Large-format tubes and bags as effective erosion protection for banks, coasts and harbors

In the era of climate change, sea level rise and an increasing number of extreme weather events, not only new strategies and solution concepts are required but also alternative, new construction materials. Sustainable economic solutions made of geotextile containers, geotextile tubes and geobags, are easy and quick to install in water or on land and safely protect against erosion, both from waves and currents. HUESKER Group’s SoilTain coastal protection solutions can be individually prefabricated and are filled in situ with locally available soils (usually sand). With its new brochure and on its website, HUESKER Group presents the possibilities and areas of application of the shore and coastal protection solutions with SoilTain Tubes and SoilTain Bags, and at the same time introduces the new product, SoilTain Bags Xtreme.

The HUESKER Group was one of the pioneers in the use of geotextile sand containers in coastal protection with the dike project at the Ruestersieler Watt in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in 1963. Over the years, two main systems have established themselves on the market today: large-format geotextile tubes filled hydraulically with sand (SoilTain Tubes) and mechanically filled, with a funnel, SoilTain Bags, in the classic sense of sandbags. Apart from the filling method, the two geotextile sand container elements essentially differ in size, with sandbags being used for a volume of up to 88 cubic feet (2.5 m^³) and geotextile tubes having a capacity of several hundred cubic meters.

SoilTain geotextile tubes: Heavyweights with many advantages

SoilTain geotextile tubes are manufactured from specially tested geosynthetic fabrics of up to 29.5 ounces/square yard (1,000 g/m^²), with the largest standard lengths being up to 164 feet (50 m). They are filled with a suspension of locally available sand via inlets. The sand-colored, abrasion-resistant and extremely UV-resistant fabric blends in well with the landscape and is colonized by the maritime flora and fauna within a very short time.

The project-specific fabrication, in combination with scour aprons, enables a coastal protection structure that is also secured against scour and subsoil erosion. The multifunctional, heavyweight elements are used, among other things, in the construction of breakwaters, groins, dams, dikes or for land reclamation. Here, they can replace the entire structure or function as the core of the structure with subsequent superstructure, for example with armor stones.

SoilTain Bags Xtreme: The new generation of sandbags

Conventional SoilTain Bags are small-format sand containers for all applications in shore and coastal protection. They are made of geotextiles with a mass of 18 to 29.5 ounces/square yard (600 to 1,000 g/m^²) and usually with a filling volume of 35 cubic feet (1 m^³). They are easy to handle, and they can be used for temporary and permanent applications alike. Depending on the area of application and project-specific conditions, materials tested in accordance with BAW (German Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute) include nonwovens or fabrics/composites.

A new development from HUESKER is the SoilTain Xtreme material for sandbags. Thanks to the basis weight of 35.4 to 53.1 ounces/square yard (1,200 to 1,800 g/m^²) of the sand-colored, two-layer, nonwoven fabric, the SoilTain Bags Xtreme made from it have increased UV stability, a high sand accretion capacity, and maximum resistance to abrasion and vandalism. Thanks to their special robustness and durability as well as their attractive appearance, they are preferably used with a filling volume of up to 883 cubic feet (2.5 m^³) in exposed locations and on beaches.