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.