Connecting Adam's Bridge

Adam's Bridge, the collection of limestone shoals between the Mannar Island of Sri Lanka, and the Pamban Island of South India has sparked both the imagination and inventive thinking of many. The closest distance between the two countries-between Dhanushkodi, and Talaimannar is about 30 km, and a bridge connecting the two countries has been a long argued prospect. Such a bridge will be beneficial to both countries in terms of economics and trade. The engineering and environmental challenges of such a construction are overwhelming and a unique Geo-chemical engineering method might hold the answer to this problem.

The Jaffna Peninsula and the surrounding area consists of a Miocene limestone basement and the sea in the area of the Palk Strait is very shallow. This makes it possible to easily construct a permanent causeway between the two countries by connecting the limestone shoals of the Adam's Bridge. Although a simple construction, a permanent separating structure will disrupt the sediment movement through that channel and can be detrimental to fisheries as well. The complete disconnection of the water circulation through the gap can pose significant environmental problems. Building a bridge across the entire span is a possibility that is too costly. Therefore the ideal solution would be to construct a combined, landmass-bridge structure.

http://www.geo.shimane-u.ac.jp/spfs/g_students/mext/08sansfica/Sansfica08_2L.jpg

 To support the construction of a bridge, the existing landmasses or shoals should be elevated. Bridges can be constructed on these elevated landmasses while leaving gaps for the flow of water. Some of these gaps can be dredged deeper to allow for the same volume of water to flow. This could also serve the purpose of a navigable channel for ships as proposed by the Sethusamudram Project. Another prospect is for electricity generation by means of hydro-turbines installed at gaps where the flow of water will be heightened.

It is in elevating these landmasses that the unique geo-chemical engineering method comes into play. Research conducted by Prof. R.D. Schuiling indicates that these landmasses can be elevated in a cost effective manner by injecting Sulphuric acid into the limestone basement. The principle here is that, Sulphuric acid will react with the limestone to produce Gypsum, which has a higher molar volume. Thus, the rock will expand, and this expansion will be accommodated by surface uplift. (R.D.Schuiling, Current Science Vol 86).

This process involves drilling bore holes along the trend of the Adam's bridge and injecting Sulphuric Acid at modest pressures insufficient for hydro-fracturing. The well jointed Miocene limestone is expected to facilitate the migration of the acid through the basement. The acid will be injected to bottom layers of the limestone leaving the top layers unaffected thus avoiding contact with the biosphere and and associated environmental problems.

Prof. Schuiling points out that if industrial waste Sulphuric acid is used for the process it would be an economically viable technology while also solving the disposal problem of such acids. He further addresses possible environmental effects. Since the expansion of the rock takes place at the bottom layers and is separated by a layer of un-reacted limestone, there won't be direct consequence from the reaction. As for the concerns with heavy metals if waste acids are used, it has been experimentally proven that such heavy metals are immobilized during the reaction.

While a social and political consensus regarding the construction of the Adam's Bridge has not yet been reached, and no comprehensive EIA has been conducted in this regard, if these happen in the near future and if the two countries go ahead with the project, this Geo-chemical engineering technology will be a compelling prospect.

Beach Nourishment in Sri Lanka

Beach Erosion is a problem faced by many countries and erosion mitigation has been traditionally done using hard engineering solutions such a seawalls, revetments, groins and breakwaters. However, research in this field has identified that such engineered structures are not suitable as long term solutions for erosion as they interfere with the dynamic coastal processes. It has also been suggested that soft engineering solutions which work along with these coastal processes are the best approach in solving the problem of beach erosion. Beach nourishment is currently the most popular soft engineering solution and is increasingly being used to protect beaches all around the world. Sri Lanka has also joined this trend and completed its first beach nourishment program along a 1.8km stretch in the the Uswetakeiyawa Palliyawatta area in early 2012.

The project involved a large capital investment and a total of volume of 300,000 cubic meters had been used in the nourishment process. The sand used to nourish the beach was offshore sand dredged using a vessel anchored far away from the coastal zone. This is important because, using sand in the coastal zone itself would have been ineffective. The dredged sand had been pumped via pipeline and released as a slurry onshore and the beach reconstructed using earth moving equipment. Several offshore breakwaters had also been constructed with the intention of retaining the nourishing sand. While the project seemed to be an initial success with positive results shown in surveys carried out immediately before and after the project, over a period of time it is evident that the nourishment has not changed the rate of erosion. At present, the beach has once again severely eroded and continues to erode despite the breakwaters.

Severe erosion of the nourished sand

The success of a beach nourishment program depends on many factors. Coastal processes such as waves, near-shore currents, tides and even wind affect the nourishment process. Parameters such as beach profile and gradient and grain size of sand also matters in this regard. For this reason, a beach nourishment effort is site specific and all these site specific data needs to be considered when planning a nourishment program. In addition, it also vital to continuously monitor the performance of the beach after nourishment and to take necessary remedial action to maintain the project.

While most of the above information had been gathered prior to the nourishment project at Uswetakaiyyawa, the effort has fallen short in post project monitoring. The construction of breakwaters to retain the sand being a tried and tested method, has failed to perform properly possibly due to incorrect layout and dimensions of the breakwaters. Our final year research project aims to assess the performance of this nourishment effort and to provide a solution to the problems faced in this project.

To do this, beach profile measurements are taken using a dumpy level and total station along transects perpendicular to the nourished coastal strip. This process is done during several visits to the area covering the main seasonal cycle of the country. This data is used to model the beach profile and to analyse the sand volume changes with respect to time. A particle size analysis is performed on samples collected at each transect and will be used to determine the direction and severity of the sand transport. In addition to this, a temporal analysis of satellite images is also expected to be incorporated in the research in order to further enhance the field data. Using these findings, our research team expects to propose a suitable solution to minimize the rate of erosion and provide a methodology to effectively monitor beach nourishment programs in Sri Lanka. This would be of immense use in future nourishment projects in the country.