Canal Protection
Canals can suffer from leakage to surrounding areas, erosion and ship scour of impermeable layers or undermine structures.
Concrete Mattress Solution
A stable and impermeable lining is needed to overcome these issues which while easy to install in dry conditions, can be challenging to achieve to the quality required to prevent leaks if installed in water and while keeping the canal in operation.
Canal lining in water using concrete mattress stabilises canal sides and bottoms with a continuous plain concrete slab which is highly resistant to scour and can be undertaken while maintaining the canal in operation.
The concrete mattress lining method creates interlocking plain concrete slabs with “ball and socket” joints between each concrete pour leaving minimal leakage routes remaining. This is a diver installed method, however the diver has few locations to place the filler hose to ensure the mattress fills fully, whereas with grouted rock the diver needs to grout the entire area, with the likelihood of leaving small areas without grout being far greater. The mattress provides protection to recently poured concrete so that vessels can pass over shortly after pouring.
