Visakhapatnam: As
the trend  of constructing cellar floors  gains ground in the city,
geo-technical engineers warn of dangerous consequences if  builders do
not  follow standard guidelines. Cellar constructions in the city face threat from the varying qualities of sandy soil which is prone to frequent  dislocations.

The
city has a variety of soils owing to its proximity to the sea and the
soil  in some areas is not  strong enough to support such constructions.
The trend of constructing cellars in  restaurants, commercial complexes
and hospitals in the city has been on the rise.

“Some
structures in the Hotel Sarovar area and at Dwarakanagar have begun to
show damage  due to lack of proper treatment during construction. Despite
having warned them  about the soil condition they have disregarded it,”
said an engineer from the GVMC. In fact, the soil condition in and
around Visakhapatnam city is  typically dense sand to silt sand and soft
marine to ultra soft marine clay  followed by stiff clay and weathered
or hard rock. These types of soils pose a huge problem while  designing
structures at various places.

Geo-technical
engineers perform geo-technical investigations to ascertain  the
physical properties of  the underlying soil and rock  before  designing 
or laying foundation of a proposed structure. They
also suggest repairing of distress to the foundation and structure
caused due to the soil condition. Sometimes, geophysical methods are
used to obtain data about the site.

Geo-tech
engineering experts warn that while constructing such structures, the 
land has to be treated in order to sustain the nature of the soil. They
say some contractors have not been following the norms due to shortage
of time and lack of proper understanding of the character of the soil.