Al-Kafrain
Dam

Securing Irrigation Water
for the Ghor

Al-Kafrain Dam is an embankment dam and reservoir constructed by CEC in the Jordan Valley for the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA). It forms part of the Ghor's expanding network of storage reservoirs, capturing seasonal wadi flows and treated water transfers to provide a dependable irrigation supply for the surrounding agricultural plains — among the most productive farmland in Jordan.

The project follows CEC's earlier delivery of Al Karameh Dam, also in the Jordan Valley, and shares the same demanding Jordan Rift Valley setting — yet Al-Kafrain Dam required its own distinct embankment geometry, spillway arrangement, and reservoir capacity, tailored to the local topography and the catchment hydrology of its wadi system. The two dams now operate as complementary nodes in the JVA's regional water storage strategy, distributing reservoir capacity across the valley to improve resilience during drought years.

As with all of CEC's water-sector work, delivery of Al-Kafrain Dam drew on our First Grade classification in Water and Sewerage Works — the highest tier of contractor certification issued in Jordan — and on decades of accumulated experience building dams, pipelines, and pumping infrastructure across the Jordan Valley's challenging terrain.

Engineering Challenges of Embankment Construction

Building an embankment dam in the Jordan Valley demands careful management of geology, hydrology, and climate:

• Seismic design within the Rift Valley: Sitting astride the Dead Sea Transform fault system, the dam's embankment cross-section and core zoning were engineered to accommodate seismic loading without compromising the impervious barrier.
• Borrow material selection: Sourcing suitable core, filter, and shell materials from local borrow areas required extensive testing to manage the saline and variable soils typical of the Ghor, ensuring compaction and permeability targets were consistently met.
• Spillway sizing for flash floods: The dam's spillway and outlet works were sized to safely pass flood flows from a wadi catchment prone to sudden, high-intensity flash floods during the winter rainy season.
• Reservoir-rim and abutment treatment: Foundation and abutment preparation required targeted grouting and seepage cut-off measures to control leakage paths through fractured rock at the reservoir margins.

Scope of Work

CEC's scope at Al-Kafrain Dam covered the full sequence of embankment dam construction: site clearance and temporary diversion of wadi flows; foundation excavation, treatment, and grouting; placement and compaction of the impervious core, filter zones, and rockfill shells in tightly controlled lifts; construction of the spillway, stilling basin, and outlet conduit; installation of dam safety instrumentation including piezometers and settlement markers; and reservoir-area finishing works ahead of first impoundment, all coordinated closely with JVA's resident engineering team.

Quality & Safety on Dam Construction

Every stage of embankment placement at Al-Kafrain Dam was governed by CEC's quality management system, with on-site laboratory testing of compaction density, moisture content, and material gradation for each placement lift. Independent verification, staged JVA inspections, and complete instrumentation calibration records ensured the embankment met its design criteria before impoundment — consistent with the rigorous standards CEC applies across all of its dam and reservoir projects in the Jordan Valley.