lives, it will become one of the major achievements in the history of IESL.
A broad-based approach with the community participation will establish a culture in Sri Lanka where
people will be ready to be a part of the solution instead of being a passive observer. This would result
in increased adherence to rules and regulations and hence reduce the number of fatal accidents.
Page 163
References
1. Following are a few research papers regarding road safety and traffic accidents in Sri Lanka.
 Road traffic accidents in Sri Lanka: An analysis of admissions and outcome,
Peethambaram Jeepara Selladurai Pirasath, MBBS, MS, FRCS 2011
 FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN PEOPLE WHO ARE ADMITTED
TO THE ACCIDENT SERVICE IN NATIONAL HOSPITAL SRI LANKA Conference Paper
Karunarathna M C PlNAA T Lasanth Akila Randika Jayamaha
 IDENTIFYING CAUSAL FACTORS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN SRI LANKA Amal S. Kumarage
 A Study to Investigate Safety Practices in Sri Lankan Construction Industry Chandana
Siriwardana University of Moratuwa | UoM · Department of Civil Engineering
Conference: 6th International Symposium on, Advances in Civil and Environmental
Engineering Practices, for Sustainable Development (ACEPS-2018)
2. https://www.police.lk/index.php/traffic-police
Page 164
Issues and Remedial Measures in River Sand Mining- A case study
related to artisinal river sand mining in Mahaweli river in
Mahiyangana area, Sri Lanka
*Ekanayake1 E.M.K.B.
1Geological Survey & Mines Bureau, Badulla Regional office, Sri lanka
*Corresponding author – [email protected]
Abstract
The demand for river sand for construction purposes has increased significantly in
Sri Lanka in recent years, particularly due to the tsunami disaster that occurred in
December 2004 and post war period after 2009. This high demand led to a major
increase in sand mining in many areas. The current demand for sand for building
construction within the country is approximately 7– 7.5 million cubic metres per year.
Mahaweli river, the longest river in Sri Lanka is the major source of river sand supply
for the construction industry in the country. Certain areas along the river have
become important sand mining sites. Among those river sand mining sites, the
Mahiyangana area has been very famous for many years. In the Mahiyangana area,
river sand mining is an extensive industry and creates a major income earning
source for thousands of rural folks living nearby. This industry has been creating a
new socio-economic situation in the area and this has been beneficial to many people
in the area.
This paper discusses present issues related to artisanal river sand mining in Mahaweli
river- Mahiyangana area and remedial measures already adopted and proposals to
ensure a sustainable way of mining to minimize detrimental environmental affects
to the eco system of the river and the river bank.
Keywords: Coarse aggregates, Green sand ferry, Ecological, Extraction, Floodplain,

Pebbles,
1 Introduction named as “ Rajawella’ , “Ruwanwella”

The use of sand as because such areas became very
construction material in Sri Lanka famous for extracting river sand which
dates back to ancient history. The ` was highly suitable for various
stupas/ dagaba` are the great buildings construction purposes at that time. For
of ancient Sri Lankan history where any construction, still river sand is the
sand is seen to be one of main first choice out of other various sands
construction materials used for such as washed sea sand and sand
constructing such huge structures. So artificially produced by quarry
starting from that era, river sand has operations. Due to that reason, river
played a pivotal role in the construction sand mining has been undertaken
industry. It is interesting to mention across Sri Lankan rivers over centuries,
that especially during the Seethawaka with an increasing frequency and
and Kandyan eras, certain areas were intensity.

Page 165
The demand for river sand for river bank and natural vegetation,
construction purposes has increased ecological imbalance, collapsing of
significantly in Sri Lanka in recent river banks, habitat destruction,
years, particularly due to the tsunami degradation of the aesthetic beauty of
disaster that occurred in December the surroundings, deforestation of
2004 and post war period after 2009. floodplains, and modified stream
This high demand led to a major structure and functionality.
increase in sand mining in many areas.
The current demand for sand for 2 Literaure Survey
building construction within the
country is approximately 7– 7.5 million River sand mining is the process of
cubic metres per year. removal of sand, gravel and
boulders from the river with a view
Mahaweli river, the longest river in Sri to get sand out of the other two
Lanka is the major source of river sand materials. Sand is a movable, non-
supply for the construction industry in cohesive granuler material whose
the country. Certain areas along the size varies between 1mm to 4mm.
river have become important sand The term ‘sand’ is used to cover
mining sites. Among those river sand almost any rock or mineral, but
mining sites, the Mahiyangana area has technically it is limited to quartz
been very famous for many years. In sand with minor impurities of
the Mahiyangana area, river sand mica, iron oxides and feldspar.
mining is an extensive Sand and gravel occur as
industry and creates a major income sedimentary beds, lenses and
earning source for thousands of rural pockets lying on or close to the
folks living nearby. This industry has surface or inter-bedded with other
been creating a new socio-economic sedimentary formations. Mostly
situation in the area and this has been that takes place in the river channel
beneficial to many people in the area. and floodplain deposits.
Over the recent decades in Sri
Currently there are more than 500 Lanka, demand for the sand has
legally permitted sand mining sites in been increasing drastically with
Mahiyangana area along the rapid growth of constructions.
Mahaweli river in left bank and right Since river sand fills the major
bank . Illegal sand mining takes place portion of the country`s sand
occassionally in the same area too. requirement, the extraction of river
Anyway over exploitation of river sand from all sort of streams other
sand, violating prescribed conditions than major rivers rich with sand
during sand extraction and damaging has now become critical issue.
the river bank threatens the very Despite all the regulations and
existence of the river and leads to conditions imposed by the
significant environmental degradation government regulatory institute
and ecological imbalance. Sand mining i.e. Geological Survey & Mines
can degrade and alter the Mahaweli Bureau (GSMB) , river sand mining
river and its floodplain at an alarming activities have far exceeded the
rate unless all possible means to control safe limits of a number of rivers
it are taken without delay. The major and sreams. Because of the over
impacts of sand mining in the study exploitation of river sand, river
area were found to be destruction of

Page 166
systems have degraded on a
massive scale such as
1. Excessive river bank erosion
causing the loss of land, local
flooding , damages to the
infrastructure of river banks.
2. Deepening of river beds
causing the intrusion of saline
water into the coastal fresh
water acquifers, and a drop in
the ground water table close to
rivers.
3. Reduction of sediment flow to
Figure 1: A representative model
the beaches causing an increase
for Instream mining (a) and
in coastal erosion.
floodplain mining for river sand.
So now it is inevitable that river
lnstream sand deposits are easily
sand mining practices need to be
accessible, well-sorted, and
implemented in sustainable way
generally free from fine
without delay or serious
particulates such as silt and clay.
environmental problems must be
Hence, it is extensively used in
expected. On the other hand,
construction industry for concrete
alternatives such as dune sand,
preparation and plastering.
washed sea sand, manufactured
Different methods are adopted to
sand, sand extracted from lands
extract sand from the active
should be introduced.
channels of river systems.
Floodplains and terraces (former
In river sand mining in Sri Lanka, it
floodplains) are the sites of
can be seen that there are two types
sediment storage in
of mining practices i.e. instream
river systems and can contain large
mining and floodplain mining. The
quantities of sand and gravel.
latter practice has not been allowed
Floodplain mining pits
under licences issued for river sand
often extend below the water table.
mining in Mahaweli river.
which can provide a convenient
water source for
separating desired particle sizes
from the excavated materials. The
deep pits left after
floodplain mining often coalesce
due to collapse of the separating
boundary walls of the
pits. Under high flow regimes of
the monsoon, some of the pits can
even be captured by the
river ultimately leading to valley
widening and disfiguration of the
natural channels. All
these processes not only change the

Page 167
aesthetics of the area. but also
impose tremendous
pressure in the geo-environmental
and socio-economic settings of the
region.
3 Current practices of
artisanal sand mining in
Mahaweli river
Basically, instream sand mining can be

seen in Mahaweli river crossing Figure 2: Instream mining in
Mahiyangana area. Non mechanized Mahaweli river
fibre glass boats are used for
transporting sand mined from the river
upto the ferry front temporarily made
just off the river bank. The quantities
(monthly basis) to be mined and all
other conditions have been mentioned
in the sand mining licence issued by
Geological Survey & Mines Bureau
(GSMB). Miners are engaged in sand
mining activities accordingly and they
follow conditions and instructions as
law enforcing bodies (Geological
Survey & Mines Bureau, Central
Environmental Authority, Police / Figure 3: Floodplain mining in
Special Task Force and certain Mahaweli river
environmental activists) focus
extensively on violations during sand 3.1 Identified issues
mining activities nowadays. But Some issues could be identified in
sometimes, it is reported that certain relation to sand mining opertions of
unscrupulous miners in an organized this particular area concerned for this
manner tend to extract river sand case study.
deposited in floodplain basins or from  Not rehabilitating abandoned
river banks as well. This happens in sand mining sites to minimize
most cases when the water level is environmental imbalance
decreasing especially during the caused to the river and river
drought season and covering such banks.
floodplains in the river or river bank.  Illegal sand mining practices
and over-extraction of sand
violating conditions declared
by the regulating body in areas
where no people live close-by
or highly isolated areas
(Viranagama, Rotalawala, CTC
and Ginnoruwa)

Page 168
 Most of the people engaged in applied to all other river sand
sand mining activities are less mining sites on an island-wide
educated so that it is very basis. By applying that
difficult to convince them of concept, it can prevent
the importance of conserving destructive damage to the
natural flora and fauna along river bank and the river.
river banks, consequences of Tractors entering the river has
over extraction and been totally prohiited under
sustainability of the industry. this new concept. In addition,
 Maintaining huge sand stock now the passage of river bank
piles scattered in many places is covered with plants such as
close to river bank other than in ‘ Kumbuk’ , ‘Mee’ and ‘Attika’
declared locations which and acts as green belt.
creates an arid (non  Release of ball stones, pebbles,
cultivatable) land situation coarse aggregates found
with time as no good during sand mining process
vegetation or plants can grow back to the river instead of
without a top soil layer. heaping on land areas where
 Heaping of stocks of pebbles sand stock piles maintained.
and ball stones in the vicinity  Declared plots of land for sand
of river banks after the stock piles
screening process before
despatching sand to the 4 Discussion
market. The measures already taken are very
instrumental in conserving the river
bank ecological system of the river. The
3.2 Recent measures taken measures below are very important
for sustainable river sand when allowing river sand mining in the
mining area concerned under this case study.
Currently, there are many measures  For any new sand mining
already implemented and being locations in the river, it would
practised in artisanal river sand mining be better if the access roads are
in the Mahaweli river especially in the prepared as fish-bone pattern,
Mahiyangana area. The mindset of the from which river bank erosion
sand mining community has subjected can be mimicked due to river
to very positive thinking pattern water level fluctuations from
because unless this particular mining time to time and especially
industry is driven in sustainable during high rainy periods.
manner, they have realized that their
future livelihood is in danger. Some
distinct steps already taken for
sustainable river sand mining are given
below. River flow direction
 Introduction of a novel
concept named “ Green sand
ferry “ for all river sand Access paths
mining locations in
Mahiyangana area. Figure 1: Fish bone pattern access to
Subsequently this concept was river for sand ferrys

Page 169
 A proper method of estimating Findings and proposed measures of
available sand reserves/ this study will help create public
deposits in the river is awareness on the ecological and social
required. Based on that results, economic values of rivers, guide the
it is easy to establish a rationale concerned regulatory authorities for
to decide monthly production more serious consideration of the
quantities given in mining potential long term consequences of
licences. But it is worth to widespread sand mining, and
mention that estimation of contribute to formulation of new
sand reserve/ deposit in the policies to protect and conserve the
active channels and river and river valleys from any
floodplain/overbank areas of destruction by sand mining.
the
river basins is an expensive Acknowledgement
and tedious process.
The author is thankful to Dr.
5 Conclusion C.H.E.R.Siriwardane, Director General
Artisinal river sand mining practices of Geological Survey & Mines Bureau
currently carried out on the Mahaweli (GSMB) and Eng. Sajjana de Silva,
river in the Mahiyangana area are Senior Director- Mining of Geological
important to maintain a sustainable Survey & Mines Bureau (GSMB) for
way of river sand mining for ever encouraging and supporting to do this
increasing sand demand mainly for case study and publish in a
construction purposes. Now it is time Engineering magazines. Author is
for serious consideration of the particularly thankful to Mr. Thushara
potential long term consequences of Deshapriya, Technical Officer of GSMB
widespread sand mining, and Regional office , Badulla for giving very
contribute to formulation of policies to informative facts for this case study.
protect and conserve rivers and river Author’s heartfelt appreciation goes to
valleys affected by sand mining. all those who contributed in diverse
ways in acquisition of information for
It would be of value to replicate the completion of this paper.
practices and proposed remedial
actions covered in this paper on other References
rivers and streams of Sri lanka where
artisanal sand mining happens on a [1] Guaratne L.P.H., (2010) Policy
large scale and threatened by Options for Sustainable River Sand
irresponsible mining. By applying such Mining in Sri Lanka, Published by
the Economy and Environment
practices , it is obvious that we can Program for Southeast Asia
protect our exisiting river eco-system (EEPSEA), Singapore, ISBN: 978-
and minimize river bank degradation 981-08-7709-5.
and damage to the vegetation adjacent [2] Langer W.H., (2003). A general
to rivers or streams. The mindset of overview of the technology of in-
rural folk involved in river sand mining stream mining of sand and gravel
can also be changed to think about their resources, associated potential
environmental impacts, and methods
environment and the natural
to control potential impacts, USGS
vegetation once they are engaged in Open-File Report OF-02-153.
river sand mining.

Page 170
All Would Not Respond to Early Warnings By Thushara Dissanayake BScEng.,
MBA., CEng., MIE(SL)
In Sri Lanka, we frequently experience sorrowful natural disasters. Among them most common
are floods and landslides. Very often respective organizations issue early warnings with the onset
of hazardous situations, but, sometimes, it is not possible to eliminate loss of lives and other
preventable damages. National Building Research Organization (NBRO) is the government
institution dealing with landslide hazards according to the Disaster Management Act of Sri Lanka,
while Irrigation Department deals with floods.
A recent example is the landslide incident at Meeriyabedda in Passara. According to the NBRO,
land slide hazard warnings had been issued several times prior to the disaster in this area.
Apparently, people residing at the location had not vacated the place despite such warnings. After
the incident occurred, heated arguments, blame games, etc., went on among many parties with
regard to who should take the responsibility for the disaster and what preventive actions could
have been taken to prevent the disaster.
According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) “disaster
risk reduction is the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to
analyze and reduce the casual factors of disasters”. Accordingly, reducing exposure to hazards,
lessening vulnerability of people and property, proper management of land and the environment,
and improving preparedness and early warning for adverse events are some basic actions of
disaster risk reduction. Disaster reduction is about choices people make. Each decision and action
makes the society either more vulnerable to disasters or more resilient towards those. The
magnitude of the impact depends on the nature of the choices people make.
As with the Meeriyabedda disaster, in fact, there can be two possibilities. One possibility is that
the authorities might have not taken necessary steps to shift those affected from the disaster prone
area and resettle them in a safer place. Second possibility is that people have not vacated the place
irrespective of provision of lands in safer locations and other requirements to resettle provided by
the authorities. Whichever the case might have been the question is why people kept silent
neglecting such warning of a hazard which has the potential of making their lives at risk.

Page 171
It is often mentioned that most people do not care about early warnings, safety precautions etc.
The success of disaster risk reduction activities largely depends on the community participation.
Risks involve with great deal of uncertainties. Uncertainty is the existence of more than one
possibility. As risks do not always bring about disasters, different people will perceive risk
differently. At times people heavily object structural mitigation measures such as relocation. There
can be various reasons for such type of public resistance during risk mitigation efforts. Lack of
facilities at new locations, high perceived value of their properties, problems with regards to
livelihood, separation from relatives, political misleading, and ignorance are some of the reasons.
Similarly, there can be some psychological affiliations for root causes of such resistive behavior.
They are discussed under social psychology as psychological traps or biases in decision making
and same could constrain human responses in disaster risk reduction efforts as well. These
psychological factors may affect not only relocation endeavors but actually extend to a broader
scope of risk reduction practices. This article is about implications of such psychological traps
with disaster risk reduction practices.
The psychological traps that can hinder disaster mitigation efforts are.
Status-quo bias
The preference for the current state of affairs is called status-quo bias. An individual weighs the
potential losses of switching from the status-quo more than the potential gains. As such, potential
risks are under-estimated and often people refuse to shift from certain disaster prone areas they
used to live. Similarly, people are not willing to give up practices that can increase the disaster
risk. Unwillingness to adhere to safety precautions in industrial activities, improper land use
practices for agriculture and other development activities, environmental pollution especially by
wrongful discarding of solid and liquid waste can be given as examples.

Page 172
Over confidence bias
Over confidence effect is a bias in which a person’s subjective confidence in his or her judgments
is reliably greater than the objective accuracy of those judgments. This may help a person to think
that he is safe from a hazard. As a result, some people are reluctant to vacate their residences
despite warnings of possible disasters. Some people say that they are safeguarded by their religion
as they are behaving virtuously according to their religion.
Conformity bias
Sometimes, when people want to decide what to do, they look around and see what others do in
such a situation and follow them. This is known as the conformity bias. People frequently conform
to the majority view, even when they know it is wrong. This behavior can occur among people
during disaster mitigation processes as well. People always emulate the majority. If the majority
refrains from leaving a risky area, other individuals also follow them despite their realization of
risk. On the contrary, people panic unnecessarily during emergencies and create disasters by
themselves like injuries or loss of lives due to congestion.
Gambler’s fallacy
The gambler’s fallacy is the bias where someone expects past events to influence the future. For
instance, consider people living in an area which has the risk of landslides during rainy seasons.
Suppose that there were no landslides during few consecutive rainy periods, then according to the
gambler’s fallacy, people in that area believe that there will be no more landslides and engage in
activities without caring the risk and finally are subjected to a disaster.
It is important to consider above discussed psychological biases during the efforts of disaster risk
reduction. Conducting educational programs would be beneficial to people at risk to understand
the reality. Loss of lives and other damages can be further reduced, if people are able to make
correct decisions devoid of psychological biases.
Author is a Chartered Civil Engineer graduated from University of Peradeniya in 1998. He

completed his Commonwealth Master of Business Administration Degree from Open University
of Sri Lanka.

Page 173
Building yourself up for modern age networking, By Sahan Hannadige, Co-
Founder InSync Information Technologies Pvt Ltd, BSc (Hons), MBA, AMIESL
Networking technologies are transforming like never. In fact, the speed of transformation is too
much that it’s too hard to digest. Although some of the transformational technologies have reached
its mature stages others are emerging and progressing in its maturity curve. Networking, which
was predominantly a technology that was visualized with physical gear and cables all around now
has a totally different outlook than it did a decade back. A network device once you could see,
hear, feel and touch is now an intangible piece of software.
So much has changed, but have you started to look beyond conventional networking knowledge?
This is a crucial question to ask if you are seriously considering pursuing the rest of your career in
the field of networking. Although technology innovation is taking place at a rapid phase, network
engineers have not been able to catch up with modern age networking practices at the phase of
technology evolution. Those who did are highly valued at this point of time as they are the pioneers
to cater the demand. I won’t say lack of awareness, but lack of believe and hesitation to learn a
new domain could be the resistive force for network engineers to evolve along with this
transformation. Do not worry, you are not alone, but as long as you have the passion and the right
attitude, preparing for modern age networking is not rocket science.
So, what has really changed, and is this happening? Well, the short answer is ‘yes, it is really
happening’, and a lot has changed and keeps on changing. It’s not necessarily the technology that
pushed the innovation forward, but the competitive nature of businesses, novel business models
and the need for agility and lean business operations. In today’s world, entrance barrier for new
business is minimal. And as a result, companies that has lasted for decades are now been
challenged by newborn entrances with creative business models that leverage digital capabilities.
App based economies, ubiquitous connectivity, internet of things, cloud consumption models are
catalyst of rapid evolution taking place. As networks lies at the core of communication, it should
not be a bottleneck when the grand moment awaits them to appear. Networks should be flexible to
cater business needs, agile and elastic. These are fundamental drivers behind the transformation
that’s taking place.
Let’s try to narrow down and understand what’s really happening in the technology domain. As
noted above, businesses are adopting digital capabilities such as apps to offer differentiated and
enhanced services to their stakeholders. One of the advantages of using digital capabilities is faster
go-to-market. This makes businesses leap ahead of competition and to be agile by being able to
introduce different services as and when business demand. As a result, over the years applications
architecture too have evolved from being monolithic to micro-services-based architecture to cater
these needs. APIs play a key role for communication between modules and apps in a micro-
services architecture. Hence, not only the traditional traffic flow from north to south change to
east-west, but also complicated the connectivity needs and the frequency of change. Businesses
used to host their applications on their data centers, but with cloud adaptation applications could
sit anywhere whether it is on premise data center or cloud. This further complicates the
connectivity requirement from a networking point of view. From a network engineering point of
view, it becomes mandatory that you understand applications behavior and basically beyond
Page 174
switching and routing domains. You need to have a close relationship with application developers
to understand their requirement in detail in order to best design your network and to troubleshoot
it.
From the systems domain, virtualization of infrastructure created further complication on network
infrastructure as there arises the need for connectivity up to a virtual port and further in a dynamic
environment. When virtual switches were introduced to cater these needs, traditional hardware
savvy network engineers were faced with a new challenge to install and configure a virtual switch
in a virtualized environment. As the trend in virtualization continued, network devices started to
take a virtual form starting from virtual switches to virtual firewalls, virtual wireless controllers,
etc. These were called virtual network functions and started to gain popularity to cater increasing
business demands and cloud-based consumption models. Moving forward, containerization was
introduced, as application deployment started to be on containers. Container based architecture has
now become an integral part of cloud computing due to efficiencies and scalability it brings. As
containers became increasingly popular network form is now changing towards container based or
cloud native networks.
As you can see, a modern age network engineer must have the background systems knowledge to
perform installation of virtual or container-based network instance. Therefore, it is essential that
you learn skills such as Linux systems which was not mandatory for network engineers back then.
So as highlighted, understanding about applications and systems is quite important as a network
engineer. Is that it? no way.
As the virtualization trend continues, network function virtualization that includes virtual
infrastructure, virtual network functions, element management systems became popular and
frameworks and tools to manage and orchestrate the stack were introduced. This now gives the
capability to receive inputs from third-party systems and to automatically provision a virtual
network node and manage its lifecycle services. Deployment and troubleshooting such
sophisticated solutions require thorough knowledge on network programming and will be a crucial
role of a future network engineer.
Another wave that hit the networking industry is software-defined networking. Software defined
networks segregated data plane from control plane enabling network policies and management to
take place from a single controller. At the same time software defined networks creates an abstract
overlay on top of the underlay of a complex network environment giving simplified portals to
manage networks.
As businesses become competitive it demands the ability to be agile. As application landscape
becomes complex, underlying network infrastructure should be flexible enough to address
connectivity needs of applications. Most often application developers, devops teams would need
to visualize, test, validate network connectivity in addition to the network administrators. This
requires networks to be responsive, dynamic, open and visually available. As a result,
communication through APIs, programmability and new management protocols are emerged.
REST APIs for integration with other systems, programmability capability through data modeling
languages such as YANG, network management protocols such as NETCONF, streaming
Page 175
telemetry for real-time monitoring are some examples of emerging technologies. Network devices
from almost all the major OEMs have started adding these including on-net and off-net automation
capabilities. On the other hand, large number of open-source tools such as Ansible are being
adopted for routine task automation. As networks become programmable and as multiple
stakeholders are engaged, lifecycle management of software development and devops practices
such as version controlling, CI/CD and continuous improvement plays a crucial role. Therefore, it
becomes a need of the hour to learn devops concepts and tools. Tools such as github, Jenkins, Jira
are good to start-off with. It will be crucial to use these tools in business environment to ensure
consistency and productivity.
When workloads reside at multiple on-prem and cloud-based platforms and when they have the
capability to be mobile, similar level of capability should be inherent to network nodes in order to
provide secure connectivity. This means that your network could exist anywhere, and you should
have the capability to load, configure, manage and decommission network nodes instantly. Not to
forget the rate of app development and testing that takes place in your business. Considering all of
these, it is necessary to use network automation and orchestration capabilities to minimize human
intervention and to efficiently manage life cycle services. This is where network engineers now
need to learn network automation capabilities with platforms such as python and tools such as
Ansible for routine task automation.
To conclude, as business landscapes are changing network technologies are evolving to cater the
business demands. This brings out innovation in networking technologies that gives prominence
to automation, programmability and orchestration which requires network engineers to gain
systems and programming skills that were traditionally not sought after.
As you could imagine, networks are transforming heavily and as network engineers you will be
compelled to study a totally different set of tools to proceed successfully in future. A vacancy for
network engineer which was advertise as ‘looking for a network engineer with CCNP, BGP, OSPF
knowledge’ could soon change to ‘looking for a network engineer with python, JSON/XML, API,
Linux and Ansible knowledge’.
Page 176
Managing Flooding Risks by Pulith Vidanapathirana B.Eng (Civil) Hons
Flooding is a natural phenomenon that can have chaotic and unpredictable effects in urban
environments. The strategies we use to manage floods is critical to preventing loss of life and
economic upheaval.
In Australia, flooding is a familiar occurrence much like bushfires and droughts. The city of Brisbane,
is an example of a major city that is highly attuned to the risks of flooding. The city is built around the
Brisbane River, the confluence of a number of tributaries. The Brisbane River drains a vast catchment
in south-east Queensland and discharges into Moreton Bay. Wivenhoe Dam is located 80km upstream
of the Brisbane CBD. Its principle function is to supply
potable water to the Brisbane and Ipswich regions.
However, it is also utilised as a flood mitigation dam by
storing rainfall runoff.
In January 2011, much of central and southern Queensland

were affected by a series of floods, forcing the evacuation
of 200,000 people and resulting in $2.4 billion in property
and infrastructure damage. A hydrology report
commissioned by the Insurance Council of Australia
following the floods, found that the primary cause of the
breach of the Brisbane River’s banks was the opening of
Wivenhoe Dam’s flood gates, which sent a floodwave
through Brisbane. The floodwave caused backwater
Figure 1 Brisbane River Catchment flooding up the tributaries to the Brisbane River and
backwater flooding up stormwater drainage lines leading to
flooding of local roads. The Brisbane River is recorded to have peaked more than 24 hours after rainfall
ceased, lending weight to this argument. However, the decision by authorities to release the dam was
inevitable given it was already at capacity. Not only was the dam collecting surface runoff from the
upstream catchment, it was also collecting the
releases from the upstream Somerset Dam as
well as direct rainfall. It shows that, during
extreme rain events, dams are of limited
effectiveness.
Australia’s largest city is not immune from such

an incident. Given, the greater population
density, a similar flood event in Sydney would
have a more devastating social and economic
toll than the 2011 floods in Queensland.
Figure 2 Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium inundated in 2011
Sydney hasn’t had experienced a major flood
event in living memory. However, the large
population base of western Sydney lies on the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain. The topography of the
area is such that a vast catchment stretching down to the Southern Highlands past Goulburn, and west
to the Blue Mountains, drains into the Hawkesbury River. However, the river narrows at Sackville
about 15km north of Windsor. During an extreme flood event, this constriction of the river has an
effect analogous to a bathtub, causing waters to back up into the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain and
affect large swathes of heavily populated urban areas in western Sydney.
Page 177
In response to flooding concerns, governments and
authorities generally stipulate that construction of
property is prohibited within the 1 in 100 year flood
zone. However, a property sitting outside this zone is
not necessarily safe from flooding. The probability of
a flood is simply reduced. Local factors such as
topography, soil conditions and the proportion of
green areas can have a significant effect on the flood
risk of an area.
Figure 3 Sydney's Hawkesbury-Nepean Floodplain Flood events will increasingly become more intense
due to the effects of climate change into the future.
While the science is still debated in politics, climate change is accepted and accounted for within the
civil design industry. Australian Rainfall & Runoff (2016) is a national guideline used by the industry
for the estimation of design flood characteristics in Australia. For the year 2050, it recommends using
a lower bound climate change factor of 6.4% in Sydney. The implication is that rainfall intensities for
all durations of storms is predicted to be 6.4% greater than current intensities by 2050. The higher
bound climate change factor is 9% in Sydney by 2050. These are significant increases of rainfall and
will correspond with an increase in magnitude of flood events.
Sea level rise is also an important consideration for low-lying coastal areas. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that sea levels will rise on average by 40cm by the end of the
century if current emission levels are stabilised. However, if emission levels continue to rise rapidly, it
predicts sea level rise of 62 cm on average by the end of the century. These are dramatic increases
that will inundate major coastal cities. Despite the evidence, fear of climate change has yet to affect
consumer sentiment. This can be seen in the continuing rise of luxury waterfront property prices. Its
simply a matter of time until realisation sinks in and prices crash.
The first step in flood mitigation strategy may be to shift settlements in low-lying and flood risk areas
to higher ground. However, this is a relatively drastic path of action that would uproot the lives of
many and prohibitively expensive for governments.
Modern urban projects have a heavy emphasis on flood protection mechanisms and are required by
clients and authorities. For example, stations on the Sydney Metro line have a requirement to design
entries to underground stations at least 300mm higher than the 1 in 100 year flood level. This
additional freeboard minimises the likelihood of water ingress into underground station infrastructure
in the event of a flash flood. This is considered a passive flood protection mechanism as the protection
is incorporated within the design and does not require any action to trigger it. Alternatively, flood
barriers can be used to protect civil infrastructure in the event of a flash flood. This is an example of
active flood protection as the incidence of a flood can trigger the protection mechanism.
The tasks of flood modellers will become increasingly important. TUFLOW is an example of a software
used to undertake such modelling. It uses 1D and 2D finite difference modelling to simulate
hydrodynamic behaviours in rivers, floodplains and urban drainage environments. The accuracy of
surveyed topographic information will determine the accuracy of the flood modelling results. Once
the model results are verified, detailed maps can be produced to present flooding depths and extents
of flooding in a selected area. Such information is critical input to the design of civil infrastructure and
can also be used for authorities to make decisions on satisfactory locations for infrastructure
development.
Page 178
The Netherlands has taken an innovative approach to the issue. The country is largely situated on low
ground. In fact, 60% of the Netherland’s GDP is generated in areas that are lower than the surrounding
sea. In the past, the country has dealt with this issue by using physical walls and levees to protect low-
lying areas from water. However, given the accelerating rate of sea-level rise, this is becoming
increasingly unviable. In 2006, the Dutch government launched its ‘Living with Water’ program.
Instead of constructing barriers to stop the advance of water, the policy accepts that water in its major
cities is inevitable and that cities should be designed to cope with that. This includes designing roads
that are allowed to be inundated during flood events, in which case they can become waterways. In
this way, the urban environment can adapt around the natural environment instead of the urban
environment trying to change the natural environment.
Maximising the use of green space in urban design is another principle that can be used to mitigate
the effects of floods. Most urban environments are largely paved surfaces. Runoff from such surfaces
is therefore mostly conveyed overland. However, in vegetated areas, a proportion of flowing water
will infiltrate into and be stored by the subsoil. The rate dependent on the soil properties. These
infiltration and storage losses can reduce the volume of floodwaters. Allowing water to seep
underground also serves to nourish the soil and provide cool zones when temperatures rise in urban
areas. Where paving is required for applications such as roads, using porous materials, that serve some
filtering function whilst maintaining strength, could be used to allow some portion of overland flow
to also infiltrate.
Cities like New York and Copenhagen are at the forefront of these innovative ideas. However, in
progressive modern cities such as these, there is still a convenient tendency to design large central
parks and direct surrounding urban catchments towards these parks. The incidence of major flooding
events and their severity can be reduced by isolating small catchments and providing small to medium-
sized green zones threaded throughout the urban landscape. In this way, smaller volumes of water
can be isolated and retained during peak rainfalls instead of rushing to a single location and
snowballing into a concentrated flood wave.
Maximising the use of rainwater that falls from the sky is another practice that is quickly gaining
traction. Rainwater that falls on hard surfaces such as roofing can easily be stored and used for
irrigation, washing and harvesting. Not only is this an efficient use of the resource, but on a larger
scale, it can reduce the severity of flash flooding by reducing the incident rainfall.
With the effects of climate change and rising sea levels, it is inevitable that flooding events will
increase in magnitude and frequency into the future. City planners and civil engineers are tasked with
managing and mitigating these risks in fast-growing population centres. As a society, we need to look
at flooding from a different perspective. Instead of fighting the water, how can we better live with it?
References
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/when-sydneys-rivers-run-high-20130201-
2dpyq.html
https://www.foreground.com.au/planning/protect-cities-sea-level-rise-engineering/
https://theconversation.com/design-for-flooding-how-cities-can-make-room-for-water-105844
https://www.carbonbrief.org/what-the-new-ipcc-report-says-about-sea-level-rise
Page 179
Engineering a Stable Future: The Significance of Sustainable
Engineering Practices by Nadeesha Abeyrathne
Engineering has become ubiquitous in society due to its importance in furthering economic
stability and improving quality of life. A heavier focus on sustainability in engineering has
resulted in engineers who were previously responsible for formulating solutions that satisfy
technical and economic requirements now being expected to address social and
environmental aspects through sustainable engineering practices. Furthermore, the
constraints imposed by Earth’s limited resources has resulted in sustainable practices
becoming an increasingly integral component of engineering. The purpose of this article is to
provide insight into the difficulties of defining sustainability, explain its importance to present
and future generations, detail the urgency of revising current engineering education to include
it as an overarching concept, and illustrate why it is a component vital for consideration from
the inception phase of engineering solutions.
Sustainability remains an ambiguous concept and must be universally defined among

engineers. Sustainable development has generally been defined as that which ‘meets the
need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs’ (Rosen 2012, p. 2271). However, progress is yet to be made in formulating a
universally accepted definition of sustainability and approach to achieving it. Additionally, the
definition of sustainability is subject to the perception of various societies and regions
(Davidson et al. 2010; Rosen 2012).
Developing a universally accepted approach to sustainability among regions is a difficult goal

to achieve. Many nations prioritise the pace of technological development over the means by
which this is achieved, thus sustainable practices may not be implemented or utilised to
maximum efficacy. The rapid development of solutions has resulted in engineers developing
systems to manage waste including recycling and wastewater treatment plants but unable to
focus on those that minimise the production of waste in the first place (Davidson et al. 2010).
Engineering education must be revised with a greater focus on sustainable practices in order
to prepare graduates for the expanded responsibilities they will bear. Some students and
recent graduates may not fully understand the importance of devising solutions that consider
the constraints imposed by limited resources and waste minimisation policies on their
solutions. The urgency of revising engineering courses is intensified when considering the
sheer number of students graduating each year, with approximately 70,000 in the United
States alone. Implementing these revisions will prove challenging as they will be time
consuming, seen as a low priority by some, and require a significant amount of money for
items such as textbooks (Davidson et al. 2010).
Page 180
Engineering activities must adopt sustainable practices as a primary objective rather than an
ancillary component of a solution. This can be achieved by not only involving the use of
sustainable resources but developing and incorporating systems that are sustainable
throughout the development and lifecycle of the product/service. It may seem ‘sustainable’ to
produce items using a relatively abundant resource, but the disposal procedure may prove to
be detrimental to the environment and society via toxic emissions that negatively impact the
environment and quality of life for those exposed to such substances (Alwi et al. 2014; Miller
2014; Rosen 2012).
In conclusion, sustainable engineering practices are necessary for maintaining quality of life
and preserving the environment. I strongly believe we all have a responsibility to ensure we
pass on a healthy, prosperous world to the next generations. This can be achieved through a
combined effort between regions to develop a unified approach to sustainability, educate
engineers on the importance of sustainable engineering practices, and incorporate these
practices throughout the development of solutions.
References
Alwi, S.R.W., Manan, Z.A., Klemes, J.J. & Huisingh, D. 2014, ‘Sustainability engineering for
the future’, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 71, pp. 1 -10
Davidson, C., Hendrickson, C.T., Matthews, H.S., Bridges, M.W., Allen, D.T., Murphy, C.F.,
Allenby, B.R., Crittenden, J.C., Austin, S. 2010, ‘Preparing future engineers for
challenges of the 21st century: Sustainable engineering’, Journal of Cleaner
Production, vol. 18, pp. 698 – 701
Miller, G. 2014, ‘Exploring Engineering and Sustainability: Concepts, Practices, Politics and
Consequences’, Engineering Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 23 – 43
Rosen, M.A. 2012, ‘Engineering Sustainability: A Technical Approach to Sustainability’,

Sustainability, vol. 4, pp. 2270 – 2292
Nadeesha is currently Bid/Tender Co-ordinator at Toshiba International Corporation and in his

fifth year of undertaking a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) Bachelor of Business (Management)
at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Page 181
Magazine Technical Committee

Chair, Eng. Rohitha Silva graduated in Civil Engineering from the
University of Moratuwa in 1991 and obtained MEng in Structural
Engineering in 1994 from AIT. He possesses more than 25 years of
experience in design and construction and has been involved in the design
and construction of over 80 projects in both Australia and Thailand. His
specific experience includes design deliveries, design verifications, design
management activities etc. pertaining to buildings, bridges, underpasses,
industrial plants, airports, rails, tunnels etc. In Bangkok, Thailand, he
worked at Unique Engineering and Construction Public Co., Ltd for 14
years and managed the Design and Technical Division. Since 2008, Rohitha
has been employed with SMEC as a Principal Bridge Designer
Past Chair, Eng. Sarath Wijayapala, BSc(Eng) Hons, MSc(EOE),

MBA(Tech Mgmt.), CEng, HLF IESL, FIEAust, CPEng(Ret.) graduated in
Mechanical Engineering from the University of Peradeniya in 1970 and
obtained MBA (Technology Management) from Deakin University, Australia
in 1993 and MSc (Explosives Ordnance Engineering) from Cranfield
University, UK in 2001. He served as an IESL Council Member representing
Fellows until his emigration to Australia in 1988. In Australia Sarath worked
as Project Manager in a Newcastle shipyard for 3 years and then for the
Department of Defence until his retirement as the Chief Engineer of MCP
Systems Program Office. His expertise is in maritime engineering, explosives engineering, quality assurance
and project management. He is an Honorary Life Fellow of IESL.
Editor, Eng. Dr. Tissa Abayaratna BScEng (Hons) in Electronics and

Telecommunications from University of Moratuwa in 1980, followed by M.Eng
in Electronics from Philips Electronics Industries, Holland in 1984, and then a
PhD in Electrical Engineering from UNSW in 2005. He initially served as a
Lecturer, Department of Electronics at the University of Moratuwa. After
migrating to Australia in 1990 he joined UNSW as an Electronics Engineer, and
then joined Optus as a Senior Network Engineer attached to the Internet
Division until 2006 when he joined IBM as a Systems Management Specialist.
He is currently employed as Capacity Manager at Fujitsu Australia.
Dr. Chinthaka Fonseka graduated with a first class honours degree in Civil
Engineering from University of Moratuwa and the UNESCO Gold Medal in 1985.
He joined the academic staff of the Department of Civil Engineering in 1985. He
obtained his PhD in Finite Element Analysis of Shell Structures from University of
Southampton, UK in 1990 and served as a Senior Lecturer until 1996. He has
published many research papers during his tenure as a Senior Lecturer and
received three Best Paper awards from the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. Dr.
Fonseka is currently a Senior Structural Engineer and a Sector Leader in Health
Infrastructure at Cardno (NSW/ACT) Pty Ltd. He is also the Quality Management
System Manager of the Buildings Division. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) and a member
of the National Engineers Register (NER) of Engineers Australia and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
Engineers (APEC) register.

Dr. Premaratne Samaranayake received his PhD from the University of

Melbourne and holds BSc Eng. (First Class Honours) from University of Moratuwa;
M.Eng from Asian Institute of Technology; and PG Diploma (Computer Science). He
also holds SAP Certification on Best Practices in ERP (BPERP). Currently, he is a Senior
Lecturer at Western Sydney University and has extensive research and scholarly work
experience in broader areas of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) using SAP ERP
systems, Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Industrial Engineering, spanning over
more than 25 years. He is actively engaged in research collaborations with industry
and has successfully completed a number of research projects in recent times,
including (i) Development of a methodology for integrating planning and scheduling
techniques for aircraft heavy maintenance (funded by SAP AG - the market leader of ERP systems), and (ii)
Kerbside assessment of freight and servicing activity in Parramatta CBD (funded by Transport for NSW).
Dr. Ranjith Liyanapathirana received his bachelor’s degree in electronic and

telecommunication engineering from University of Moratuwa, in 1981 and his MEng
and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Memorial University of
Newfoundland, Canada in 1987 and 1995 respectively. From his graduation in 1981
to 1998, he worked in academia and industry in Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and Canada
and Western Australia. In 1998, he joined Western Sydney University (WSU) to
establish the Telecommunication Engineering Program. He is currently a Senior
Lecturer in the WSU School of Engineering and Construction Management. His
current areas of research interest include wireless sensor networks, biomedical
engineering and structural health monitoring. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and ACS.
He has a hobby interest in amateur radio (VK6BHV). He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers in
IEEE/IET conferences and journals.
Eng. Amir Deen retired as Chief Technical Principal (Water) SMEC in 2017
after twelve years with the firm. Critical projects he worked on included the
Sydney and Victorian Desalination Plants, Water Resources studies across NSW
and a number of international projects. Prior to that he was Hydrology Manager
with the Sydney Catchment Authority and the Sydney Water Corporation for a
period of around twenty years. In that period, he was responsible for the
development of the long-term strategy for Sydney Water Supply, Inflow-
Infiltration studies, spillway design studies, drought studies, flood warning
systems and flood investigations. He has also worked with the Northern Territory
Water Division and a number of Australian and International Consulting Engineers over a career spanning
over forty-five years. Amir graduated from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, has a Master’s degree in
Hydrology from Imperial College London and an MBA from Deakin University Geelong. He is a Fellow of
Engineers Australia and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers London.

Dr. Lanka Thabrew is a Civil Engineering professional with 15+ experience

in both academia and utility industry. Her fields of expertise include structural
engineering and environmental systems modelling. She has completed her BSc
in Civil Engineering at University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, MSc in Civil and
Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and PhD in
Design Construction and Planning at University of Florida, USA. Lanka has
served as a Research Associate and Project Manager at Vanderbilt Institute for
Energy and Environment leading numerous energy - water related projects
with Department of Energy-USA and National Building Research Organisation-
Sri Lanka. Currently, she is employed as a Senior Civil Structural Engineer at
Western Power, Australia responsible for developing civil structural standards
and specifications, and new technology assessment. Lanka is an industry
reviewer for Standards Australia and working group member for Energy
Networks Association.
Dr. Ashok Peiris is presently employed as Technical Director at GHD Pty Ltd
and is responsible for design and providing construction stage services for major
infrastructure projects in Australia and Overseas. Previously he has held positions
in academia, including Head of the Dept. of Computer Science and Founder board
member, Faculty of IT, University of Moratuwa and Professor/Founder Dean of
the Faculty of Engineering at SLIIT. He is a registered Charted Engineer of IESL and
IEAust. As a professional engineer, Ashok was involved in many legacy projects
such as the Ballina Bypass, Kempsey Bypass Alliances and design of a super tall
building in excess of 600 m high. Ashok has published over 30 technical
publications in journals and conferences. Ashok graduated with First Class
honours from the University of Moratuwa, specialising in Civil Engineering and received his PhD from the
University of Tokyo and MSc/DIC from Imperial College, University of London.

Bridge

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bridge

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bridge

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka

New South Wales Australia Chapter

Magazine is prepared by:

Magazine Technical Committee

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Building and Maintaining Bridges to be Sustainable, W. Ariyaratne 2

Completing the Mahaweli Plan, A. Deen 28

Evolution of System Quality Assurance from Product Quality Control, S. Wijayapala 36

Critique of “Engineering Standards” and their application, D.T. Wijayasinghe 41

Societal Role of Professional Engineers, J. Seneviratne 49

Software Application for Reservoir Operation Study, A. Gunasekara, D.A.S. Atukorale 56

Parkes Radio Telescope is an International Celebrity, T.S. Bird, K. P. Esselle 65

Foundation Selection, Design Methodology and Construction of Electrical Transmission Line 69

Leadership for Managing Virtual Project Teams, P. Kuruppuarachchi 91

Concept Paper: Kelani-Mahaweli Inter-Basin Diversion, C.H.T. Gamage 111

Ballistic Performance of Multi-Metal Systems, A Review, P. Ranaweera, D. Weerasinghe, 119

Improving Road Safety in Sri Lanka, D. Jayarathna 161

All Would Not Respond to Early Warnings, T. Dissanayake 171

Building yourself up for modern age networking, S. Hannadige 174

Managing Flooding Risks, P. Vidanapathirana 177

Engineering a Stable Future: The Significance of Sustainable Engineering Practices , N. 180

Magazine Technical Committee 182

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Message from the IESL NSW Chapter Executive Committee

We have received 20 manuscripts for publication in different engineering disciplines from

The IESL NSW Chapter Executive Committee 2018/2019

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Prof Wije Ariyaratne BScEng; MEngSc; GradDipBus; CPEng: FIE Aust

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Sustainability is generally defined as follows:

Life–Cycle Management of Sustainable Bridges

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Design is a multi-disciplinary process that generally involves bridge engineers,

The following sustainability indicators measure the success of construction in achieving

Environment protection is measured by how construction impacts on climate change, land,

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Durability Provisions Launching of Superstructure

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Sustainability during this phase can be achieved by implementing a well-planned asset

Asset Management cycle for Sustainable Bridges

The three phases are detailed in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

Phase 1 – Routine Activities

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

7 Durability Inadequate 8 Capacity Inadequate

Develop and Implement 10 Structural Inspection

High Level Structural

Phase 3 – Decision Making and Action

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Bridge Information System (BIS)

Durability of concrete Bridges

Concrete deterioration due to the corrosion of reinforcement commonly referred to as ‘concrete

Some of the findings from the review are:

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Preliminary Assessment of Concrete Bridges

Detailed Investigation for Concrete Bridges

Boyd's Bay Bridge in Teed Heads, NSW is presented as an example.

IESL NSW Chapter Engineering Magazine 2019

Figure 8 – Damaged Concrete