May/June 2024 - 65

MOHAN RAMANATHAN, CHAIR
DFI OF INDIA
REGIONAL REPORT
Joint Workshop on CFA Piles
Deep Foundations Institute of India
(DFII), in collaboration with the Kolkata
Chapter of the Indian Geotechnical
Society (IGS), co-hosted an online halfday
workshop on " Continuous Flight
Auger (CFA) Piles: Theory, Prospects
and Applications in India " on March 30.
According to Credit Rating Information
Services of India Limited's
Infrastructure Yearbook 2023, India
will double its infrastructure investment
through 2030, compared to the
previous six years, which means a great
scope of work for the civil engineering
and construction industry. Previous
projects worldwide have shown that
construction projects that do not
complete foundations on schedule end
up with major cost escalations and time
delays. Speedy and safe foundation
construction requires advanced technologies
and modern equipment other
than those being practiced now or used
in India. Often, economical foundation
systems being implemented outside
India using modern equipment and
technologies are somehow not utilized
and executed here to the extent possible,
due to preferences for a specified
design and construction practice perceived
as better suited to India. CFA pile
technology is one such foundation
system that has a great potential to
improve the speed of foundation
construction in India.
This workshop by the DFII CFA Pile
Technology Implementation Committee
promoted understanding of how
CFA piling technology can be a game
changer in the Indian piling industry,
and how it can be implemented in India.
This was the second online workshop
after laudable success of the first
webinar with the IGS Delhi chapter in
March 2021.
CFA pile technology is one such foundation system that
has a great potential to improve the speed of foundation
construction in India.
Six esteemed experts in CFA pile
technology presented during the
workshop. Shyamal Kumar Mitra, a
highly respected geotechnical consultant,
delivered a presentation titled
" Pile Foundation Design and Construction
Practices with Specific
References to Piling in West Bengal &
Eastern States of India. " He highlighted
current practices, identified common
misconceptions, and emphasized the
and load tests, accompanied by important
case studies from the AustraliaNew
Zealand region.
The subsequent presentation was
delivered by Ian White, business unit
manager at Menard Middle East, and
Prathmesh Wani, geotechnical engineer
at Menard, on " Ground Improvement
Technique by Controlled
Modulus Columns. " They showcased
the practical applications of ground
need for enhanced focus on quality
assurance and quality control (QA/QC)
measures. He also discussed various
piling practices in eastern India, including
bored, driven and driven castin-situ
piles.
Next, Martin Larisch, Ph.D., C.Eng.,
director of Larisch Consulting, spoke on
" CFA Piles: Construction Techniques
and Global Practices. " He covered topics
such as the strength of CFA piles,
common pitfalls, QA/QC procedures
improvement, particularly focusing on
the controlled modulus columns or
CMC technique, which employs the
CFA applications.
Er. IV Anirudhan, a geotechnical
consultant with wide range of geotechnical
and foundation works
undertaken in India and abroad, followed
with a presentation titled
" Design Approaches for CFA Piles, "
where he discussed the design philosophy
for CFA piles, highlighted
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * MAY/JUNE 2024 * 65
May/June 2024

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