GEOSYNTHETICS FOR

COASTAL PROTECTION

DONE BY :::
17C102 - AKSHITH GUPTA
17C217- NIRANJAN ALANGAT
 INTRODUCTION 2

 About half of the world’s population lives within 100 km of a coastline

 Due to water levels high above the normal, there is interaction of water and
soil in areas where it is not expected

 Surface erosion is an extraordinary threat to all earth structures

 Initially only tiny rills may occur which can develop to deep gullies or channels,
which can reduce their stability
 GEOSYNTHETICS 3

 Geosynthetics refer to flat, permeable, polymer-synthetic or natural textile

materials which can be non-woven, woven, knitted or knotted materials

 Geosynthetic family comprises of geogrids, geonets, geotextiles, geomembranes,

geosynthetic clay linters, geopipe and geocomposites

 Generally made of plastics such as polypropylene, polyethylene and polyester

WHY GEOSYNTHETICS ? 4

 Innovative solutions to solve difficult problems economically and expediently

 Enables the use of local materials

 Sustainable solutions

 Unskilled labour can be employed

 Installation does not require heavy machinery

 5

BEACH EROSION

Structural Episodic
Erosion Erosion
 6
EROSION
CONTROL

SOFT HARD
MEASURES MEASURES

Offshore Artificial
Seawall Groynes
breakwater Island

Beach Beach Dune building Coastal

Nourishment Drainage revegetation
/reconstruction
 ROLE OF GEOSYNTHETICS IN EROSION CONTROL 7

 Geosynthetics protect the coast line as their flexibility and permeability ensure
withstanding of the impact of waves and currents, preventing erosion and
washing out of soil

 Geosynthetics tubes are used as a cost-effective alternative to mitigate erosion

on coastal shorelines, riverbanks, and lakes using readily available materials for
infill

 Coastal structures built with various Geotextile Sand Containers (GSC) are
obtained by substituting rocks or concrete units with containers made of
geotextile and filled with locally available sand or slurry
INCOORPORATING GEOTEXTILES IN HARD STRUCTURES 8
BREAKWATERS

 A breakwater is a structure that parallels the shore and serves as a wave absorber

 The dissipation of energy and relative calm water created in the lee of the
breakwaters often encourage accretion of sediments

 This trapping of sediment can cause adverse effects down-drift of the breakwaters,
leading to beach sediment starvation and increased erosion
9
ROLE OF GEOSYNTHETICS IN EROSION CONTROL(Ctnd.) 10

 These Geosynthetics are easy to install beneath the water surface, in difficult
conditions, and once in place provide continued performance
CONCLUSION
DISADVANTAGES
11

• They are large structures and relatively difficult to

build
• They need special design

• The structure is vulnerable to strong wave action

• More materials are required

• Requires skilled labour

• High maintenance cost
GEOTEXTILE CONTAINERS 12

 Used for the first time in Holland for dike repair in 1957

 Earlier they were used as temporary measures and now increasingly used as
long-term protection measure

 Use of Geotextile bags in place of boulders or concrete, saves money and time

 Labour charge is much less compared to the former

 Only required materials are geobags of volume 0.75m3 - 1m3 and naturally
available sand.
GEOTEXTILE CONTAINERS (Cntd..) 13

Fig 1: Geotextile containers [2]

SEAWALLS
14
 Constructed parallel to the coastline that shelters the shore from wave action.

 Protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action
of tides, waves and tsunamis

REVETMENTS
 Type of seawalls, built to protect the shore from high tide.

 Sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of
incoming water

 Revetments reduce wave reflection and absorb wave energy through a combination
of energy dissipation within the structure and wave run-up over the structure
surface.
 DISADVANTAGES
15

Creates wave reflections and promotes sediment transport offshore

Scour occurs on toes of eroded beaches

Does not promote beach stability

Should be constructed along the whole coastline; if not, erosion will

occur on the adjacent coastline
GEOSYNTHETIC WRAP-AROUND REVETMENTS 16

 These are sand slopes that are reinforced with geosynthetics

 The material is wrapped and encapsulated with geotextiles to create a flexible

revetment.

Fig 2 Geosynthetic wrap around revetment

GEOSYNTHETIC WRAP-AROUND REVETMENT (Cntd.) 17
 A layer of geotextile is first placed at the site and sand is placed on top of it to
produce a GWR

 Loose ends of the geotextile are then folded back and inserted into the fill.

 A second geotextile layer is laid on top and the procedure is repeated until the
layers reach to the designed height. The finished GWR is covered with sand to
give it a natural appearance.

 The geotextile encapsulates the sand and adds tensile strength to it through
increased confinement.

 The structure resists overturning because of its weight, even as it resists seaward
sliding because of the geosynthetic’s tensile strength
CASE STUDY – HANNOVER, GERMANY (1986) 18

 Model tests were performed on a three-layer geotextile structure; they were tested
with waves up to 1.3 m

 Test was conducted with Geocomposites and Non woven GWR in Loose and dense
sand.

Table 1: Result of model test conducted in Hannover

Dense Sand
Less deformation,
Geocomposite GWR Favourable performance
Favourable performance,
Non Woven GWR Deformation is more
Loose sand
Less deformation,
Unfavourable performance
Unfavourable performance,
Comparitively greatest
deformation
CASE STUDY(Contd.) 19

 The nonwoven GWR structures with loose sand showed the greatest deformations;
they collapsed earlier than the other GWR structures

 It was identified that, during wave action, the critical stability area of the GWR
structures is the area immediately below the still water level.
CASE STUDY(Contd.)
20

 A comparison of vertical deformation of geocomposite GWR structures and

nonwoven GWR structures, both with dense and loose sand, showed that the
geocomposite structures suffered less deformation than the nonwoven ones

 The dense sand structures showed more favourable performance than those with
loose sand

 The better performance of the geocomposite GWR structures is due to the fact
that the geocomposite has a higher tensile strength and higher permeability than
those of the nonwoven geosynthetic material. Higher permeability engenders
greater stability.
GEOTUBES 21

 These are high tensile strength woven polypropylene geotextiles

 designed to receive and retain pumped material

 water content is allowed to escape through fine pores until the required density of
contained material is achieved

 Can be used to retain dredged material to form structures, both onshore and offshore

 Geotextile tubes of diameters up to 3m, made up of woven or knitted high strength

fabric have been effectively used to control both inland and oceanfront erosion

 Length of Geotubes is decided based on ease in handling/placing and sand filling

GEOTUBES (Contd.)
22
 The main tubes are generally flanked by tubes of smaller diameters on upstream side to
resist lateral pressure

 It is required to provide cover to Geotubes to protect them from degradation/damage

 Flat Geotubes are widely used for coastal structures such as seawalls, breakwaters etc

Fig 3 Geotubes
 CASE STUDY: CANDOLIM BEACH, GOA 23

 Coastal line of the State is extended to 105 km (65miles) in westward side

 For the past few years, Goan beaches are facing problem of erosion with beach sand
getting washed off from the shore by waves.

 As a result, water level increases and usable area of beach decreases

 Use of geotubes was found to be the best method of controlling erosion

 A single layer of geotubes was provided at Sinquerim beach to control erosion

 Two parallel rows of geotubes, one of larger size and one smaller size adjacent to it,
were laid at the site to prevent erosion
CASE STUDY (Contd.) 24
Inference:
 It was observed that there is a tidal variation of 2.53m between the high and low tide
and as such it requires design of geotubes subjected to waves considering effect of tidal
variation also

 The geotubes were exposed to ultraviolet light which might be one of the reasons for
failure

Solution:
 It was suggested that two layers of geotubes one above the other is required to be
provided with upstream protection of these geotubes in the form of riprap

 A layer of geomembrane below the geotubes is also suggested

CASE STUDY (Contd.) 25

Fig 4: condition of Goa beach before installation of geotubes

 These geotubes were filled with the sand using pumps

 However, over the period of time it was observed that due to wave action the
geotubes bursted and sand filled inside came out leading to failure of geotubes
 26

Fig 5: Geotubes laid on beach

Fig 6: Condition of beach after bursting of

geotubes
ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS 27

 Reclamation dykes are used to form the shorelines of the islands in the same way
as land reclamation techniques

 Geotextile tubes may be laid on the inner side of the reclamation dyke to prevent
washout of sand fill through the rock fill dyke

 Geotextiles may also be laid over the sea side of the reclamation dyke prior to
placement of the armour protection
 CONCLUSION
28

 The design of structures for waterways and flood protection is dominated by the
interaction of water and soil. To avoid detrimental effects of this interaction, it is desirable
to control the hydraulic action

 Geosynthetic structures such as GWRs have proven to resist soil erosion

 Another alternative method is the use of Geotubes which are taking the position of one of
the best methods for coastal protection
CONCLUSION (Contd.)
29

 Use of geosynthetics depends on chemical property of the underlying soil, ie.

geosynthetics work properly when there is a strong base of high strength soil or rock
support

 As a part of Haritha Keralam Mission, a contract has been signed recently for
producing coir geotextiles.

 Researches are still on going in the field of geosynthetics

 REFERENCES 30

[1] W.P. Hornseya, J.T. Carley, I.R. Coghlan, R.J. Cox (2011). “Geotextile sand container
shoreline protection systems: Design and application”, Journal of Geotextiles and
Geomembranes; Pg. 425-439

[2] Mitra Ashis (2015). “Application of geotextiles in Coastal Protection and Coastal
Engineering Works: An overview”, International Research Journal of Environment Sciences;
Pg. 96-103

[3] Kazuya Yasuhara, Juan Recio-Molina (2007). “Geosynthetic-wrap around revetments for
shore protection”, Journal of Geotextiles and Geomembranes; Pg. 221-232
 REFERENCES 31

[4] S. R. Parab, D. S. Chodankar, R. M. Shirgaunkar, S. S. Aldonkar, P. P. Savoikar (2011).

“Geotubes for beach erosion control in Goa”, International Journal for Earth Sciences and
Engineering; Pg. 1013-1016

[5] Brian O. Oyegbile, Benjamin A. Oyegbile (2017). “Applications of geosynthetic

membranes in soil stabilization and coastal defence structures”, International Journal of
Sustainable Built Environment

[6] C. Sheehan, J. Harrington (2012). “An environmental and economic analysis for
geotube coastal structures retaining dredge material”, Resources, Conservation and
Recycling; Pg. 91-102
 REFERENCES 32

[7] Jorge Castro (2017), “Groups of encased stone columns: Influence of Column length and
arrangement”, Journal of Geotextiles and Geomembranes; Pg.68-80

[8] Michael Heibaum (2014). “Geosynthetics for waterways and flood protection
Structures- Controlling the interaction of water and soil”, Journal of Geotextiles and
Geomembranes; Pg. 374-393

[9] <http://www.geosynthetica.net/geotextile-tubes-beach-restoration-mexico>
(Downloaded on Oct 2017)

[10] < http://blog.alliancegator.com> (Downloaded on Oct 2017)