Water storage pond Bagir construction

Challenge

Turkmenistan as well as the whole region Middle Asia have almost no fresh water resources. Very dry and hot climate leads to evaporation of significant volumes of water. Western and Central regions of the country have almost no rivers while fresh water is absolutely necessary for the production of grain, cotton, rice and sugar beets, as well as for drinking and communal services purposes. Due to this reason a number of water ponds were constructed around the country. Bagir water reservoir is one of them.

Solution

The traditional construction technology considers using a thick clay layer to prevent leakage of water from the reservoir. This normally leads to long construction periods, complexity of clay layer compaction and no 100% guaranteed waterproofing. To solve these difficulties a combination of geomembrane and nonwoven geotextile has been installed on the subsoil consisting of sand and gravel. The nonwoven geotextile TenCate Polyfelt® TS65 has excellent protection characteristics. The 1,5mm thick geomembrane (HDPE) installed over it is safely protected from any ruptures, punctures and excessive deformations to fulfill perfectly the function of waterproofing. Concrete blocks and crushed rock have been installed as final revetment.

Benefits

The total sealed surface was more than 150.000m². This technology helped to perform the job faster, more economic and safer in comparison to the old-style construction method.