JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, CA wanted a gazebo outside their restaurant, Rockwood Grill. A 16ft tall 33ft wide 200ft long double closed end (DCE) and two 8ft tall AquaDams were used here to isolate and de-water the space needed for the gazebo.

The area to the right of the kayak will be isolated and de-watered.

A dedicated freight trailer was used to haul the purchased AquaDams. AquaDams come shipped rolled-up like a carpet roll on a wooden beam, wrapped in a protective covering, and have lifting ropes/straps.

The 8ft tall AquaDams have been removed first. A spreader bar was needed to distribute the 20,000lb load of the 16ft tall DCE AquaDam.

Despite its bulk, the AquaDam is buoyant and floats when empty allowing it to be positioned with personal watercraft. AquaDams are made of lightweight flexible materials and will float when empty in deep enough water.

A jet ski behind and one in front of the AquaDam move it into position. The path to the installation site narrowed as it went under a bridge.

The AquaDam squeezed between the bridge piers with several feet to spare.

The 16ft tall DCE AquaDam has been unrolled to expose the fill-tubes, located on top of the unit. The fill-tubes for a DCE AquaDam are on top of the body of the unit allowing the unit to be free standing and not require a starting bank.

Workers begin filling the 16ft tall DCE AquaDam with water.

The 16ft tall AquaDam will overlap an 8ft tall AquaDam at each end. These ends will close the final leg to shore, to minimize AquaDam's impact and footprint on the banks and finish the seal.

As water is pumped into the AquaDam, head above the water forms. Although there is no current, this head will keep the AquaDam stable.

Although electric pumps were planned for this job, they were not available. Aqua Dam Inc. (ADI) provided pumps and hoses to fill the AquaDams. The AquaDam continues to unroll.

As the AquaDam fills with water, the pressure from the water inside the fill-tubes pushes on the roll end causing it to unroll.

Here we can see the starting bank for the second 8ft tall AquaDam. This AquaDam is a single closed end (SCE) unit. A SCE AquaDam requires a starting bank to keep its starting point (open end) higher in elevation than the body of the AquaDam. The open end and fill-tubes of a SCE AquaDam must stay elevated higher than the full height of the dam along its given path. An AquaDam will only reach its full height at the lowest elevation along its given path.

The 8ft tall SCE AquaDam was unrolled into the path of the 16ft tall DCE AquaDam, which will overlap it.

The 16ft tall by 200ft long DCE AquaDam has completely unrolled and needs to continue filling.

The next morning. The 16ft tall DCE AquaDam was filled until 11:00 PM Pacific time standard the night before.

The 16ft tall DCE AquaDam continues to fill the next day.

The two 8ft tall AquaDams were not filled with water until the 16ft tall DCE AquaDam was full.

The head inside the 16ft tall AquaDam grows as more water is pumped in.

The 8ft tall DCE AquaDam to the right has been overlapped and inflated.

The other 8ft tall SCE AquaDam has also been inflated.

The work area is now isolated and is being de-watered by the same pumps used to fill these AquaDams.

Several pipes ended in the work area, and two of them were leaking water into the work area. The contractor put temporary caps on these pipes to prevent them from partially re-watering the work area.

The work area is nearly de-watered.

An additional 8ft tall 200ft long AquaDam was brought into the work area before the AquaDams were installed. It was there to be used as a support dam to the primary 16ft tall AquaDam in case water levels were deeper than expected. It was not deployed.

A small amount of seepage through the 90-degree corner on the right, under the 8' Leg. Seepage can be expected when AquaDams are joined together or overlapped. No cofferdam is 100% watertight, seepage should be expected and appropriately planned for with pumps.

The same 8ft tall AquaDam from the greater body of waterside.

The 16ft tall AquaDam is holding back around 9.5ft of water depth.

This AquaDam was DCE, with fill-tubes protruding from the top. These water coolers provide enough elevation to keep water from draining out of the fill-tubes.

Overview from the greater body of waterside.

Looking down at the DCE 8ft tall and 16ft tall AquaDams. Can you see the water depth difference from right to left?

The work area is almost de-watered.

The installation of the AquaDam only required heavy equipment on shore. No other heavy equipment was used in the water, which kept the turbidity and sedimentation minimal.

New construction will take place in this area, once de-watering is complete.

Fantastic job AquaDam!

The work has been completed and it is time to remove the AquaDam cofferdam system. It is important to re-water the work area first.

Removing the water from inside of a DCE AquaDam is trickier than with a SCE unit. For this project, workers cut off the fill-tubes so that they could remove the AquaDam in layers.

Workers cut small holes in one closed end first, allowed the unit to drain, and then cut each of the closed ends at the seam.