River & Watercourse Works
Bridge pier and abutment repairs, new riverbank and retaining wall construction, and pump station maintenance in live channels.
Temporary Dams & Water Control
Frame Dams
Rapid, engineered isolation for rivers, canals, and open water environments.
FRAME DAMS
Fast, robust isolation in live water, when time in the water is the critical constraint.
High Water frame dams are built on the Geodesign Barrier system and developed over more than a decade for temporary works and cofferdam applications in demanding construction environments.
Frame dams provide robust, rapidly deployable temporary isolation in rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal watercourses where works must be carried out in live, flowing water. They are designed for situations where reliability, adaptability, and speed are critical.
Sheet piling, earth dams, and bulk bag solutions are often slow to install, difficult to remove, and disruptive to both programme and environment. Frame dams can be installed quickly — we regularly deploy upwards of 50 m of 1.5 m-high dam in a single day, subject to site conditions — and removed just as rapidly, allowing works to take advantage of favourable water levels or short working windows.
What makes our Frame Dams Different?
High Water’s frame dam capability is built on the Geodesign Barrier system, an industry-leading barrier originally developed for flood defence. Over more than a decade, we have worked directly with the manufacturer to modify and enhance the barrier for temporary works and cofferdam applications, increasing robustness, stability, and adaptability in construction environments.
This relationship benefits both parties. The same adaptations that make the barrier effective as a frame dam also demonstrate its flood-defence capability through repeated, real-world use in demanding conditions. The result is a system with a high factor of safety, providing confidence in environments where failure is not an option.
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Installed quickly: regularly deploying 50+ m of 1.5 m-high dam in a single day, subject to site conditions.
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Removed just as rapidly: allowing works to take advantage of favourable water levels or short working windows.
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Versatile: Repositioned or adapted as conditions change.
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Flexible: Configured as fully enclosed cofferdams around mid-channel works, or run parallel to banks, following winding river alignments.
Frame Dam Applications
Weir & Ecological Works
Weir repair, modification, or removal as part of ecological enhancement. River restoration and re-naturalisation schemes.
Coastal & Tidal Works
Coastal and estuarine construction carried out between or across tidal cycles, where rapid installation and removal are critical.
Complex & Enclosed Cofferdams
Fully enclosed temporary cofferdams around mid-channel works. Versatile configurations for assets that cannot be reached using linear or margin-only solutions.
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Advantages of Frame Dams
Reducing time spent working in live water and enabling opportunistic working when levels permit
Solid structural facings, purpose-designed steel frames, and materials selected to distribute load and resist deformation
Across rock, gravel, clay, concrete, and mixed substrates
Allowing very large flows to be bypassed without continuous pumping, with greater reliability over extended durations
Standard module sizes joined together to contour uneven riverbeds, accommodate changes in depth, and adapt to real ground conditions without compromising design intent
Frame Dam Features
Rapid Deployment
Modular & Adaptable
High Factor of Safety
Sustainable & Reusable
Ready to Get Started?
If your project demands rapid, robust temporary isolation in a live watercourse and other systems feel inappropriate or high-risk, let’s assess the constraint properly. Talk to our engineers about engineered frame dam solutions for complex water environments.