Defence Technology 48 (2025) 306e316

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Effective implementation of controlled blasting methodology during

excavation of hard rock in the close proximity of earthen dam and
tunnel
Prakash K. Palei *, Vijay K. Ghodake, S. Santhosh Kumar, R.S. Gurjar, Chaman Singh,
M. Meena, Rizwan Ali, R.S. Kankara
Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune 411024, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present technical paper outlines the details of the controlled blasting techniques used to optimize
Received 24 December 2024 blasting pattern for excavation of hard rock near the Bhira Earthen Dam in Maharashtra, India. In this
Received in revised form connection, a series of experimental blasts were conducted by adjusting various blast design parameters
27 January 2025
at project site. The safe charge weight per delay was kept between 0.125 and 0.375 kg. The outcomes of
Accepted 27 February 2025
Available online 28 February 2025
these experimental blasts were analyzed to recommend optimized blasting patterns and methods for the
overall excavation process during actual blasting operations. Blast design parameters, including the
maximum quantity of explosive per delay, hole depth, burden and spacing between holes were opti-
Keywords:
Controlled blasting
mized by using a site-specific attenuation equation, taking into account the proximity of the dam and
Civil structure tunnel from the blasting area. Peak particle velocity (PPV) level of 10 mm/s and 50 mm/s respectively
Ground vibration were adopted as the safe vibration level for ensuring safety of the Bhira Earthen Dam and the nearby
Attenuation relation tunnel from the adverse effects of blast vibrations by analyzing the dominant frequency of ground vi-
brations observed and also by reviewing various international standards. Frequency of the ground vi-
brations observed on the dam and tunnel from majority of the blasts was found to be more than 10 Hz
and 50 Hz respectively. During the entire period of blasting, the blast vibrations were recorded to be far
lower than the safe vibration level set for these structures. Maximum Vibration level of about 0.8 mm/s
and 35 mm/s were observed on dam and tunnel respectively which are far lower than the safe vibration
level adopted for these structures. Hence, the entire excavation work was completed successfully and
safely, without endangering the safety of dam or tunnel.
© 2025 China Ordnance Society. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications
Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([Link]
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction ground vibration is considered to be the most influential and

dominating factor for causing damage to the nearby important
In mining and construction projects, rock excavation is usually structures. Mostly, the amplitude and intensity of the ground vi-
carried out by using blasting operations [1]. During this process, bration decides its potential to cause damage to the surrounding
huge amount of energy released from exploding explosives is uti- structures [7e9]. These unwanted effects cannot be completely
lized for breaking and movement of rock mass. However, studies eliminated. However, it can be restricted within the safe limit by
indicate that only 20%e30% of explosive energy is utilized for suitably designing the blasting pattern.
breaking and moving the rock while rest of the energy produces Magnitude of blast vibration depends on several factors which
undesirable effects like ground vibration, air blast, noise, fly rock, can be divided into two main categories such as controllable and
back breaks, etc. [2e6]. Among the mentioned undesirable effects, uncontrollable parameters. These include the maximum charge
weight per delay, the distance from the blast site to the monitoring
point, the depth of the holes, the number of holes in a blast, the
total delay in milliseconds, as well as the conditions of the rock,
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [Link]@[Link] (P.K. Palei).
topography, geology, and rock characteristics [10]. It is very well
Peer review under the responsibility of China Ordnance Society. established fact that ground vibration is directly proportional to the

[Link]
2214-9147/© 2025 China Ordnance Society. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-
ND license ([Link]
P.K. Palei, V.K. Ghodake, S. Santhosh Kumar et al. Defence Technology 48 (2025) 306e316

amount of explosive detonated and the distance from the blast face 3. Destructive potential of blast vibrations
to the monitoring point [11,12]. Hence, by limiting the quantity of
explosives, the intensity of ground vibration can be controlled. The extent of damage anticipated to be created in a civil struc-
However, many times it has been observed that decreasing the ture from blasting activity mostly depends on explosive quantity,
quantity of explosives, result in poor blast performance and also it distance from the blast site, physical characteristics of the sur-
paralyzes the progress of the excavation work. Considering these rounding medium and blasting pattern selected as well as type of
facts, it is very much essential to optimize the blast design pa- the structure to be safeguarded [13,14]. It has been reported that
rameters by conducting experimental blasts at site. the damage to a structure may possibly be linked to the magnitude
Central Water & Power Research Station (CWPRS) in Pune, India of PPV associated with ground vibration [15e17]. Besides PPV, the
has been involved in numerous field studies involving excavation of frequency of the ground vibrations is also crucial in causing damage
hard rock near various civil structures across the country. These to buildings [13,14,18,19]. Previous studies report that when a
structures include gravity dams, atomic power plants, earthen structure experiences ground vibrations close to its natural fre-
dams, hydro power station, bridges, tunnels, residential buildings, quency, the structure will experience increased vibrations. When
and historical monuments. The information gathered from these the frequency of the ground vibration is about 40% higher than the
nationwide studies has significantly contributed towards develop- structure's natural frequency then the structure will vibrate with
ment of a general blasting methodology aimed at safeguarding lower amplitude. For ground vibration with predominant fre-
structures from blast induced vibrations. This methodology in- quency that is two times more than the fundamental frequency of
volves determining a safe vibration level that structures can endure structure, the response of the structure will be roughly about 10% of
without damage, establishing site-specific attenuation relation- what it would be at its natural frequency [20]. The frequency
ships that describe blast vibration propagation characteristics and content of ground vibration from construction blasts is much
calculating weight of explosives per delay based on the distance of higher than the frequency response of the civil structures [21]. This
the excavation zone from nearby structures. Additionally, optimi- is taken into account while establishing safety standards for con-
zation of blasting pattern is carried out through on-site test blasts struction blasts.
and continuous vibration monitoring near the structures. The cur- In the past, for ensuring safety of the structures, several re-
rent study provides a detailed description of how the methodology searchers have recommended safety criteria by taking into account
was applied to excavate rock mass in close proximity to an existing of the effect of frequency of ground vibrations induced due to
tunnel and Bhira earthen dam located in the Raigad district of blasting [13,21e27]. However, these safety criteria are applicable
Maharashtra. for the residential structures. Moreover, these safety criteria are
established by recording observations from mining blasts. Gener-
2. General methodology ally, ground vibration waveforms recorded from mining blasts are
represented by low frequency and small amplitude ground vibra-
Excavation of hard rock by blasting operation at a construction tions whereas vibrations generated due to construction blasts
site is mainly carried out by optimizing blasting pattern by adopting possess high amplitude and high frequency waves. These waves do
structure specific safety criteria, site-specific attenuation equation not have enough potential to induce structural damage. Most of the
and estimating quantity of explosive to be used. The optimized times at construction sites, the intensity of blast vibrations are
blasting pattern is used to conduct blasting operation for making found to decrease from bottom to top of a structure which indicates
maximum use of the explosive generated energy for breaking and that the structure behaves like a rigid body under blast loading
moving the rock mass. conditions [28].
The methodology adopted in the present study is as follows: The safe PPV response (mm/s) for a concrete structure can also
be predicted by using the following relationship [14,21,28,29]:
a) Pre-blast survey was conducted to document the condition
of the surrounding structures and their proximity to the fct
VP ¼  103 (1)
excavation zone. rVc
b) Several test blasts were conducted by adjusting various blast
design parameters such as charge weight per delay (Q), depth where, fct is the tensile strength in MPa, Vc is the compressional
of hole, burden, spacing etc. at the actual excavation site. The wave velocity in km/s, and r is the density g/cm3 of the structural
ground vibration data were collected at different distances material.
(R) using engineering seismographs. This data was then It is very well known that the tensile strength of concrete is
analyzed to find out the magnitude of the peak particle ve- much lower than its compressive strength. Generally, the tensile
locity (PPV) and dominant frequency of ground vibration. strength is estimated to be around 10% of the compressive strength.
c) The vibration data recorded at site were analyzed by using Thus, for a reinforced cement concrete (RCC) structure with a
least square regression method to develop the site specific minimum compressive strength of approximately 20 MPa, a
attenuation relation. compressional wave velocity of 4.0 km/s and density of 2.5 g/cm3,
d) By reviewing the various National/International vibration the safe peak particle velocity (PPV) response of the structure
standards for safe guarding structures against blast induced would be about 200 mm/s. These calculations can help to establish
vibrations, site-specific safety criteria were adopted. a safe PPV level for a structure.
e) By using the attenuation relation, safe charge weight per
delay to be used during actual rock excavation were 4. Example study: excavation of hard rock near bhira earthen
estimated. dam, raigad, Maharashtra
f) During actual blasting operations, continuous monitoring of
the blast vibration was carried out for ensuring safety of the Bhira Hydroelectric Project (HEP) located in the Raigad district
nearby structures. of Maharashtra, consists of Tailrace Dam of 28 m high earthen dam
g) Post blast inspection of the surrounding structures was un- constructed across Kundalika River during the year 1927 and a
dertaken to assess the condition of the structure after 300 MW capacity Power house. This project is considered as the
completion of blasting operations. oldest major HEP in India constructed during development of hydro
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power in India. The water from the dam is mainly utilized for
irrigation purposes by the nearby villages as well as for power
generation by Tata Power Company Ltd., Maharashtra to fulfill the
power demand of Mumbai and Pune regions. Fig. 1 shows the aerial
view of Bhira Tailrace Dam, Maharashtra. Bhira Hydro Power Sta-
tion includes 625 MW capacity conventional units and
1150 MW pumped storage unit (PSU). The 150 MW PSU was
installed and commissioned in year 1997 and it operates in
generating mode as well as pumping mode with the Mulshi lake as
its upper reservoir. The unit is capable of operating in pumping
mode by pumping water from pickup (PU) pond back into Mulshi
reservoir. Location of the proposed control gate at Bhira Tailrace
Pond, Raigad is shown in Fig. 2.
To operate the Bhira pumped storage unit (BPSU) in pumping
mode, it is essential to maintain minimum water level of about
94.2 m in PU pond. Without a controlled gate at Tailrace pond, the Fig. 2. Location of the proposed control gate at Bhira Tailrace Pond, Raigad.
water from the PU pond flows to Ravalje forebay through the tunnel
and hence as a result of this technical hurdle, the unit could not be
operated in pump mode condition. To overcome this problem, vibration due to trial blasts has been carried out at several locations
Project Authority decided to install a control gate to regulate water on the rock, on existing tunnel, top of earthen dam, etc. There are
flow between the two reservoirs. The scheme includes construction no residential structures located within a radius of about 700 m
of an approach channel in the hard-amygdaloidal basalt rock and a from the blast area.
bye pass tunnel in very close proximity of the existing tunnel and The nearest distance of the excavation zone from the dam is
the Bhira Tailrace pick-up dam. about 80 m which can be seen from Fig. 3. The total length of
For construction of the channel, about 2500 m3 of hard rock was excavation is about 66 m from the tunnel and the width of the
required to be excavated in the close proximity of the Bhira Tailrace excavation varied between 8 m and 12 m at different locations of
Dam which is approximately 80 m from the actual excavation area. the proposed channel. The depth of excavation ranges between 2 m
Excavation of hard rock at site was not possible to carry out by and 11 m at different locations of the channel. Therefore, the
mechanical methods as the rock formation at the site was amyg- blasting was required to be regulated so that the earthen dam shall
daloidal basalt rock which is very hard in nature. Therefore, not experience any kind of damage.
methodology of controlled blasting has been adopted for rock All the experimental blasts were conducted using blast holes of
excavation at site as well as to ensure the safety of the earthen dam 32 mm diameter. Depth of the blast holes was varied between 1.0 m
and other important nearby structures from the adverse effects of and 2.0 m. The holes were loaded with cartridge explosive (25 mm
blasting operations. dia) each weighing 0.125 kg. The maximum quantity of explosive
The present technical paper comprises of details of the experi- per delay used for these blasts varied from 0.125 kg to 0.375 kg.
mental blast conducted at site, monitoring of ground vibrations During the trial blast each hole, was detonated by using non-
near important structures and suitable methodology adopted for electrical detonators with an in-hole delay of 250/450 ms and
actual blasting. surface delay of 25 ms and 42 ms. Blasting holes were covered with
heavy weight mats to avoid fly rock at site. Ten numbers of
experimental blasts were carried out by varying different blast
4.1. Experimental investigations
design parameters and the resulting vibration levels were moni-
tored at several locations. Vibrations resulted from the blasts have
The excavation of hard rock was required to be carried out from
been recorded at different distances on rock, tunnel and dam top by
about RL 90.0 m to RL 79.90 m. The locations of trial blasting and
using seven units engineering seismographs (two units of DS-077,
actual excavation area are shown in Fig. 3. Since, the actual exca-
M/s Instantel Inc, Canada and five Mini-Seis III Units, M/s White
vation area was found submerged in the water due to high reservoir
Industrial Seismology, Inc., USA). The locations where vibration
level, therefore trial blasting was carried out in the location close to
monitoring carried out during trial blasting are shown vide
the actual area to be excavated. The monitoring of the ground
Figs. 4e10.

5. Results and discussion

5.1. Magnitude and frequency of ground vibration

Tri-axial engineering seismographs were deployed on bed rock

as well as on top of dam and tunnel to record ground vibrations
generated due to blasting. Intensity of ground vibration and air
blast was monitored at distances about 5 me80 m from the blasting
zone.
Fig. 11 shows the attenuation of PPV level with distance from
blasting zone. Generally, elastic waves generated from blasting
operations attenuate very fast with increasing distance. The
attenuation is very fast at near distances and becomes slow as the
distance increases which is depicted in Fig. 11. Thus, the blast-
induced ground vibration which is mostly characterized by PPV
Fig. 1. Aerial view of Bhira Tailrace Dam, Maharashtra. decreases with increasing distance. It has been noticed that PPV
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P.K. Palei, V.K. Ghodake, S. Santhosh Kumar et al. Defence Technology 48 (2025) 306e316

Fig. 3. Geographical map and location map showing the excavation area with respect to the dam and tunnel (Courtesy: Google).

Fig. 4. Monitoring on rock close to the blasting area.

Fig. 7. Monitoring on rock towards the reservoir side.

Fig. 5. Monitoring on top of the tunnel.

Fig. 8. Monitoring close to the tunnel.

vibration depends on the natural frequency (N), frequency of

ground motion (f), damping of the structure, duration as well as
intensity of blast vibration. Frequency associated with ground vi-
bration plays an important role for safeguarding the nearby
important structures. Hence, safe PPV level has been recommended
by all the available international/national safety criteria by
considering the frequency content of ground vibrations observed at
site. When the frequency of ground vibration observed is not close
to the structure's resonance frequency, then it can withstand higher
Fig. 6. Monitoring on rock close to the tunnel. level of vibration without experiencing any kind of structural
damage.
In this study, since the structures are located at about less than
level has been significantly dropped i.e. below 5 mm/s when the 100 m from the excavation zone, very high frequencies are pre-
distance from the excavation zone is about 30 m. dominantly observed at the site. The predominant frequency of
The manner at which a structure responses to the ground ground vibration observed at all the locations are found to be

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Fig. 9. Monitoring on hard rock close to blasting zone.

Fig. 12. Frequency of ground vibrations observed on tunnel.

Fig. 10. Monitoring on top of the earthen dam.

Fig. 13. Frequency of ground vibrations observed at all the other locations.

Besides PPV, the damage potential is also found to depend on the

associated predominant frequency in Hz.
Indian Standard (IS-14881, 2001) recommends frequency
dependent safety criteria to ensure safety of different structures
against blast vibrations [30]. To ensure safety of engineered struc-
tures, the code recommends safe PPV level of 25 mm/s for fre-
quencies below 40 Hz and 25e75 mm/s for frequency between 40
and 100 Hz. Further IS-6922:1973 (reaffirmed 2018) recommends a
safe PPV level of 50 mm/s for structure founded on soft soil and
70 mm/s in case of structure constructed on hard rock [26]. In this
case, the dam is constructed on the very hard rock mass (Basalt)
which has been noticed during the trial blast also, hence higher safe
PPV level can be recommended for safeguarding earthen dam and
other engineered structures like tunnel. However, considering the
Fig. 11. Attenuation of PPV with distance from the blasting zone.
importance of the dam, a highly conservative approach with
adequate factor of safety, has been adopted while recommending
mostly in the range of 50e250 Hz as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. the safe PPV level for safety of earthen dam.
From the above discussions, it is evident here that no such
5.2. Safety criteria adopted criteria are available which recommends safe vibration level for
protection of earthen dams. Though no safety criterion is available
Generally, in blasting, a part of the explosive energy is always specific for dams, however, from a large number of studies carried
transmitted in all directions from the blast hole as seismic waves. out on different dam sites by CWPRS, Pune during nearby con-
These waves while propagating through the ground produces struction activities, it is noticed that vibration levels of 10 mm/s on
ground vibration. Ground vibrations in excess have potential to dam top do not pose any danger towards its safety. Hence, in the
cause structural damage. The severity of ground vibration is present case, a safe PPV level of 10 mm/s was adopted for ensuring
commonly measured in terms of PPV in millimeters per second. safety of earthen dam.

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For fully cured concrete, safe PPV levels of 100e254 mm/s have
been recommended by several researchers [31,32]. For safety of
Tunnels, Chinese standard GB6722-2014 recommends a dominant
frequency dependent PPV limits as shown in Table 1. For safe-
guarding Hydraulic tunnel, the code recommends a safe PPV level
of 10e15 cm/s (100e150 mm/s) when the predominant frequency
of ground vibration is higher than 50 Hz [33]. In this study, PPV
levels for several blasts were monitored on top of the tunnel and
the frequency content of ground vibration was found to be higher
than 50 Hz. Considering the above facts, PPV level of 50 mm/s was
adopted for the safety of the existing tunnel.

5.3. Analysis and interpretation of trial blast results

Fig. 14. Variation of PPV with scaled distance.
Ground vibration observed at any point basically depends on
distance between the blasting and the monitoring location, quan-
tity of explosives per delay and strength of the rock mass. To
illustrate the attenuation characteristics of blast vibration, different
empirical equations have been recommended by different in-
vestigators. However, the following attenuation equation is widely
accepted to study the attenuation behavior of blast vibration [9,10].


R n
Vp ¼ K pffiffiffiffi (1)
Q

where, K and n are site constants, obtained by regression analysis of

field data. Constants K and n in the above relation largely depend on
the type of rock and are commonly determined for a particular site
by carrying out trial blasts with varying charge weights, Q, and
recording the resulting peak particle velocity levels at different
distances, R.
The mean and the 95% confidence level attenuation relations for
the Project site are found to be as follows:
Fig. 15. Resultant PPV levels observed on tunnel.


R 1:43
Vp ð0:50Þ ¼ 724 pffiffiffiffi (2)
Q
It is evident that the resultant PPV value recorded from all these

 blasts are far below the safe vibration limit of 50 mm/s for tunnel. A
R 1:43 maximum PPV level of 13.27 mm/s was recorded near the tunnel
Vp ð0:95Þ ¼ 1545 pffiffiffiffi (3)
Q structure. Similarly, vibration levels from all the blasts have been
recorded on dam top. However, as the dam is about 80 m from trial
If the mean equation would be used for predicting the safe
blast locations, the vibration levels at dam top were very much
charge weights per delay at various distances, there are chances
insignificant and less than the triggering level of instrument i.e.
that 50% times the PPV level may exceed the recommended safe
0.13 mm/s and hence could not be detected by the seismographs.
PPV level. However, by using the 95% confidence relation, there are
Considering the results presented above, it is to mention that
chances that the PPV may exceed the safe PPV level only in 5% cases.
the magnitude of the trial blast induced vibrations recorded on
Hence, the 95% confidence level equation was used to estimate
earthen dam top and tunnel are far below the suggested safe PPV
quantity of explosive per delay to be used during actual excavation.
level and hence is not capable enough to induce physical damage in
The vibration data recorded on exposed rock surfaces have been
these structures.
used for developing the site-specific attenuation relations and
presented in Fig. 14.
Vibrations resulted from test blasts have been recorded on 5.4. Estimation of safe charge weight per delay
earthen dam top and tunnel structure. Resultant vibration levels
recorded near Tunnel are shown in Fig. 15. For prediction of safe quantity of explosive per delay to be used
at different distances corresponding to safe vibration level of
10 mm/s and 50 mm/s during the actual blasting operations; 95%
Table 1
confidence level Eq. (2b) was used. Using the suggested safe PPV
PPV limits for tunnels and rock slopes (Chinese Standard GB6722-2014).
levels in site-specific attenuation equation, safe quantity of explo-
Type of Structure PPV limits based on predominant frequency/ sives per delay at different distances between 5 m to 66 m and
(cm$s1)
75 me200 m has been estimated for protection of tunnel and
f  10 Hz 10 Hz < f  50 Hz f > 50 Hz earthen dam which are given in Figs. 16(a) and 16(b) respectively.
Hydraulic Tunnels 7e8 8e10 10e15 A very cautious methodology was used while recommending
Traffic Tunnels 10e12 12e15 15e20 quantity of explosives for blasting at different distances from the
Mining Tunnels 15e18 18e25 20e30 structures. It was recommended to use a maximum explosive
Permanent Rock Slopes 5e9 8e12 10e15
weight per delay of 2.0 kg when the blasting was to be conducted at
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Fig. 16. Estimated charge weight per delay for tunnel and dam.

20 m distance from the tunnel and minimum 80 m from the dam during actual blasting under controlled conditions.
during the entire period of excavation. No blasting was recom- For monitoring of ground vibrations; Engineering seismographs
mended to be carried out within 0e5 m distance from the tunnel. and Strong motion Accelerographs (SMA) were used. Engineering
After reviewing the progress of the works up to 5 m, the explosive Seismographs are capable of recording peak particle velocity and its
weight per delay to be used within 0e5 m was recommended. corresponding frequency along three directions whereas strong
For an effective blasting operation, commonly a large number of motion accelerographs are capable recording peak ground accel-
blast holes in several rows are used in a specific arrangement to erations along the three perpendicular directions. Some of the lo-
detonate the explosive charge. This is known as a blasting pattern. cations where blast vibrations have been monitored during the
The principal idea behind using a blasting pattern is to distribute entire period of excavations are shown in Figs. 18e20.
the explosive charge and direct its energy to get the desired frag- During the entire excavation, a total of one hundred and five
mentation and to minimize the unwanted effects of blasting, such (105) blasts have been conducted for excavation of the entire
as ground vibration, airblast, flyrock and damage to the surround- specified hard rock mass at site. The ground vibrations induced due
ing rock mass. to all these controlled blasts have been continuously monitored on
The proposed safe charge weight would be able to minimize the Top of the existing Tunnel and earthen Dam for ensuring existing
ground vibration effects, if used with suitable delays. Further, to safety.
minimize the other undesirable effects to an acceptable limit, a PPV and frequency levels recorded on Tunnel top from all the
proper blasting pattern need to be used. Tentative blasting pattern blasts are shown in Figs. 21(a) and 21(b). It can be seen that in
recommended to be used during actual blasting operations for majority of the blasts PPV level was found to be less than 25 mm/s
different hole depths is mentioned in Table 2. except on two occasions where it has exceeded above 25 mm/s
For arresting over-break and damage to the rock at the excava- which is also less than the recommended safe PPV level of 50 mm/s.
tion boundary parallel to the dam axis, it was recommended to use Predominant frequency of the ground vibrations observed at this
line drilling. A row of empty holes with diameter 100 mm and location lies in the range of 50e250 Hz as shown in Fig. 21(b). The
center to center of spacing 400 mm may be made before con- natural frequency of the hydraulic tunnel generally lies below
ducting any blasting operations. In the absence of large diameter 20 Hz. As the observed ground vibration frequencies are much
hole, 32 mm diameter jack hammer holes may be drilled with higher than the natural frequency of Tunnel; hence, amplification
center-to center spacing of 100 mm. in the vibration level was not observed. Maximum vibration level of
about 35 mm/s was recorded which is also lower than the adopted
6. Continuous monitoring of blast induced vibrations during safe PPV level (50 mm/s) of the tunnel.
actual excavation of hard rock mass near to existing tunnel The distribution of PPV levels recorded from each blasts on dam
using controlled blasting operations top is shown in Figs. 22(a) and 22(b). Maximum PPV level of
0.78 mm/s was recorded at this location which is far below the
For ensuring safety of the existing dam and tunnel, five critical recommended safe PPV level of 10 mm/s. In majority of the blasts,
locations such as top of tunnel, on bed rock close to the dam, top of the ground vibration was less than 0.5 mm/s except two occasions
the dam, top of NOF section and inside reservoir near to spillway as where it has exceeded above 0.5 mm/s. Predominant frequency of
shown in Fig. 17, were selected for monitoring of induced vibrations the ground vibrations observed at this location is shown in

Table 2
Blasting patterns for three different hole depths.

Parameters Depth of hole

1.0 m 1.5 m 2.4 m

Diameter of hole 32 mm 32 mm 32 mm
Burden 0.6 m 0.7 m 0.8 m
Spacing 0.7 m 0.8 m 0.9 m
No. of holes in a row 10 10 10
No. of rows 3 3 3
Maximum charge per hole 0.125 kg (1 stick) 0.25 kg (2 sticks) 0.50 kg (4 sticks)

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P.K. Palei, V.K. Ghodake, S. Santhosh Kumar et al. Defence Technology 48 (2025) 306e316

Fig. 17. Map showing the monitoring and excavation locations. (Courtesy: Google LLC).

Fig. 18. Monitoring of vibration on NOF section of dam.

Fig. 20. Monitoring of vibration on tunnel.

mentioned that resonance like phenomena didn't occur during the

blasting operation as the maximum PPV level recorded on dam is
only 0.78 mm/s; much lower than the safe PPV level (10 mm/s).
For assessing the safety of Earthen Dam under seismic condi-
tions, induced Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) on the dam top has
also been monitored which is shown in Fig. 23. The maximum ac-
celeration level recorded from all the blasts is about 0.0035 g which
is very less comparison to the safe PGA level for dam and is not
capable enough to affect the structural safety of the existing dam.
Bhira dam is positioned in zone III according to seismic map of
Fig. 19. Monitoring of vibration on dam top. India. IS code recommends a zone factor of 0.16 g for structures
located in Zone III. However, in the present case, efforts were taken
to restrict the PGA level below 0.1 g for protection of the dam.
Fig. 22(b). The natural frequency of the dam has been estimated by As the observed acceleration levels are far below than the rec-
using the guidelines mentioned in IS 1893: 2002 which is about ommended acceleration (PGA) level, hence it can be mentioned
3e4 Hz (see Supplementary file). The predominant frequency level that the dam is safe against the induced vibration level due to the
recorded on dam top lies between 5 and 40 Hz. In majority of the controlled blasting activities in the presented study.
blasts, the frequency level observed to be in the range of 10e30 Hz The above findings further suggest that PPV levels generated
which is higher than the natural frequency of dam. Hence, it can be during blasting operations near the dam is not sufficient enough to
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Fig. 21. Distribution of resultant PPV level and frequency on top of the tunnel.

Fig. 22. Distribution of resultant PPV level on dam top.

Fig. 23. Peak ground acceleration observed on top of the dam.

affect the safety of the dam. The photographs of the tunnel taken
before commencement and after completion of blasting operations
are shown vide Figs. 24 and 25.
For ensuring safety of Earthen dam and tunnel; visual inspection
Fig. 24. Before blasting operations.
have been carried out prior to commencement of controlled
blasting activities and immediately after the completion of all the
excavations by blasting operations. During this inspection, photo- well as base of reservoir, NO such visible damages and cracks have
graphs of these structures from the close distances have been been detected at any location in these structures. Hence, it can be
captured and analyzed to detect the presence of damages if any further concluded that the excavation has been successfully
induced in structure because of controlled blasting activities. Dur- completed by ensuring the existing safety of earthen dam and
ing the close inspection of entire structure of dam and tunnel as Tunnel.

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P.K. Palei, V.K. Ghodake, S. Santhosh Kumar et al. Defence Technology 48 (2025) 306e316

observation and analysis of the ground vibrations induced at

tunnel and dam from these blasts, maximum charge weight
per delay of 0.125 kg was used when the blast was carried out
within 0e5 m distances from the tunnel.
e) Vibration level generated from all the blasts were continu-
ously monitored on top of the dam and tunnel by using tri-
axial seismographs. Maximum Vibration level observed on
top of earthen dam has been found to be about 0.8 mm/s
whereas maximum vibration level recorded on top of tunnel
has been found to be about 35 mm/s which are far lower than
the safe vibration level of 10 mm/s and 50 mm/s for dam and
tunnel respectively for ensuring safety.
f) Predominant frequency of blast induced vibration was found
to be much higher than the resonance frequency of the dam
as well as Tunnel which further indicates that amplification
of vibration was not observed due to blasting.
g) In order to assess the safety of the dam under seismic con-
ditions, induced Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) on the
dam top was monitored. Peak ground acceleration level of
about 0.0035 g was recorded on top of the dam which is also
far lower than the recommended safe acceleration level of
Fig. 25. After blasting operations. 0.10 g for the safety of the dam in the ZoneeIII.
h) Post blast inspection of the dam and tunnel has been carried
out to detect any possible damage occurred in these struc-
7. Conclusions
tures due to controlled blasting operations. However, NO
visible damage was observed in these structures during the
In the present study, controlled blasting methodology has been
critical inspections after the completion of rock mass exca-
effectively implemented for excavation of hard rock for installation
vation using controlled blasting. Hence, it can be concluded
of a controlled gate in the close proximity of Bhira earthen dam and
that the present excavation work by blasting operation has
concrete lined tunnel located in Raigad, Maharashtra. A series of
been successfully completed using the methodology of
test blasts were conducted varying various blast design parameters
controlled blasting by ensuring the safety of the dam as well
to optimize the blasting pattern so as to carry out the excavation
as the tunnel.
safely near the dam and tunnel. Based on the results of trial blasts,
safe quantity of explosives to be used during actual blasting oper-
ation was recommended. A very conservative approach was
CRediT authorship contribution statement
adopted during the actual blasting operations to mitigate the
adverse effects of ground vibration. The recommended blast design
Prakash K. Palei: Writing e original draft, Methodology,
parameters helped in successfully carrying out the excavation.
Investigation. Vijay K. Ghodake: Data curation. S. Santhosh
Based on the results obtained by continuous monitoring of ground
Kumar: Data curation. R.S. Gurjar: Investigation. Chaman Singh:
vibrations on dam and tunnel during the entire period of rock
Formal analysis. M. Meena: Data curation. Rizwan Ali: Writing e
excavation; the following conclusions are being drawn:
review & editing. R.S. Kankara: Writing e review & editing.
a) For safeguarding Bhira earthen dam and existing tunnel a
safe PPV level of 10 mm/s and 50 mm/s was recommended Declaration of competing interest
by following various national and international safety criteria
as well as the dominant frequency of ground vibration The authors declare that they have no known competing
observed near the structure. financial interests or personal relationships that could have
b) Using the vibration data obtained from trial blast studies, appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
site-specific attenuation relation was developed. The atten-
uation equation with 95% confidence levels was used for Acknowledgements
estimation of safe charge weight per delay to be used during
actual blasting operations. The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to the
c) A very conservative approach was adopted while recom- officers of M/s TATA Power Company Ltd., Maharashtra for their co-
mending the safe charge weight per delay to be used at operation during the field study.
different distances from the dam and tunnel during the
actual blasting operations. It was recommended to use a Appendix A. Supplementary data
maximum charge weight per delay of 0.21e1.0 kg when the
blasting will be carried out within 5e15 m away from the Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
existing concrete lined tunnel and 80 m away from the [Link]
earthen dam. After this region, a maximum charge weight
per delay of 2.0 kg was recommended to be used during the References
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