ABSTRACT
The main three factors that can lead to the failure of geocellular reservoirs could be summarized as: (i) inadequate design, often not considering a particular ground condition in the site; (ii) lack of understanding of the performance of the tanks and overloading them; (iii) overestimating the strength of the units as a result of inappropriate laboratory experiments. However, there might be other issues contributing to the faulty performance of installed geocellular tanks, e.g., improper control of surface water flow into excavation during construction, or lack of appreciation to the influence
1 INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, storm water drainage systems are constructed with the installation of very long, vertically orientated pipes in which storm water is held before dispersing slowly. This construction method is costly and time consuming as a series of deep holes need to be dug across the area being drained. During the last decade several alternative techniques have been developed for storm water collection, one of which is the use of ultra lightweight honeycomb modular structures. The modular units are usually in the form of cuboid plastic structures with a high porosity, typically in excess of 90%. These modules require much shallower holes and can be laid across the drainage area in a shorter time and at reduced cost (see Fig. 1).
