Lainhart and Masten Dam Seepage Barrier

Lainhart and Mastens Dams Seepage Barrier

The Lainhart and Masten Dams sit on the Loxahatchee River and help serve as a flow control system to keep the Loxahatchee at optimal flow and depths. The South Florida Water Management District, the Florida department that oversees these dams, was experiencing issues with severe seepage that was leading to soil loss under and around the dams. The seepage was so bad, that the northern section of the Mastens dam experienced failures and loss significant fill.

Ground Works Solutions helped stabilize and rehabilitate these dams by installing a dam seepage barrier. To do this, Ground Works designed and installed a specialized injectable seepage barrier using its polymer injection process. The design included injecting a hydro-insensitive two-part chemical grout at multiple horizontal and vertical depths to create a non-permeable layer of material that locks up the fill soils and fills any present voids around and underneath the sheet pile wall and adjacent target locations.

Once injected, our polymers expand up to 25-times its initial volume while saturating and combining with the existing soils. The result is a matrix of polymer and soil that is highly dense and non-permeable. The material is environmentally inert and has no impact to the surrounding environment or water sources.

Results
Ground Works installed seepage barriers at both Dam locations, overcoming limited site access and environmental impact concerns. Functionality was restored at both dams and future risks of failure were mitigated.