Ocean Geocomposite for GAIL Gas Pipeline Works at Bidadi, Karnataka

Ocean Non Wovens supplied 200 sq m of Ocean Geocomposite to GAIL (India) Ltd for gas pipeline work at Bidadi, Karnataka. It is a small quantity, the kind used on a specific detail rather than along the length of a line. This note explains what a drainage geocomposite is, where it is typically used on gas pipeline infrastructure, and what to check when specifying one.

Project snapshot

Bidadi and the gas network

Bidadi is an industrial town on the south-western side of Bengaluru, in the district renamed Bengaluru South in 2025 (formerly Ramanagara). It is where GAIL’s Dabhol-Bengaluru natural gas pipeline reached the Bengaluru area when it was commissioned in 2013. A pipeline network of this kind includes much more than buried steel pipe: sectionalising valve stations, metering and receiving stations, crossings of roads, drains and slopes, and the access roads and buildings that serve them. Most of these have small civil details where water has to be kept away from a structure or a slope.

What Ocean Geocomposite is

Ocean’s geocomposite is a drainage geocomposite: a geonet core of HDPE ribs laminated on both faces with a non woven polypropylene filter geotextile. The geonet leaves open channels for water to flow along the plane of the sheet. The geotextile on each face lets water into the core but holds soil back, so the channels do not clog.

One sheet does the work of a filter fabric plus a layer of drainage gravel. That makes it practical for confined spaces and small areas, where placing and compacting a graded filter by hand is slow and hard to check.

Geocomposite uses on gas pipeline works

On pipeline and station works, drainage geocomposites are typically used for:

• Drainage behind retaining and toe walls at slope crossings and station boundaries, relieving water pressure on the wall.
• Drainage against below-ground structures such as valve pits, chambers and foundations, where seepage would otherwise sit against concrete.
• Subsurface drainage on slopes above or along the right of way, intercepting water before it saturates the trench backfill.
• Drainage under hardstands and access roads at stations, where a thin layer is easier to place than a gravel blanket.

For related details, see our drainage of structures solution page.

What to specify

Flow capacity is the main design property, and it falls as the pressure on the sheet rises. Compare products at the normal stress the design will apply.

Ocean supplies a 5.5 mm, 700 GSM grade with flow measured at 100 kPa and 200 kPa, suited to pressures behind walls and under fill, and a 7.2 mm railway grade tested at 20 kPa. For long-term design, laboratory flow is reduced by factors for creep of the core, intrusion of the geotextile and clogging, as set out in GRI-GC8.

Installation notes

1. Place the geocomposite against a clean, even surface, with the geonet channels running toward the outlet.
2. Overlap the geotextile flaps and abut the cores so water can pass from one panel to the next.
3. Connect the bottom edge to a perforated collector pipe or weep outlets. A drain with no outlet does not drain.
4. Backfill in layers without dragging stones across the face, and compact with light plant near the sheet.

Ocean geocomposites have been used for drainage at the BCGCL plant in Jharsuguda, Odisha and behind a retaining wall in Rewari. For other oil and gas work, see the IOCL AV gas project at Paradip.

Frequently asked questions

About Ocean Non Wovens

Ocean Non Wovens manufactures drainage geocomposites and supplies geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids and gabions for energy, transport and industrial projects across India. For drainage details on pipeline, station or plant works, contact Ocean Non Wovens with the area, design pressure and site conditions.