Geomembranas Impermeables

Geomembranes as Impervious
Element to Prevent Accidents in

Tailings Storage
Marco Bacchelli1, Alberto Scuero2, Gabriella Vaschetti1 and Marco
Scarella1
1 Carpi Tech, Switzerland
2 Carpi Group, Switzerland
Geomembranes as Impervious Element to
Prevent Accidents in Tailings Storage
Why a geomembrane?
• Can accommodate large settlements and differential displacements

without loosing imperviousness
• Allows steeper slopes, simplified zoning of the embankment
• Watertightness is independent on weather conditions at the time of
installation and in service
• Can make a project feasible at reasonable costs
• Allows staged installation and earlier reservoir impoundment
• Does not require complex equipment for installation
• Can be installed quicker than other waterproofing systems
Why a geomembrane?
• Does not require routine maintenance. When needed, repair can be made
also underwater, with no or minimum disruption in operation
• Track record of 40 years in severe climatic conditions (high altitudes, high
UV radiation)
• Extrapolation of results from accelerated aging tests indicate a functional
life >100 years for an exposed PVC geomembrane system in climatic
conditions as at Panama Can Extension 18 Water Saving Basins (high
temperature, high UV radiation)
“Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident”.
• Safety of a tailing storage facility largely depends on the safety of the

tailings dam.
• Dams constructed with tailings have almost zero cohesion, are extremely
sensitive to high levels of the phreatic surface, are highly susceptible to
piping and surface erosion, and are susceptible to liquefaction during
seismic events or change in loading.
• Seepage control is critical in these dams to maintain embankment stability
in static and dynamic conditions.
• It is also critical to decrease water losses, and to provide a barrier to the
impounded tailings, thus maintaining water quality at the site.
The state-of-the-art system adopts a configuration installed for the first time
in 2008 and used thereafter in several rockfill and tailings dams. The paper
discusses design aspects, and two recent case histories, one of a tailings dam
and one of a water dam.
In tailings dams, the waterproofing geomembrane system is
exposed GSS, to construct what is known as a
Geomembrane Facing Rockfill Dam (GFRD)
The water barrier is a composite PVC geomembrane that can be
anchored by:
• PVC anchor strips embedded in extruded porous concrete

curbs
• PVC anchor strips embedded in trenches
• Deep anchors
“Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident”. UNEP, the United Nations
Environment Program. The Sealing System (The Methodology). GSS.
PVC anchor strips embedded in extruded porous concrete curbs:
Environment Program. Case histories – Nam Ou VI Rockfill Dam. 2015
Nam Ou VI. At left Stage 2 is starting, at right Stage 2 is completed and the reservoir
is impounding
Case histories – Nam Ou VI Rockfill Dam. 2015
• Nam Ou VI dam is part of the Nam Ou VI Hydropower Project, total

installed capacity 180 MW.
• The 88 m high, 362 m long rockfill dam was designed as a Geomembrane
Facing Rockfill Dam (GFRD).
• The reasons for choosing a geomembrane facing instead of a concrete
facing was that large settlements were expected at the end of
construction and during the service life of the dam. Safer, more cost-
effective, and with shorter construction period than a concrete facing.
• The upstream slope inclination is 1V:1.6H, and total upstream face surface
is 38,000 m2.
• To ensure a system capable to withstand large settlements and
deformations, and guarantee durability for the whole design service life of
the dam, the design was modified to an exposed Sibelon® geocomposite
installed on draining extruded low-cement-content concrete curbs
Environment Program. The Sealing System (The Methodology).
PVC anchor strips are placed on extruded curbs:
Environment Program. The Sealing System (The Methodology).
PVC geocomposite sheets are placed on curbs and seamed to PVC anchor
strips:
• The only water barrier, the exposed Sibelon® CNT geocomposite, consists of a
3.5 mm thick geomembrane, heat-bonded at fabrication to a nonwoven
needle-punched 700 g/m2 polypropylene geotextile. The geocomposite sheets
were deployed directly on the curbs, and anchored by heat-seaming to the
anchor bands. Adjoining sheets were watertight heat-seamed, forming one
watertight facing.
The dam was constructed in three stages.
• Stage 1, embedding the face anchorage system, started on July 23rd, 2014
and was completed on November 2nd, completed in 24 days on about
13,700 m2 of facing.
• Stage 2 (completing the dam body) started on December 12th, 2014 and
was completed on April 14th, 2015, immediately followed by installation of
the geomembrane system, completed in 28 days on about 23,000 m2.
• The settlements that occurred during construction of Stage 2 were
sustained by the deformable geocomposite.
• Stage 3 Lining of the parapet wall started on April 4th, 2016 and was
completed in 22 days.
Case histories – Las Bambas tailing dam. Peru. In progress…
The same system of Nam Ou VI has been adopted in three mining projects:
• Sar Cheshmeh tailings dam raising in Iran.

• Ambarau hardfill dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Las Bambas tailings dam in the Peruvian Andes.
• The dam is made with rock from mine quarrying, with no ore content, so it can be
considered a reuse of waste rock. All materials are spread in layers and compacted.
The dam is constructed in several stages with the downstream raising approach.
• Stage 1 from elevation 3932 to elevation 4020 (divided in intermediate substages)
• Stage 2 from elevation 4020 to elevation 4050
• Stage 5 from elevation 4105 to elevation 4130.
Case histories – Las Bambas tailing dam. Peru. In progress…
Figure shows the concept: in red, the 1V:2H slope of original design with traditional high-
density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane ballasted with 30 cm compacted earth, in green
the reduced volume of fill with the adopted Carpi system: curbs + exposed Sibelon® CNT
geocomposite.
In green, the fill volume with a Sibelon® CNT geocomposite, in red the additional
volume required by an HDPE geomembrane
November 12 2014
Stage 1a dam body construction completed
PVC geocomposite installation Stage 1a starts
February 2, 2015
PVC geocomposite Stage 1b installation completed
17 days for 8,570 m2
October 2015
Construction proceeds in the subsequent stages
2017
2016
Las Bambas. Geocomposite installation at Stage 1 (left, height 88 m)

and Stage 2 (right, height 118 m)
• The tensile properties of the Sibelon®
Results and Discussion. geocomposite and of its face anchorage
system by Sibelon® geocomposite wings
construct a completely flexible watertight
facing, matched by a peripheral seal
allowing accommodating differential
movements at the interface.
• The geocomposite system will adapt to

settlements in the dam and to differential
displacements between the dam body and
the plinth that should occur after
impoundment.
• The good behavior of the system under

seismic loading is an important asset for the
safety of the tailings dam and of the
environment.
Results and Discussion.
• Current practice indicates that geomembranes are a feasible alternative to

concrete slabs in rockfill dams exceeding 100 m, and it can be expected that
geomembranes facings will be used as only waterproofing barriers in super-
high rockfill dams. They are an asset when there is shortage of low
permeability materials (clay).
• Past field experience, laboratory testing and analytical methods concur to estimate
a service life exceeding a hundred years for Sibelon® geocomposites exposed to
the environment. In tailings dams, the geocomposite will eventually be covered by
the tailings, and according to scientific studies on buried geomembranes the
durability is estimated in many centuries.
Conclusion.
The use of Sibelon® geocomposites as only waterproofing barrier in rockfill dams has
shown to be a technically effective solution:
1. Allowing steepening the slopes, reducing the volume of fill,
shortening the construction time and lowering the overall costs.
2. A geocomposite increases the safety of the project and makes

feasible projects that would not otherwise be feasible at
acceptable cost.
3. Successful experience since 1980 on all types of dams, including

rockfill dams up to 198 m, and the increasing interest of dam
designers in the application of geomembrane sealing systems in
the design of tailings storage facilities around the world, testify the
reliability and durability of such sealing systems.

Geomembranas Impermeables

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Geomembranas Impermeables

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Geomembranes as Impervious

Element to Prevent Accidents in

• Can accommodate large settlements and differential displacements

• Safety of a tailing storage facility largely depends on the safety of the

• PVC anchor strips embedded in extruded porous concrete

• Nam Ou VI dam is part of the Nam Ou VI Hydropower Project, total

• Sar Cheshmeh tailings dam raising in Iran.

Las Bambas. Geocomposite installation at Stage 1 (left, height 88 m)

• The geocomposite system will adapt to

• The good behavior of the system under

• Current practice indicates that geomembranes are a feasible alternative to

2. A geocomposite increases the safety of the project and makes

3. Successful experience since 1980 on all types of dams, including

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