چكيده لاتين :
Some of the uncertainties that dam engineering must face are related to and influence the design of the
dam: characteristics and behaviour of foundations and of materials used to construct the dam, seismic
events, swelling processes, temperature effects, etc. Other uncertainties are related to construction and
are also affected by weather conditions: time required for erecting the dam, craftsmanship and quality
of construction, effectiveness of quality control. All these elements have a direct effect on costs,
which therefore become a further uncertainty. The paper analyses how geomembrane systems adopted
in various types of applications have provided a beneficial effect to minimise these uncertainties.
Various aspects are discussed with significant case histories addressing the technical, constructional
and economical perspective. The results and performance of such applications show that
geomembranes can be a very effective, and sometimes underestimated, ally to tackle and minimize
many uncertainties of dam design, construction, performance, and cost effectiveness.
