How to ensure anti-seepage safety during typhoon weather?
In recent days, the eastern coastal regions of Asia have been affected by Super Typhoon Ragasa, which has brought a large amount of rain and strong winds. Such extreme conditions pose serious risks to infrastructure projects, weaknesses in waterproofing&seepage control and drainage systems. Structures like dams, reservoirs, landfills, tailings ponds and tunnels are facing high pressure and seepage risks, while roadbed often get trouble in insufficient drainage capacity.
Key Engineering Risks Under Typhoon Conditions
- Dams, reservoirs, landfills, and tailings ponds experience rapid water level rises, creating huge hydraulic pressure on impermeable systems. This brings severe stress on the seepage-control materials.
- Tunnels are exposed to mountain slope erosion, often leading to water seepage through tunnel linings and increased structural loads.
- Road surfaces accumulate water in uneven sections, while conventional drainage systems often fail to discharge sudden water volumes, resulting in serious urban flooding.
- Exposed soil slopes face erosion, soil loss and risks of landslides caused by prolonged rainfall.
- Unprotected waterproofing systems are directly exposed to extreme wind pressure, leading to structural damage or even complete failure.
Recommended Measures and Geosynthetics Applications
- For dams and reservoirs under extreme water pressure, HDPE geomembranes with thicknesses of 2.0 mm or more should be used to ensure sufficient mechanical strength and durability. In landfills and tailings ponds containing pollutants, additional secondary barriers such as GCL (Geosynthetic Clay Liner) are recommended for enhanced protection.
- For tunnels, high-performance flexible waterproofing is essential. EVA waterproof board or self-adhesive waterproof board can work as the inner barrier, combined with three-dimensional composite drainage net on the outer layer to provide both uniform load distribution and effective drainage capacity.
- For roads, base reinforcement with biaxial stretch geogrids ensures safe load distribution and reduces subsidence. To handle drainage under sudden heavy rainfall, conventional systems should be upgraded to siphon drainage systems, which utilize negative pressure to achieve faster and more reliable discharge.
- For exposed slopes and open soil surfaces, uniaxial stretch geogrids can provide vertical reinforcement. The combinations of HDPE geomembrane and nonwoven geotextiles can form protective layers that resist erosion and prevent large-scale soil loss.
No waterproofing or anti-seepage system is immune to the pressures of water and wind during a typhoon, and the effectiveness of engineering solutions depends on both high-quality materials and proper construction practices.
At Sichuan Zhonglong Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., the largest geosynthetics manufacturer in Southwest China, we remain at the forefront of material innovation, production technology and project expertise. Our use of premium raw materials and imported production equipment ensures product reliability and contributes to safer and more resilient engineering projects—even under extreme conditions such as typhoons.
Finally, we hope that all of people in coastal regions stay safe and take extra care when traveling in such severe weather.
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Sichuan Zhonglong Environmental Protection Co., Ltd.
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