The first double geomembrane liner system was designed by geosynthetics pioneer J.P. Giroud, and installed in 1974 in Le Pont-de-Claix, France to serve as a water reservoir; this is still in service today. This system was composed of an early form of a bituminous geomembrane as the secondary liner, gravel as the drainage layer, and a butyl rubber geomembrane as the primary liner.