Dam and reservoir construction requires the use of a low permeable material to contain the valuable water for later use in agricultural, civil, forestry and industrial applications. Finding a good source of clay to form the impermeable barrier is becoming increasingly difficult. Once sourced the next challenge is the placing and compacting the clay. Very hot windy days that will cause the clay to dry out and crack thus reducing its effectiveness as a barrier is one problem. The other is during marginal weather conditions when there is too much moisture around to dry out the clay sufficiently to be able to compact the clay to an acceptable density.

To overcome these challanges Maccaferri can offer a range of synthetic materials from geosynthetic clay liners to geomembranes for containment. These materials are fully tested and are manufactured under a strict quality management system that provides a high confidence level for performance in the field.

In addition to containing water there is a need to construct spillways to control dam overflow as well as the use of geotextiles in chimney and blanket drains and under rock armour. Maccaferri has a number of synthetic materials to improve the erosion resistance of grass lined spillways, control erosion under rock armour normally placed along the lake edge and non woven geotextiles to separate and filter soil around drains located within the dam fill.