NWR Doubling Project, KTWS–NNL, Mahendragarh, Haryana

On the North Western Railway (NWR) Doubling Project between Kathuwas (KTWS) and Narnaul (NNL) in Mahendragarh, Haryana, Ocean Non Wovens supplied and installed 10,000 SQM of Geocell 660×75 to stabilise the embankment soil, control erosion and spread train loads. Doubling the line adds capacity for freight and passenger traffic, and the new embankment had to carry it on variable, semi-arid ground.

Project background

Indian Railways has been doubling single-line sections across its network to relieve congestion. The KTWS–NNL stretch is part of the NWR zone and carries freight and passenger trains serving the region’s industry and agriculture. The engineering problems were the usual ones for a new embankment beside a running line: variable soil, limited bearing capacity and the risk of settlement and slope erosion.

Why geocell was chosen

1. Soil stabilisation: railway embankments are prone to differential settlement and erosion. A geocell’s three-dimensional honeycomb confines the infill so it cannot spread sideways under load, which raises its stiffness and shear strength.
2. Load distribution: Indian Railways freight routes carry axle loads of up to 25 tonnes, and the Dedicated Freight Corridors are designed for 32.5 tonnes. A confined layer acts like a stiff mattress, spreading each wheel load over a wider area of subgrade and reducing deformation.
3. Cost: geocell confinement can reduce the thickness of granular sub-base needed and allows locally available soil to be used as infill, which matters on a large public project.
4. Less quarried aggregate: using local fill in place of imported aggregate cuts quarrying and haulage, and the emissions that come with them.

Geocell 660×75

The Geocell 660×75 supplied by Ocean Non Wovens is an HDPE cellular confinement system. The designation gives the weld spacing (cell size) and the cell depth.

• Cell Depth: 75 mm
• Cell Size (weld spacing): 660 mm
• Material: Virgin HDPE with UV stabilisation
• Tested for: tensile strength, seam peel strength and durability

A shallow 75 mm cell with a large opening suits surface confinement: slope erosion control, embankment protection, track-bed and load-bearing platforms where the infill mainly needs to be held in place rather than built up into a deep structural layer. The 10,000 SQM was laid in the embankment reinforcement zones where erosion and settlement risks were higher.

Site conditions

• Climate: Mahendragarh is semi-arid, with summer temperatures reaching about 47°C. Clayey soils shrink and crack as they dry. Confinement holds the infill together through those shrink cycles and limits rill erosion on slopes during the monsoon.
• Subgrade variability: the soil along the alignment was a mix of silty clay and sandy loam, which is hard to compact uniformly. Geocell 660×75 allowed locally available soil to be used as infill, reducing the need for imported granular fill.
• Drainage: poor drainage is a common cause of track settlement. Perforated geocells were used in sections prone to waterlogging, so water can drain laterally through the cell walls instead of ponding in the cells.

What geocell adds to the embankment

• Stability: confined infill gives the embankment a higher bearing capacity and less settlement than unreinforced fill.
• Construction speed: panels expand and pin in place quickly, and less imported fill has to be brought in.
• Lower maintenance: slopes that do not erode and formations that do not settle need less attention from track maintenance gangs.
• Safety: a stable embankment keeps track geometry within limits, which is what keeps operations smooth and safe.

About Ocean Non Wovens

Ocean Non Wovens manufactures and supplies geosynthetics, including geotextiles, geomembranes, geocells and erosion control products, for railways, highways, reservoirs and landfills. For more rail and embankment work, see our case studies, or contact the Ocean team to discuss geocell selection for your project.