Water Storage

Water storage is a fundamental element of water resources management and critical to supporting resilient development. For more than a century, Binnies has been involved in building a broad variety of water retention structures at a variety of scales and providing holistic solutions from planning and design through to the construction and operation of new water systems.

Binnies has built numerous dams and reservoirs globally since the early 1900s and continues to innovate. This includes applying our subject matter expertise and digital capabilities to developing our iDMS platform. Our reservoir team includes All Reservoir Panel Engineers, Service Reservoir Panel Engineers and Supervising Engineers, as well as dam experts in geotechnical engineering, hydraulics and hydrology, and structural engineering. Our professionals carry out numerous reservoir inspections each year, both in the UK and across the globe. Binnies has played a pivotal role in the design and construction of many of the world’s most iconic dams for more than100 years. This includes innovative projects such as the world’s first piano key bellmouth overflow at Black Esk in the UK for Scottish Water. We are working with the UK Environment Agency to shape the future of reservoir safety in the UK following the 2019 Toddbrook reservoir spillway failure and working with clients such as Irish Water and Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department to provide expert advice on their dam safety strategies.

Binnies has been involved in developing many of Hong Kong’s impounding reservoirs, including the Shek Pik Reservoir, created in 1963. Its completion was followed by the construction of the two largest reservoirs in Hong Kong, Plover Cove and High Island reservoirs, which are the world’s first examples of transforming sea inlets into potable water reservoirs. Recognised among Hong Kong’s ten ‘engineering wonders’ of the 20th century, these two critical water storage infrastructure assets have secured the continuous water supply for millions of people in the city.

In Singapore, we designed the Marina Barrage, a dam built across the 350-m wide Marina Channel to keep out seawater, thus creating the first freshwater reservoir in the heart of the city while improving the flood protection provided.

We have also provided an innovative solution that involved the design, construction and commissioning of two freshwater and two saltwater service reservoirs, to be located in rock caverns, for the University of Hong Kong. The novel approach reduced the environmental impact of the original proposals and significantly reduced the land take requirements.