Geotextiles for water storage project in rural Nyngan

Project snapshot

As of May 2019, the Burrendong Dam which services the townships of Dubbo, Cobar and Nyngan, is critically low at 5.9%, and even with stringent water restrictions, will be empty within 12 months on the current trajectory. As there is no groundwater that can be accessed by bores, authorities are now exploring the option of building emergency pipelines.

This is in addition to a series of water storage projects and dam expansion efforts that have been ongoing over the past few years. One of these expansion projects is an off-river water storage facility near the Macquarie River. Back in May 2018, Jaybro’s GEOmasta team supplied a significant quantity of mastaTEX Non-Woven geotextile for this project. 

The challenges

A tender to construct the new water storage facility near Nyngan was funded in part by the NSW Government, who has contributed $10 million to this important project. The government’s ‘Water Security for Regions’ program helps communities prepare for escalating drought conditions and improve water security across NSW. Bogan Shire Council welcomed the new storage area, which reduced the need for water restrictions for the community. 

The first part of this project involved the construction of a 700-megalitre water storage dam which was designed to supplement the water supply when Burrendong Dam and the Macquarie River is low. It was built with the long-term view of constructing other off-river storages, which are now coming to the fore as the drought continues to challenge rural NSW communities.

Construction contractors Trazlbat in conjunction with Barnson undertook geotechnical investigations and site preparation back in September 2017. It was determined that a high quality geotextile layer would be critical in ensuring the strength and long term effectiveness of the off-river storage area.

Jaybro's solution

The project managers reached out to the GEOmasta team to establish a supply of mastaTEX Class C Non-woven geotextile. During construction, Jaybro supplied 55 rolls of mastaTEX Non-woven to act as a separation and filtration layer.

mastaTEX Non-Woven is a continuous filament geotextile made from highly durable virgin polyester fibres, which are resistant to all naturally occurring soil acids and alkalis. The textile is formed through needle punching in order to produce a product suitable for use in road and rail work, separation, drainage, protection and filtration works.

This project was completed in late 2018 with work continuing throughout the area to establish water security for NSW’s Central West region.

KEY DATA

• Supplied: 55 rolls of mastaTEX Class C GF34-6
• Time period: May 2018