Dams & Reservoirs

Faber Maunsell's dam and reservoir specialists have an impressive track record of success in dam and reservoir projects, bringing innovative ideas to the investigation, design, supervision of construction, inspection and certification of dams and reservoirs worldwide.

Faber Maunsell has been a leading dam and reservoir design organisation in the UK since 1952. Services provided cover:

• Impounding and Non-impounding Reservoirs for potable water supply, irrigation and hydropower, including pump-storage hydropower schemes
• Initial concept design, feasibility and evaluation and reporting
• Detailed design
• Geotechnical Investigations and Design
• Construction Supervision
• Commissioning
• Independent Design Reviews
• Safety Inspections
• Rehabilitation
• Service Reservoirs
• Institutional Strengthening
• Asset Management

Design

Faber Maunsell has been responsible for the design of more than 30 new dams and major upgrades to dams in the UK and overseas. These have included earthfill and rockfill embankments and concrete dams as well as major improvements to existing dams for upgrading stability, spillway capacity and outlet works including installation of micro-hydro units. Embankment dams have included CFRDs, central cores of asphaltic concrete, concrete and clay, and homogeneous embankments. We have designed dams in the UK, UAE, Yemen and Hong Kong.

In addition members of staff have been responsible for the design of more than 20 other major dams worldwide including embankments up to 160m high and double curvature arch dams. They have designed dams in Indonesia, Lesotho, Cyprus, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Tanzania and Oman.

Geotechnical Investigation and Design

Geotechnical investigation and design for dam projects has included design, supervision and interpretation of ground investigations, slope stability analyses (soil and rock slopes) design of slope support schemes, tunnels and seismic hazard studies. Quantitative Risk Assessment for slopes adjacent to potentially leaking service reservoirs was part of two recent projects.

Construction Supervision and Commissioning

Faber Maunsell has supervised the construction of all of the dams and remedial works they have designed.

Independent Design Reviews

Independent design reviews of new dams, including tailings dams have been carried out in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Lebanon and Azerbaijan. Some of these reviews have been of dams up to 125m high and have also included risk studies of the various options available. In Indonesia, review of upgrading proposals for existing dams was a major part of the IBRD funded Dam Safety Project.

Project Audits and Due Diligence Reviews have also been carried out for major lending agencies on dam and hydropower projects worldwide.

Members of staff have also reviewed dams for two projects for sustainable development in Kenya.

Safety Inspections

Faber Maunsell Inspecting Engineers carry out approximately 30 safety inspections per year on dams in the UK under current UK Dam Safety Legislation. In addition they also provide Supervising Engineers services for over 180 reservoirs to a major Utility Scottish Water, the Environment Agency and a number of private clients throughout UK.

Overseas, we have provided the Advisor on Dam Safety to the Government of Hong Kong since 1986. This has included safety inspections and provision of advisory services for both impounding and service reservoirs, under procedures based on the UK Reservoirs Act 1975.

Inspections have also been carried out for PUB Singapore, in Indonesia as part of the IBRD funded Dam Safety Project in Vietnam and in Kosovo as part of the reconstruction effort following the end of the recent war there.

Rehabilitation

Major rehabilitation woks on dams in the UK have included improvements to stability of concrete dams using post stressed anchors as well as improvements to spillways and prevention of leakage using diaphragm walls and geosynthetic membranes.

We also developed the innovative application of bituminous pattern grouting for upgrading rip-rap protection to upstream slopes of dams.

Service Reservoirs

Faber Maunsell has special expertise in Service Reservoirs covering the design and construction supervision of large new reservoirs up to 75,500m³ and safety inspections, investigations repair and upgrading to existing reservoirs both in UK and overseas. Design Review and Certification of service reservoirs up to 100,000m³ has also been provided in UK and overseas.

Remedial works to service reservoirs has covered all types of construction including masonry, mass concrete and reinforced concrete for storage of fresh water and in Hong Kong for both fresh and salt water.

Institutional Strengthening

Improvement to dam safety has always been an important theme within Faber Maunsell. We played a major part in the development of a national dam safety assurance programme, including advice on legislation and setting up appropriate institutions as part of the Indonesian Dam Safety Project. In addition training in dam safety and dam engineering was provided to the staff of the newly set up local institutions.

Training in dam safety and engineering has also been provided in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong as well as to client's staff in UK.

Asset Management

The efficient management of strategic assets such as dams and reservoirs is an important part of overall dam safety. Advice on setting up appropriate systems has been provided as part of inspection and dam safety programmes in Indonesia and Kosovo.

People

Faber Maunsell has on its staff 3 "All Reservoirs Panel" Engineers, 1 "Service Reservoirs Panel" Engineer and 2 “Supervising Engineer Panel” engineers under the UK Reservoirs Act 1975.  A number of independent Panel Engineers are also employed on a contract basis as appropriate.

For more information on our experience and capabilities please contact Ken Turnbull.