Case History: Application Of Geosynthetics in A Tailings Storage Facility Rockfill Buttress Construction Project
Authors: M. K. Mthethwa11
Conference: GIGSA Workshop and GCYP
Date: July 4-5, 2024
1 Knight Piésold, Sandton, South Africa
ABSTRACT
The objective of this paper is to present the application of geosynthetics in the buttressing of a gold tailings dam in 2022 in an undisclosed location in Free State, South Africa. Several geosynthetic materials were involved in the project such as geogrids, non-woven geotextiles, HDPE drainage pipes, and a geo-composite drainage. Drainage of the saturated in-situ clay was achieved using sub-soil drains consisting of a slotted HDPE pipe wrapped in non-woven geotextile for filtering function. Biaxial geogrid reinforcement was used to protect the subsoil drain from crushing under the weight of the overburden rockfill. Non-woven geotextile and geocomposite drain were used as a separator and filter material between the tailings and rockfill. The application of geosynthetics in this project was successful as the products proved functional post-construction based on available monitoring data.
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