Fabtech Australia, an Australian geosynthetic containment specialist, was awarded contracts to supply, design and install a new liner and cover at Sydney Water’s Potts Hill Reservoirs. Specialist geomembrane materials have been selected for the project following extensive testing to prove their capability for the project. Material production is underway and on-site work started in April with completion in 2023.

This work is complex, requiring the two reservoirs at Potts Hill being re-built in two phases. This consists of working adjacent to operational storage as well as designing the construction plan to achieve this safely and efficiently. The combined storage has a total surface area of 180,000m², requiring over 500,000m2 of materials to build. It represents the largest floating cover in the Southern Hemisphere.

“We built the original liner and cover at Potts Hill in 1999 and have been supporting Sydney Water since then,” says Fabtech Managing Director, Graham Fairhead. “This project allows Fabtech to draw on its 30 years of experience in designing and constructing floating cover systems and materials engineering to build a world-class asset for Sydney Water. It’s exciting and a privilege to work with Sydney Water and their delivery partner D4C.”