3.2.1.

3 Novel underwater installation methods based on innovative composite

geotextiles
The encapsulation of mineral materials (e. g. sand, gravely sand or granulated iron silicate)
between two layers of geotextiles provides a significant increase in the mass per unit area..
For underwater installations, these composite geotextile systems have advantages due to
higher position stability without additional surcharge (no displacement due to buoying
upwards, free of crinkles). Using such composite geotextiles (so-called sandmats, see
previous sections) normal necessary diving operations for checking the position stability
and overlaps are unnecessary.
Since 1991, minimum installation expenditure and faultless deep underwater installation.
including currents, have led to the conclusion that sandmats are now respected as standard
products for use as geotextile filters for waterways engineering applications.

3.2.2 Impermeable bank and bed linings

3.2.2.1 Conventional solutions
If the surface water level of waterways is higher than the existing groundwater level behind
the revetment, a canal embankment sealing element will be required to prevent damage
from wetness or losses due to seepage flow. Impermeable revetments on waterways mu t
be dimensioned to be resistant to the magnitude and frequency of ship induced water
level fluctuations (swell and sunk). Also, stable long-term impermeability must be taken
into consideration. Either the lining elements, or an impermeable sealing layer placed in
the side of a waterway embankment can provide sufficient impermeable efficiency.
For example, impermeable revetments can be made from fully grouted rip-rap or rubble
layers, which are placed directly onto a geotextile filter. Generally, hydraulically bonded
grouts are used to construct a rigid revetment. Such impermeable revetments can be
constructed both under dry conditions and by using an underwater method.
"Creeping currents" between the soil bedding and the impermeable revetment can be
caused by hydraulic loads. This must be checked carefully according to the properties of
the appropriate geotextile filter. The geotextile filter should be able to prevent subsoil
wash out in case of possible revetment system voids (hair cracks) by pore infiltration. Thi
effect is called "self sealing" or "self healing".
Specific filtration characteristics should also be taken into consideration for underwater
installation methods. These kind of filter layers must be interpreted according to the
existing silt grain size distribution instead of using standard filter criteria. The proof of
hydraulic filter efficiency is not necessary.
Sealing elements placed in the sides of waterways can be made from mineral clay, geosyn-
the tic clay liners or geomembranes. These impermeable sealing elements have to be
protected against loads resulting from ship traffic (e. g. dropped anchors) by suitable
protection layers. As a general rule a conventional type of revetment placed above the
installed impermeable sealing element is normally required. Up to now geomembranes
have been installed as waterways sealing element in a sporadic way, an earlier example
of construction is shown in Fig. 28.

3.2.2.2 Novel solutions with geosynthetic clay liners

For large area sealing applications in waterway engineering there has been an increasing
use of geosynthetic clay liners as sealing elements. As an example for canal sealing appli-
 Fig. 28. Impermeable bank revetment placed on
a geomembrane as a sealing element in the Elbe-
Seiten-Kanal waterway [65]

cations (shipping or hydro power canals), a double-layered sealing system with a primary
asphalt component and a second component consisting of a geosynthetic clay liner can
also be used.

3.2.2.2.1 Case study: Lechkanal

In total, 60000 m2 of geosynthetic clay liners have been successfully installed as sealing
elements in the Lechkanal (Germany). Over a 70 years operation period, the existing
gravel and sealing layers were placed in such a manner, that hydrodynamic and hydrostatic
loads have led to contact surface erosion and development of seepage flow paths into the
gravelly subsoil. The restoration of the canal has been carried out using State of the Art
techniques and ecological standards. In this connection the load case "collapse of the
sealing" has been analysed and construction activities have not been carried out on the
outer banks of the waterway lining system.
As a final solution a manageable lining system was constructed as follows:

• Upper lining layer: asphalt concrete (d = 8cm)

• Manageable drainage layer: mineral
• Lower lining layer: geosynthetic clay liner

Pore-water pressure measuring devices have been installed as monitoring instruments on

top of the geosynthetic clay liner. In addition, the lining system was subdivided into single
sections in the longitudinal direction.
Against the background of restoration works under dry conditions, a closing earth dam
was built up in the transverse direction to the canal axes. When constructing this, local
available sandy gravel material was used with an additional geosynthetic clay liner as a
sealing element on the waterside slope (this technical solution has been repeated several
times on other comparable projects). The geosynthetic clay liners have been overlapped
underwater by a width of 1.0 m. A mineral coarse-grained layer with a thickness of 10
cm served as a protection and surcharge layer. The hydraulic pressure head amounted
to about 5 m, which means that the geosynthetic clay liner was affected by an existing
hydraulic gradient of i = 500.

3.2.2.2.2 Case study: Kinzig dyke

The structural stability of the dyke and nearby residents was endangered by threat of
flooding. Independent of the flood threat however, restoration of the dyke was evaluated.
Over the next few years an extensive restoration strategy was developed aimed at pro-
viding a State of the Art dyke restoration. This strategy has resulted in an increase in the
dyke height of about 60 to 80 cm and a waterside sealing element in case of insufficient
permeability. The first section has been achieved by using a geosynthetic clay liner as a
sealing element, which was installed in an inclination of (H : V =) 2.8 : 1. Subsequently
a 60 cm thick layer of highly compacted sandy gravel was installed as a drainage layer.
Afterwards coarse silt material was installed as cover soil.

3.2.2.2.3 Case study: Dam sealing placed high above ground level
Within the scope of waterway extension measures it may be necessary to redesign areas
of dam sealing placed high above ground level. Amongst other things the following con-
struction works have to be taken into consideration:

- steel sheet pile driving to ensure a sufficient structural dam stability,

- modification to an existing cross-section profile, for example changing the existing
trapezoid profile into a rectangle profile,
- sealing of the rectangle profile using natural materials in an underwater installation
method, placing them in a successive manner side by side for short dam sections.

For example, a possible technical sealing solution for such above ground dam parts may
consist of (from top to bottom of the cross-section):

- rip-rap or rubble of size class II (edge length of 10 to 30 cm) to a thickness of 40 cm,

partially grouted with 70 11m2 grouting material,
- geotextile with a mass per unit area of mA 2: 800 g/m2,
- compacted clay layer with a permeability factor of k < 1 . 10-9 mls with a thickness of
30cm and
- geotextile filter.
An alternative solution (Fig. 29) consists of a compacted mineral clay layer in combination
with a geosynthetic clay liner. This solution has the following advantages:

• The canal bed and bank will be covered and sealed immediately, which means that large
unsealed sections do not exist .
• The use of a geosynthetic clay liner provides laboratory property testing produced by
the industrial manufacturing. The costs can be easily calculated during the design phase
and the construction can be conducted in a simple and economical manner.

Compacted clay in a
thickness of 15 cm

Geosynthetic clay liner

SUbground
• Two separate sealing layers may complement each other depending on local voids.
Geosynthetic clay liners react as a flow-against-filter and are able to take over func-
tions during subsoil settlement, which cannot be matched by conventional compacted
mineral clay liners .
• From an ecological point of view the use of a mineral compacted clay layer with a
thickness of 15 cm is advantageous in comparison to a layer thickness of 30 cm (caused
by less excavation and saving natural resources). In addition, the costs of transportation
and therefore energy can be saved.

The results of an equivalency analysis show that, according to the Terzaghi approach for
stratified soils, a geosynthetic clay liner solution is equivalent to a 35 cm thick compacted
mineral clay liner. Furthermore one must take into account that geosynthetic clay liners
provide practical construction related advantages and suitable technical solutions for
connections to steel sheet piles. According to geosynthetic clay liners the following aspects
should be considered:

- permittivity, also dependant on hydraulic gradients and possibly in a two-dimensionally

deformed condition,
- execution of simple overlaps,
- influence of extreme alternating hydrodynamic impacts and
- given quality assurance and management instruments.

The technical solution shown above (Fig. 29) can be modified by using a sandmat to
provide immediate accurate positioning, instead of a standard geotextile.

3.2.2.2.4 Case study: Eberswalde ship evasion site

The ship evasion site construction measures at Eberswalde (Germany) can be use as an
example of a geosynthetic construction [29,38].
Originally the waterway engineering and navigation authority (WSA) at Eberswalde
planned for the construction of the ship evasion site Eberswalde a compacted clay liner
with a thickness of 20 cm, covered by a geotextile and rip-raps with an edge length of 15
to 45 cm (size class III).
In 1997 an alternative solution using geosynthetic clay liners, unrolled onto the canal bed
and directly covered with a sandmat and rip-raps was carried out.
The geosynthetic clay liner and the sandmat were rolled together onto a steel core with a
displacement of 50 cm. This enabled a suitable overlap of the geosynthetic clay liners and
sandmats in one simultaneous sealing operation (Fig. 30).
The alternative solution with the geosynthetic clay liner has the following significant
advantages compared to the tendered compacted mineral clay liner solution: less soil
excavation, reduced construction time period, lower permeability, operational advantages,
more adaptable capability relating installation and cost savings.
The installation was carried out under a closure of only one side of the canal while ship
traffic continued on the other side. The perfected installation technique using a 30 m long
trolley arm with a vertical lattice mast and hydraulically driven spreader bar (Fig. 31) gave
accurate placement up to a water depth of 5 m possible. Divers continuously controlled
the correct position of the geosynthetic clay liner and sandmat combination.
 r------ Steel sheet pile
Fig. 30. Alternative sealing solution for the
Eberswalde ship evasion site

3.2.2.2.5 Case study: Dortmund-Ems-Kanal

The consequential technical advancement of the above described construction method
relates to a manufactured composite product combining a sandmat and a geosynthetic
clay liner. Such composite products were recently installed for the first time in a 500 m
long section at the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal waterway.
This composite geotextile consisted of the following components: a carrier geotextile with
a bentonite layer, an intermediate nonwoven and a sand layer with a nonwoven cover. All
components were full shear strength transmitting fibre, reinforced using the independentlY
orientated needle-punching process. The outcome of this is therefore a "sealing layer"'
which can be installed under water in one operational proces ,
The bentonite layer provides the real sealing component and the sand lay r.' :1 jons as
the ballast component as well as a protection layer for the enca. =
The bentonite component has a width of 4.85 m. The sand layer is fixed onto this by
needle-punching over a width of only 4.35 m. The result of this is a one sided strip at the
edge area, on which surface bentonite powder is needle-punched into the structure. The
installation of each following product layer subsequently provides the condition for each
bentonite layer to be positioned directly onto each other. This functions as self-sealing
overlap.
For the extension of the southern canal section of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal accurate
placement was controlled via a satellite based positioning system (GPS) as well as with
an electrical relative-movement recorder for the installation devices (Fig. 32). For mon-
itoring, technical controlling instruments have been installed in the longitudinal canal
direction.

3.2.2.3 Novel solutions with geomembranes

Concrete or asphalt concrete water power canals constructed in former times may not
now fulfill the requirements for sealing efficiency and high volumetric flow rates. This
section details innovative canal lining solutions using geomembranes in an example of a
water power canal restoration project.

3.2.2.3.1 Case study: Restoration of the Alzkanal water power canal

Within a short period a 550 m long section of the V-type channel and a 2 km long section of
the trapezoid channel of the Alzkanal water power canal were partially or totally resealed
using the geomembrane lining method under dry conditions.
The objective was to seal and to slick the up to 100 year old existing concrete channel
surfaces to produce an increased volumetric flow rate and consequently higher current
velocities as well as a decrease in leachate losses.
For the "failure of geomembranes" load case the geomembrane mounting parts were
dimensioned carefully in consideration of the existing hydrodynamic loads. Depending