Johannesburg +2711 922 3300

Pinetown +2731 717 2300

Cape Town +2721 531 8110
East London +2743 727 1055
Port Elizabeth +2741 453 0755
www.kaytech.co.za

CASE STUDY

Eroded Strandfontein Beach Access Ramp Restored Using Geocontainers. July 2018

Client: City of Cape Town - Coastal Management Branch

Contractor: Nammic Western Cape Consultant: Kaytech Design Office

Product: ®
1). 30 EnviroRock 3PL Geocontainers
® 2 For Kaytech: Norrin Stone
2). EnviroRock 3PL Fabric: 217 m

Estimated current rates of eustatic sea-level rise range An example of the sort of damage that is being done can
from 2 to 9mm/yr (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate be seen at the Strandfontein Blue Flag beach on False
Change, 2001), which is two to four times Bay, near Khayalitsha, which is about 30 km from Cape
higher than for the previous 100 years. Town city centre. The Monwabisi resort here features
Recent studies based on satellite altimetry (utilising the largest tidal pool in the southern hemisphere.
TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2) show global (https://www.westerncape.gov.za/facility/monwabisi-
mean sea level rising at a rate of 3 mm/year since 1992 resort), However, rising sea level, storm surges, and the
(Nerem et al., 2010). exposed nature of the shoreline here has resulted in
Local measured sea-level trends measured from the erosion problems, causing substantial damage to the
station at Port Nolloth (Brundrit, 1995) and from Durban infrastructure
(Mather, 2007) are in agreement with global trends, This can be seen on the shore roads at the resort, as
suggesting that global data can be used for models along well the beach access ramp.
our coastline.
The vulnerability of coastal regions will increase,
assuming the projected, global warming induced
environmental changes result in higher sea levels with
the associated coastal inundation as well as changes in
the location, number, frequency and intensity of storms
and associated storm surges increase (Sidle, et al.,
2004; Tralli et al., 2005).
Rising sea level, in combination with large storms,
flooding and increased wave energy is driving increased
rates of erosion of beaches, bluffs and other coastal
features, where storm buffering provided by beaches and
dunes, as well as floodwater storage by wetlands is
being affected (Heinz Center, 2002).
For references quoted here, see:
(http://www.geoscience.org.za/images/geohazard/coastal
_vulnerability.pdf)
Above and Below: Strandfontein Beach Road – October
2017

Aerial View of Strandfontein Tidal Pool and Monwabisi

Resort

Kaytech Case Study Ref: Page 1 of 3

 Johannesburg +2711 922 3300
Pinetown +2731 717 2300
Cape Town +2721 531 8110
East London +2743 727 1055
Port Elizabeth +2741 453 0755
www.kaytech.co.za

CASE STUDY

EnviroRock 3PL has a long and successful history in

marine and riverine rehabilitation projects in Southern
Africa. A good example is that given below, where the
people-friendly erosion control measure avoids the use
of hard materials such as can be seen in the forgeround.

Above and Below: Damaged access ramp

Above: Use of 3PL at Richards Bay’s popular Alkantstrand

beach: 1 500 EnviroRock 3PL Geocontainers

The Strandfontein sea-facing outer wall structure

consisted of a line of ±1 ton mass-per-bag insitu beach
sand filled EnviroRock geocontainers incorporating a
"Dutch toe" to prevent scour erosion.

Proxa Water was the main contractor on the nearby

Strandfontein desalination plant and was requested by
the City of Cape Town to reinstate the access ramp with
a permanent solution to provide access to the beach.
Nammic Construction was the civil contractor on the
project and Proxa arranged for them to do the work
described here.
Nammic requested Kaytech to assist in providing
suitable and alternative cost-effective solutions to
construct the ramp to the beach area.
After inspection and deliberation between Kaytech
representatives and Nammic a solution incorporating
®
Kaytech’s EnviroRock geocontainers and EnviroRock
®
3PL fabric was designed and implemented.
®
EnviroRock geotextiles are purpose-made staple- Front wall of 3PL Geocontainers, showing start of 3PL fabric
fibre polypropylene fabrics, manufactured at Kaytech’s “Dutch Toe”
ISO 9001 accredited factory in Atlantis on the Cape West
Coast, about 60 km from Cape Town. The “Dutch Toe” feature incorporates a 3PL
The 3PL grade of Geocontainer fabric is Geocontainer at the end, which weighs it down. This
internationally-patented (Pat. No.ZA/2014/02656) and allows the fabric skirt to drop when the structure is
incorporates a strong polyester geogrid included within threatened with undercutting, preventing removal of sand
the polypropylene base fabrics. This provides for an from below the structure.
extremely tough and abrasion-resistant product, A strong advantage of this method of erosion
characteristics that are much needed when a geotextile prevention is that the plentiful in-situ beach sand is used
is to directly face the pounding of waves. as fill, thus avoiding the use of imported materials. This
sand is naturally-replaced along this coastline by current

Kaytech Case Study Ref: Page 2 of 3


CASE STUDY
and tide and is probably the most environment-friendly
solution that can be considered.
The inner fill was constructed using EnviroRock 3PL
100x100kN fabric. This fabric was laid out between the
seawall of geocontainers and the back of the excavation,
then filled with in-situ beach sand and stitched closed at
the top, creating a large flat tube inside the perimeter
3PL walls.
Above and Below: 3PL fabric used to form the large sand-filled
EnviroRock geotube.
Kaytech Case Study Ref:
Johannesburg +2711 922 3300
Pinetown +2731 717 2300
Cape Town +2721 531 8110
East London +2743 727 1055
Port Elizabeth +2741 453 0755
www.kaytech.co.za
The use of EnviroRock geocontainers to solve marine
and riverine erosion problems is a particularly
environmentally acceptable engineering approach, in that
it is seen as a ‘soft’ solution when compared to rock rip-
rap or concrete or gabion structures.
What is notable is the rapid way that marine life
establishes itself on the bags, which soon take on the
appearance of natural rock reefs
Above: EnviroRock geocontainers taking on a local appearance.
Above: EnviroRock geocontainers along the Durban Beachfront
Rising sea levels are a fact of life, and inter alia, coastal
holiday and tourist attractions are particularly liable to
future erosion problems. The judicial application of
®
geocontainer products like EnviroRock 3PL can go a
long way to extending the life of these facilities, and will
usually present the most economical approach to
preserving infrastructure.
Page 3 of 3