Designing for Seismic Safety & Resilience - Pipeline to Prosperity in Dhaka

Overview

Turn on a tap in Dhaka and there will be times when the water is undrinkable, or nothing comes out at all. The city of more than 18M people is one of the world’s most crowded and many face going thirsty as ground water supplies decline. This presentation will discuss the challenges associated with delivering the Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply Project in a moderately seismic environment.

As part of this scheme, water from the Meghna river will supply drinking water to 4M people in Dhaka by building 100km of new pipeline, some of the deepest tunnels in Bangladesh and the country’s biggest treatment plant. The biggest challenge was imposed by the ground conditions which consisted of transitional wet silts which have the potential to liquefaction under design scenario.

A pragmatic risk-based approach was adopted where a combination of ground improvement using sand compaction piles and selection of flexible pipeline joints is designed to flex with earthquake movement. The project will also highlight the sustainable outcomes and benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to delivering major infrastructure projects.