Erosion Control

Aug 25 2019

Using Filter Fabric for Erosion Control

Filter fabrics, also known as geotextiles, are a type of fabric used to help prevent soil erosion and encourage plant growth. While many water filter fabrics are made out of synthetic materials, coir geotextiles have been rising in popularity.

Coir is a fiber extracted from the husk of a coconut shell. It’s tough, bacteria- and fungus-resistant, and biodegradable, making it a perfect material to use in gardening and erosion control applications. As it can be woven into a variety of different thicknesses and strengths, coir filter fabrics are easily customizable to your specific erosion control needs.

Benefits of Filter Fabrics

Land erosion is an international issue, impacting everyone from farmers to homeowners to businesses. With both significant droughts and major flooding causing erosion, it’s more important than ever to be prepared to protect your land.

Filter fabrics allow water to pass through while preventing sediment from flowing downhill or leeching into the water. By preventing dirt, stones, and other deposits from shifting, filter fabrics provide a stable area for plant life to germinate and grow. As plant life takes root, your need for filter fabrics will lessen; plants will provide natural erosion control.

Woven vs. Non-Woven Filter Fabrics

When choosing your filter fabric, it’s essential to select the fabric that would work best for your specific needs. Coir filter fabrics, for example, come in both non-woven mats and woven netting.

Different types of sediment call for different types of filter fabrics. Woven netting is best if you’re dealing with fine sediments, such as sand, or if you need something that can provide a lot of stability. Woven mesh is also great for suppressing weed growth in gardens.

Non-woven mats have a much higher flow-through rate but may allow small sediments to pass through. However, if you’re only dealing with larger sediment and have high water flow, a non-woven coir mat is likely your best option. Non-woven filter fabrics are also great for wrapping pipes or lining trench-style drains.

Using Coir as a Filter Fabric

It can be challenging to decide between synthetic filter fabrics and natural filter fabrics, especially as there’s more information about synthetic fabrics on the market. However, we strongly recommend using biodegradable materials like coir for many reasons:

Highly resistant to bacteria and fungus.
Not harmful to wildlife or domesticated animals.
Sustainable and natural.
Eco-friendly and requires little to no cleanup – will naturally decompose.
Available in a variety of strengths.

Coir filter fabrics have many benefits over more traditional filter fabrics, and may also be more cost-effective, depending on your needs. They can help filter water while preventing the displacement of dirt, seeds, and other vital parts of your landscape, and work equally well on slopes or flat lands such as gardens or drains. Whether you want to provide additional protection for a construction project or are trying to prevent further erosion issues on your property, coir filter fabrics are an excellent place to start.

Aug 25 2019

Best Uses for Geotextile Fabric

Geotextile fabric is a type of material commonly used in construction and erosion control projects to improve the characteristics of the soil being worked with. This allows construction to take place in locations which might not otherwise be accessible.

Traditionally, geotextile fabrics are made of synthetic materials or combined with asphalt or other non-porous materials to increase their strength and filtration abilities. Non-woven geotextile fabrics are most commonly used to prevent groundwater pollution from construction projects and are also most commonly combined with asphalt, rubber, or other materials.

Geotextile Fabric Uses

Geotextile fabrics have several applied uses:

Protection – Geotextile fabrics are ideal for protecting easily eroded locations, including beaches. Their versatility means they can even be placed underwater if necessary, preventing erosion from wave currents.
Reinforcement – Heavier-density geotextiles can be used to reinforce weak or loose soil in construction sites or areas where the land cannot support agricultural growth on its own.
Filtration – One of the most common uses of geotextile fabric is filtration; that is, allowing water to pass through while keeping sediments from polluting natural water sources.
Separation – Most commonly seen in road construction, geotextile fabric is used to keep different types of soil from mixing. For example, a geotextile fabric layer may be placed between a coarse aggregate and a finer sub-grade aggregate, keeping the two separate and ensuring the stability of both.
Drainage – Another widespread use of geotextile fabrics is drainage. This is different from filtration, as geotextile fabrics used for drainage catch rainwater or other naturally produced water and diffuse it into the soil. This can help prevent flooding.

Using Coir as a Geotextile Fabric

Recent research into using coir, the fibrous part of a coconut’s husk, as a geotextile has shown promising results. Coir fiber is relatively strong and maintains water saturation, which can be essential in drier climates. It’s also cost-effective; the high supply of coir compared to the demand makes coir geotextile fabrics relatively inexpensive.

One of the most substantial benefits of coir as a geotextile fabric is its eco-friendly nature. As a biodegradable geotextile, it adds nutrients to the soil naturally over time while simultaneously encouraging plant growth. It’s resistant to rot, fungus, and bacteria that may otherwise damage or kill plant life, whether it be in your garden or as part of a comprehensive erosion control program.

When used in civil engineering projects, coir geotextile fabrics have been shown to have high durability and strength, resisting compression and adding value to the soil. Coir geotextiles have been used as part of the foundation of both paved and unpaved roads in India, and have also seen great success in slope erosion control and topsoil retention.

Whether you’re using coir on a personal level; for example, to keep your garden healthy and encourage moisture retention, or are hoping for a more eco-friendly alternative to the synthetic geotextiles that are currently available, we highly recommend exploring possible options for coir geotextile fabrics.

Apr 27 2019

Effective Ways to Control Soil Erosion

Erosion can cause devastating damage to your home, property, or construction site, which is why finding an effective way to control erosion is a primary concern for anyone hoping to preserve a landscape or complete a successful build on solid ground.

Before you tackle the erosion itself, however, it’s important to understand the definition of erosion, what causes erosion, what type of erosion you’re dealing with, and how to choose the best method for controlling it.

What Is Erosion?

You were probably introduced to a rudimentary erosion definition as a kid, but how much do you really know about this complex process?

In a nutshell, scientists define erosion as a process by which the surface of the earth gets worn down either by natural elements like ice and wind or by manmade interactions such as poor land management techniques at a faster rate than the soil or rock is formed.

When only natural elements are involved, erosion is generally a slow process that can create massively impressive formations. The Grand Canyon is an extreme example of steady, prolonged erosion.

Other erosion examples include:

Caves.
Riverbanks.
Coastlines.
Cracks in rocks.
Landslides.

Some of the most devastating types of erosion involve people’s homes and properties. Remember the infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s?

The Dust Bowl occurred because people moved to the Great Plains and started plowing the land, which was never ideal for farming. After a few short droughts, people mistakenly believed there would be enough rainfall to sustain future crops, so they broke up the prairie soil and destroyed native grasses in order to plant wheat.

Unfortunately, a 10-year drought settled over the prairie which quickly dried up the topsoil. Once all that freshly planted wheat died, there was nothing left to hold the soil in place.

As a result, a series of dust storms swept through and damaged the prairie’s ecology and agriculture. Entire farms were covered with sand and turned to desert. Cattle were found dead with dust coating their stomachs. Residents coughed up clumps of dirt from breathing in dust. The effect was so extensive that dust storms blew Kansas soil all the way to New York City.

To this day, the prairie region hasn’t fully recovered. And the entire event could have been avoided if settlers had accounted for the region’s history of droughts, utilized different farming methods, and not overworked or stripped the land.

Sure, the Dust Bowl is an extreme example of an erode definition, but it’s given us a clearer understanding of the importance of responsible agricultural practices and construction techniques that can help us become better stewards of our environment.

Types of Erosion

Now that you have a better understanding of this natural process, you’re probably wondering what causes erosion? Land erosion happens in a variety of ways, the main ones being:

Water Erosion
Wind Erosion
Glacier Erosion
Permafrost Erosion
Human Cause Erosion

Water Erosion

Water erosion results from flowing water removing soil material. The soil can be impacted by raindrops, suspended in runoff, or affected by ocean waves. Both the chemicals in the water and the force that make up the flow can break down rocks and change the shape of riverbanks.

There are four types of accelerated water erosion:

Sheet erosion, which occurs when soil particles resting on a downslope are impacted and detached by rainwater. The soil detaches in a sheet-like formation that flows overland as a whole piece or uniform layer. Imagine pulling a sheet of sod across the yard and that’s pretty much what sheet erosion looks like. Sheet erosion typically occurs on sites with poorly consolidated soil material, such as a recently plowed field.
Rill erosion, which refers to soil removal through cutting or tilling numerous channels where runoff can concentrate, resulting in soil loss and eroded fields.
Gully erosion, which results from water cutting into the soil along the flow line, exposing natural drainage-ways, vehicle ruts, animal trails, and crop rows. Common farm equipment cannot cross deep gullies.
Tunnel erosion, which is the movement of excess water through a dispersive subsoil such as old root holes, animal burrows, or surface cracks.

Wind Erosion

Although the wind might not be strong in your area, wind can still transfer light objects like pebbles and rocks until they run into landforms. Over time, these tiny particles can start to erode whatever they hit.

Glacier Erosion

Also known as ice erosion, glacier erosion occurs when huge bodies of ice transfer big chunks of rock. The combination of ice, water, and sediment creates one impressive eroding entity.

Permafrost Erosion

In northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere, there is currently an accelerating problem of the permafrost melting, and eroding into lakes and sinkholes. Permafrost is the historically “permanently frozen soil”. The frozen ice is actually a constituent of the soil itself, lending structure and rigidity to the silt-rich soil.

Due to climate change, the ice is melting, leaving a very unstable layer of loamy or silty soil which is carbon-rich and contains ancient microorganisms. As the microorganisms reanimate, they produce gases such as methane, which erupt from the soil and create voids which fill with melted water and quickly form new lakes or sinkholes. The Siberian tundra is currently experiencing this phenomena at an unprecedented rate; primarily due to climate change.

Human Cause Erosion

Soil erosion occurs a number of ways. The most egregious would be human-induced causes. These include construction, faulty farming (tillage), mining, deforestation, overzealous herbicide use, and cattle overgrazing. The usage of herbicides or allowing livestock to overgraze cause ground cover vegetation to die, leaving bare soil. The bare soil is easily eroded away by natural means.

Something as simple as not utilizing appropriate engineering principals or procrastinating with erosion mitigation utilities on ditches or roadways will inevitably lead to natural erosion. The natural causes of soil erosion would include precipitation, wind velocity, soil characteristics, hydrology, and slope gradients. The eroded topsoil will ultimately inundate the planned drain system perhaps leading to enormous damages to surrounding land.

5 Ways to Prevent Erosion

Fortunately, there are effective ways to control erosion. Your specific solution will depend on the factors causing the erosion as well as its severity. Taking these erosion control measures can help minimize construction costs and keep your home safe from harm.

Coir Products

Coir is a type of material made from natural coconut fibers that are ideal for erosion control. Coir erosion products are available in numerous shapes and sizes, including mats, blocks, wattles, logs, and silt checks. They’re so effective, in fact, that coir has been used to control coastal and riverbank erosion. Plus, since they’re all-natural, coir products are a more aesthetically pleasing choice than most erosion prevention measures.

Articulated Concrete Blocks

While not as natural as coir, concrete blocks are available in just as many shapes and sizes. They can even form interconnected grids to prevent erosion on waterway embankments. The biggest downside to articulated concrete blocks, however, is that they look best protecting manmade structures like boat ramps and channels.

Dust Control

Utilizing dust control methods like silt fences and misted water keeps topsoil moist enough to resist dreaded wind erosion.

Riprap

Riprap is a common erosion control method that uses large, interlocking stones as barriers. These structures are mainly placed on unstable slopes with seepage issues that have already eroded.

Soil Nails

One of the more surprising methods of erosion prevention is soil nailing, which involves drilling and placing steel bars deep into the soil and capping them with a facing that creates a retaining wall.

No matter the causes of erosion you’re dealing with, finding the right prevention technique is key. If you’re looking for an environmentally friendly, superior performing, cost effective and affordable option, consider coir-based erosion products.