After the Floods - # - Sandy McClearn Photography

The photos in this gallery illustrate the aftermath of a couple of floods that occurred during the summer of 2000. The Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project is located on the Satluj (or Sutlej) River (see "F" on the map) in
Northern India. Started in 1993, it was supposed to be completed in 1998. When I started working on this project in February 1999 for Continental Foundation Joint Venture (CFJV), work was nowhere near complete, and the most recent official projection was 2001 (see the sign in the first photo), but I don't think anyone bought it when I was there. When I left in February 2001, work was still going on, and in the end did not finish until sometime in 2004 when the final turbine units were brought online. Some of the delays were man made, but the most serious were caused by mother nature - rock falls and slides, floods, you name it. When I was on vacation in August 2000, a major flood event destroyed 85% of the construction infrastructure, and seriously damaged significant portions of the permanent works. When I left in 2001 - they were still digging out. The photos in this gallery are a selection of the construction photographs that I took documenting various portions of the progress (or lack thereof). The majority are fairly low quality by today's digital standards - 1 megapixel and 2 megapixel images from an Olympus C2000 digital camera, and scanned negative film images taken on a Minolta 7000 with a cheap wide angle zoom lens. It has been a long time since I worked on this project, and as a result I may have some of the technical details incorrect.

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During the summer of 2000, there were two major flood events. The first was the lesser of the two - heavy rains caused the tributaries of the Satluj to overflow in a flash flood, which destroyed some of our infrastructure including the Bailey Bridge that would previously have been seen in this view. This photo was taken from the Sholding Bailey Bridge, which later collapsed (see Surface Construction photos).

This photo was taken prior to the June 2000 flood, showing the Shatrujeet Suspension Bailey Bridge (top) and the new trestle bridge at Wangtoo. The approach ramp to the trestle bridge is intact here, which it would not be after the June 2000 flood. You will also notice that the river is actually flowing under the trestle bridge in this photo.

The June 2000 flood caused relatively minor damage along most of the length of river adjacent to the construction site. This photo was taken at Point "H" on the map, at Wangtoo. The Shatrujeet suspension Bailey bridge can be seen in the upper half of the photo, while a new trestle bridge can be seen downstream of it. This new bridge was intended to bypass the Shatrujeet bridge for heavy loads - before the June 2000 flood, the river passed underneath it, and a large earthen ramp descended back to road level on the near bank - where the river is flowing now. The flood caused the river to redirect itself from one side of the right bank abutment to the other, wiping out the earthen ramp, inconveniencing upstream users. Compare to the previous photo.

Here is a closeup photo of the trestle bridge at Wangtoo, showing the channel under the bridge silted up and the approach ramp to the right of the bridge now missing. The road along the right bank has been destroyed along this stretch of river. This photo was taken after the June 2000 flood, but before the August 1, 2000, flood.

This photo shows the Wangtoo trestle bridge after both the June 2000 and August 2000 floods - the river has changed its mind yet again, and is flowing both under the trestle bridge and to the right of the right bank abutment. The only reason the bridge is still standing at all is that both abutments are founded on solid rock. The right bank roadway, also founded on solid rock at the base of the rock face, has had its gravel surface washed away. This photo was taken from the Shatrujeet bridge.

The small Bailey Bridge on the right bank at Wangtoo. The foundation for the right bank road, seen to the right of the previous photo, can be seen at right - the gravel surface has been washed away. The roadway to the left of the bridge has also been washed away, making this a true bridge to nowhere - and this isn't even Alaska.

Another view of the small Bailey Bridge on the right bank at Wangtoo. My boss designed the abutments for this bridge, and oversaw its construction. My boss was therefore quite chuffed that the bridge not only survived the June 2000 flood, but also the August 2000 flood. It was therefore somewhat ironic that while this bridge survived the worst that Mother Nature could throw at it, it collapsed several months after this photo was taken when another contractor tried to drive a heavy load over it. The previous bridge, a victim of a flood that occurred before I arrived in India, can be seen in the background.

The next flood occurred in August, 2000, when I was on vacation in Canada. I heard about it from the Halifax Office of BFC Civil, my previous employer, and I was told not to return to India on my originally scheduled date. Within a day or so of this, I had coincidentally seen a 5-second clip of flood waters ripping through the dam site on The Weather Network. As detailed elsewhere, staff in India were not informed of my delay in returning to India, and I received a concerned phone call from my direct supervisor in India wondering where the hell I was. I was instructed to return as soon as possible, and flew to Delhi within the week and once again took a jeep to the site. Upon descending the mountain side into the Satluj River Valley, it was not long before signs of the flood event became apparent - even high above the river level on the section of road shown in this photo. Erosion of the river bank hundreds of feet below have caused the outer edge of the road to settle and crack. The roads were not very wide to begin with, and this narrowing did not make you feel very comfortable while being driven along.

A section of road in the same area as the previous photo where a slide has taken out a portion of the road, and a single lane section has been reinstated to allow traffic to pass. These roads are near Rampur.

During the summer of 2000, there were two major flood events. The first was the lesser of the two - heavy rains caused the tributaries of the Satluj to overflow in a flash flood, which destroyed some of our infrastructure including the Bailey Bridge that would previously have been seen in this view. This photo was taken from the Sholding Bailey Bridge, which later collapsed (see Surface Construction photos).