Engineering a marvel

Science and faith played an equal role, says the team behind the construction of the Ram Mandir

- PUJA AWASTHI

For weeks the engineering team at the Ram Mandir grappled with the challenge of ensuring a foundation that would uphold a temple for 1,000 years.

The original plan was to build a temple on pillars. Soil testing revealed that the Saryu had once flowed under the site. Though the river had changed its course, the lingering moistness in the soil would make pillars unstable. Mechanically induced tremors proved this.

An option was to use concrete. Traditional temple builders suggested that it be mixed with lime to stabilise the soil. But it was not easy to get lime of the desired quality to fill the 12m deep hollow that had been dug in 2.27 acres for the under-structure.

Filling up the foundation with concrete posed another challenge: when poured, it generates heat. A temperature too low or too high would impact the material's initial or final strength, and also cause cracking.

The solution: self-compacting concrete, which was brought to 18 degrees below the ambient temperature and then poured into the base.

Achieving that temperature required on-site ice crushing plants. The resultant mash was mixed in concrete.

To further minimise the impact of the external temperature, the foundation was filled only at night, with temperature-monitoring sensors placed inside the mix.

For Vinod Mehta, 57, project director of the Ram Mandir, this is just one of the many innovations that mark the building of a temple that is equal parts faith and science. Mehta, whose previous project at Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was building a FIFA stadium in Doha, almost didn't make it to Ayodhya. Being in the Gulf for more than 20 years and then moving to north India where winters are brutal was just one of the concerns.