Dear colleagues, partners, designers and builders of hydraulic engineering structures!
Yesterday, 1 April, Russia celebrated an unofficial but very important professional holiday — Hydraulic Engineering Day.
At «TechPolymer», we have been working with hydraulic engineers for more than 25 years. During this time, our materials have formed the basis of dozens of seepage barriers for tailings storage facilities, waterproofing systems for surge tanks and dam protection systems.
Today, we would like not only to congratulate our colleagues, but also to share solutions developed at the intersection of your challenges and our technologies.
CASE NO. 1: TALNAKH CONCENTRATOR (NORILSK)
Conditions: harsh climate, remote location, shortage of suitable soils.
Task: waterproofing the tailings storage facility surge tank using conventional methods (sand + geomembrane + crushed stone) was impossible due to the lack of suitable aggregate materials.
Solution: The «TechPolymer» Engineering Centre proposed the five-layer geocomposite mat «Hydromat 3D/M Arctic» with additional reinforcement using RD geogrid.
Result:
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seepage through the dam body and tank bottom was prevented;
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the hydromat protects the geomembrane from damage by coarse particles;
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the design underwent R&D, was incorporated into the project and approved for implementation.
We described this case in more detail in the article [link]
CASE NO. 2. CONSTRUCTION OF CONTAINMENT DAMS ON WEAK FOUNDATION SOILS
Conditions: waterlogged foundation soils, a short construction season and the need to accelerate consolidation.
Task: when constructing containment dams and embankments on weak, water-saturated soils, conventional placement methods result in prolonged foundation stabilisation and a risk of loss of stability. A solution was required to increase the soil's bearing capacity and reduce consolidation time.
Solution: vertical drainage technology was applied using a strip prefabricated vertical drain (STO 56910145-046-2021). The prefabricated vertical drain consists of a flexible polymer core enclosed in nonwoven geotextile, which protects the core from penetrating soil particles. The operating principle is to reduce excess pore pressure during embankment placement.
Implementation stages:
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Construction of a working platform from draining soil (Kf ≥ 3.0 m/day) up to 800 mm thick. When reinforced with high-strength woven geofabric, the thickness is reduced to 500 mm.
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Installation of prefabricated vertical drains across the entire foundation area through the working platform using static pushing (Stitcher attachment mounted on a tracked excavator).
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Installation of pore pressure monitoring sensors to determine when the design values have been reached.
Result:
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water-saturated foundation soils were stabilised within a short timeframe;
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the soil's bearing capacity was increased.
We described this case in more detail in the article [link]
Happy holiday, colleagues!
Together, we build where every centimetre of soil and every week of the construction season counts.
Sincerely, TechPolymer Group
