Plastic-lined basin in an open landscape, with workers and equipment visible on surrounding soil embankments

Dislocation of Temnica River, North Macedonia

The Dislocation of the Temnica River was a major hydraulic and geotechnical engineering project carried out to enable the expansion of the Oslomej lignite open-pit mine near Kičevo, North Macedonia.
To access the coal deposits located beneath the original riverbed, the Temnica River was permanently diverted into a newly engineered channel of approximately 2 km length. The project successfully extended the operational life of the Oslomej thermal power plant by securing continued access to fuel resources.

Technical Implementation

The relocation involved the construction of a app. 2km long fully artificial river channel, partially routed over high embankment structures with a height of up to 40m founded on weak and compressible subsoil.
 

Engineering Challenges

Challenges for AGRU HDPE geomembranes and particularly demanding requirements on the lining system due to the combination of: • Hydraulic loading from continuous river flow with a designed flow capacity: up to HQ100 (approx. 186 m³/s)
• High embankment settlements and differential deformations
• Weak subsoil with long-term consolidation behaviour
 

Risks Without an Adequate Sealing Solution

Without an effective sealing solution provided by AGRU and installed by our partner ERGOLAND, uncontrolled water infiltration could have led to: • Loss of water from the channel
• Instability of the embankment structure
• Flooding or operational disruption of the open-pit mine
 

Project Significance

The Temnica River relocation represents a benchmark for AGRU geomembranes in hydraulic and mining applications and shows the wide range of applications we support.

 

 

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Plastic-lined pit with a light protective layer, workers moving inside between the steep sides
Long basin lined with black plastic, smooth inner surface and an excavator in the background among soil embankments