Fergusson Irvine's book A Short History of the Township of Rivington: A suitable site for the embankment having been selected, a trench was excavated on the centre line of the intended work and carried down to the solid rock right across the valley.

This was filled with clay deposited in layers of 9 inches, and carefully puddled so as to produce a homogeneous watertight material.

The clay wall has been carried up to a batter on each side of 1 inch to every foot vertical, the thickness at the top being 6 feet.

The inner slopes of the bank are protected by 15-inch pitching, consisting of the millstone grit of the neighbourhood, laid on a bed of broken stone.

The outer slopes have been soiled and grassed over.The construction of the reservoir meant that a small hamlet called Alance was flooded, centred on the rebuilt Alance Bridge, and a large dwelling was demolished - Turner's Farm - which lives on in current maps only in name as Turner's Embankment.