Report on Professional Development Programme on

“Short Course on Engineering Geology for Engineers” by

Dr. Dhawan Academy of Geologists

Venue: Ganga Hall, PMI Noida

Date-10-13 Dec, 2019

The “Short Course on Engineering Geology for Engineers” was conducted by Dr. Dhawan

Academy of Geologists (DDAG) at PMI Noida for four days from 10-13 Dec, 2019.

The main objective of the course was to explain rudimentary of Engineering Geology to young

Engineers working in infrastructure Sectors to upgrade their skills, while dealing with geological

problems of site.

40 young Engineers & Engineering Geologists from 12 organisations namely RVNL, NHPC,

NTPC, SJVN, RITES, THDC, Shapoorji Pallonji, AFCONS, CSMRS, CVPP, MOIL & KRCL

attended the course.

The “Short Course on Engineering Geology for Engineers” was inaugurated by Mr. R. H.

Khwaja, IAS, Formerly Secretary Mines, GoI. and on this occasion Pre-launch version Website

of DDAG was also inaugurated by Mr. Khwaja. Mr. Yogendra Deva explained main features of

website.

The distinguished faculty included Dr. V M Sharma, Director AIMIL & Former Director,

CSMRS, Mr. R. N. Misra, Adjunct Professor IIT Roorkee & Former CMD, SJVN, Dr Moh’d J

Ahmed, Arab Centre for Engineering Studies, Dubai & Ex Director GSI, Mr. N. K. Mathur, Mr.

Imran Sayeed, Mr. J. K. Jachu, Ex NHPC, Mr. Yoginder Sharma, Former Member, CWC &

Former Director (Punatsangchu Hydro Projects, Bhutan), Dr. Sanjay Rana, MD, Parsan Overseas

Ltd, Yogendra Deva, Head, Geology ICCS, Former Director, GSI, Mr. Sharique Khan, Joint

Manager, AIMIL, Mr. Karunakar Rao, President DATACODE & Dr Gopal Dhawan, Founder &

Chairman, DDAG & Formerly CMD, MECL & Executive Director (GeoTech), NHPC. Besides

hands on training at AIMIL, 14 lectures & 3 practical sessions were delivered / conducted on

various topics of Engineering Geology, Rock-mechanics, Geophysical Techniques, application

of software & computational methods for data analysis / estimation of design parameters. Aimil

& DMR Hydro Engineering were the Knowledge Partners for this Training Programme .

Mr. Imran Sayeed, Formerly CGM (Geotech) NHPC was our 1st speaker to initiate technical

session. He underscored importance of Engineering Geological studies citing examples of

failures of major dams - St.Francis , California (1928), Malpasset , France (1959) & Vajont ,

Italy ( 1963) . These events had a major impact on development of Engineering Geology as a

separate subject of study. After his lecture Dr. Gopal Dhawan, Chairman, DDAG & Formerly

CMD, MECL & Executive Director (GeoTech), NHPC interacted with young Engineers &

Engineering Geologists and spoke on the subject “Theory & Practice of Engineering Geological

Data collection”.

Dr Moh’d J Ahmed presented “A Case study - A success story built on Engineering Geological

Data Management from Oman”. Mr. N. K. Mathur delivered a talk on “Rocks & rock masses”.

Mr. J.K. Yachu dealt with the subject of “Estimation of rock properties from geological field

data using empirical methods” & Mr. S. C. Mittal, MD, DMR Hydro Engineering discussed

requirement of “Geotechnical Data Inputs for Engineering Projects”. A talk on “Contract

Framing for Infrastructure Projects- Importance of Geological Data Inputs” was delivered by Mr.

R.N. Misra.

Mr. S Karunakar Rao, President, Datacode, Nagpur elaborated the function of two softwares

Geo 5 and Rockworks 17 in the field of Engineering Geology with the help of their team Mr.

Mayank Saxsena and Mr. Ambar. Whereas Dr. Sanjay Rana made a presentation on

Geophysical investigation tools.

Dr. V. M. Sharma, Director AIMIL & Formerly Director CSMRS, a doyen of Rock Mechanics

in India spoke on “Elements of Rock Mechanics” & “An Overview of Geotechnical

Requirements for Infrastructure Projects”. Thereafter all participants were taken to AIMIL Lab

in the afternoon where two sessions for Rock testing & Instrumentation where taken by

experienced staff of AIMIL under supervision of Mr. A K Nanda & Mr. Sharique Khan

On the last day, Mr. Y. K. Sharma, was one of our distinguished speakers, whose core theme of

presentation was “Geology- The backbone of Civil Engineering: Lessons learnt while handling

difficult geology in two Hydro power projects in Bhutan ". It was a very informative case study

of a very important project which is facing serious geological problems. Mr. Yogendra Deva,

delivered a lecture on “Comprehending Subsurface Geological Model for Project Layout

Optimization”.

Mr. A. K. Mishra, MD, Mangdechu Hydro Power Project, Bhutan, who was also the Chief Guest

at Valedictory Function highlighted role of proper Investigations & Geological Data

Management in timely completion of Mangdechu Project without cost overrun. The Valedictory

Function was graced by Mr. R. N. Misra and Mr. Yogendra Deva, Mr. Dayal Mathur, Advisor

(Admin), Mr. N. K. Mathur, Advisor (Coordination) & Dr. Gopal Dhawan, Founder &

Chairman, DDAG were present on this occasion. Certificates were presented to all participants,

who have successfully completed the Training by Chief Guest & Dignitaries on the Dias.

The Academy has compiled its course material in E-Book Format (CD Form), which is based on

various presentations and deliberations made by leading faculty during the four days course. The

Academy has conferred the Honorary Memberships to Mr. R. H. Khwaja, IAS, Formerly

Secretary Mines, GoI, Mr. Moh’d J Ahmad, Arab Centre for Engineering Studies, Dubai, Mr.

A K Mishra, MD, Mangdechu Hydro Power Project, Bhutan and Mr. Y. K. Sharma, Formerly

Director (Punatsangchu Hydro Projects, Bhutan) & Formerly Member, CWC. A social media

platform, i.e. a Whats App group named DDAG BATCH 002 has been created by the Academy

for continued interaction on professional matters and to maintain professional relationship with

the participants with the Academy in future.

Photo 1 Dr Dhawan Speaking on “Theory & Practice of Engineering Geological Data Collection”.

Photo 2 Chief Guest, Mr R.H Khwaja IAS, Formerly Secretary Mines inaugurating Website of DDAG,

Photo 3 Lecture by Mr. R N Misra Adjunct Prof, IIT Roorkee and Former CMD SJVN in progress.

Photo 4 Demonstration of Underground monitoring equipments at AIMIL Ltd.

Photo 5 Group Photograph of Participants and Faculty Members