Kharwar Naval Project

The mining and pit were designed in a manner, and the blasting carried out to reduce the wastage of rock post the construction of breakwater. To this end, we used different categories of material in specific quantities, developed a thought-through plan and executed to plan.

We were the first company to use indigenous hydraulic grabs for such a movement of rock. This method is still used in any situation where more than seven tonnes of rock is required to be excavated. When more than ten tonnes needed to be excavated, cranes with the hook arrangement were used. For less than seven tonnes, excavators of various sizes were utilised to bring in the actual quantity required. Detailed planning was required for this as since the existing equipment required structural modification, it was not suited for breakwater construction.

Our in-house R&D team constructed buckets and dumper bodies specifically for this project, to carry large rocks with negligible damage, thus adding a dimension of customisation and innovation to a tricky challenge.

For large-size reduction, we used a terminator on a wheel loader, the TX 750 which is one of the largest impact-breaking tools. Thus, significantly innovative and precise engineering, blasting, planning and evacuation methodologies were followed by the team. This still represents a unique approach in the industry.

There were several dredging requirements that arose during the course of the project. The quantity of loose material and hard metal in dredging plays a significant role in elevating the cost of the project for the Indian Navy. The challenge was to determine the loose soil and hard rock available for excavation underneath the sea. The usage of GPS to monitor drilling rigs was a successful approach to a complicated problem. The team mounted the water rigs on the barges with different anchors to enable precision. The drilling pressures were monitored for water, sub-soil, soil and rock and accordingly a graph was made and presented to the Indian Navy where Octave was the major contractor.