Use Of Natural Geotextiles in Severe Erosion Control: A Local-Area based Research Study on its Efficacy

A project by:

Anshuman Swain Odisha, India

What is Soil erosion? Why is it harmful?

The removal of the soil, especially its top layer, is termed as soil erosion. It destroys the soil, its properties & characteristics. Due to erosion, the soil loses its fertility and vegetative capacity. Even in some cases, due to erosion, the soil becomes prone to landslides and other disasters.

A view from my research visit to Keonjhar Mines in Odisha

What is Slope erosion?

The erosion from a soil slope is known as Slope Erosion. Slope erosion has been a major erosional type in the land sector. There are numerous kinds of slope erosion. They may be natural as in natural uncovered slopes or anthropogenic as in case of mining soil dumps, uncovered slope due to construction etc... This type of erosion has caused a great amount of damage to the land especially the anthropogenic mode of slope erosion. It also results in slope failures causing landslides, especially during construction. Slope Erosion from mine spoils destroy the surrounding land completely, taking away its usability & fertility.
An erosional site in Hingula Mines in Talcher, Odisha, India

What is Riverine Erosion?

The erosion due to the direct action of the river, is called as riverine erosion.
Riverine erosion is another major type of erosion of the land. It has been seen in most high flow rivers and at many places along its bank where it has either soft soil or high current. It destroys the land quality of the adjoining areas. So, it has caused much destruction to many villages, buildings etc

Severe erosion by River Mahanadi in Odisha, India

What are Geosynthetics ?

Geosynthetics refer to a class of materials that are used to improve the physical, mechanical & hydraulic
properties of the soil. It includes a variety of materials like Geotextiles, Geogrids, Geomembranes, Geonets, Geosynthetics clay liners, Geofoam, Geocells & Geocomposites. These range of materials are mostly synthetic in nature and are used for civil engineering purposes. But here, I intend to use them for curbing soil erosion. Here with 'them', I mean the natural geotextiles.

Various Natural Fibres Tested

To find a perfect fibre for our purpose of curbing soil erosion, i did a lot of research on locally availlable items, such as:

Tala chheli from Tala or Palm(Borassus flabellifer) Khajuri patra from Khajuri or Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) Juna (Chrysopogon zizanioides) Hensa (Saccharum munja) Jute fibres from Jute (Corchorus capsularis) Coir Fibres from Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) Incerapa cylindrica

Out of theses Jute & Coir were found to be most suitable for further research.
Some of my testing samples

Why Jute & Coir?

Good Pliancy Render a high degree of

flexibility & fineness that helps in fabric construction Consistency in tenacity High torisional rigidity Low percent of Elongation-at-break High drapability etc...

Some of the geotextile samples I made

Role of Geotextile in slope Erosion Control

Geotextile (GT), a 3-D fabric, when laid on the slope surface initially gives protection against soil disintegration due to rain splash. Weft yarns of the GT lying across the direction of flow act as mini check dams and reduce the velocity of flow. Besides reducing the velocity of overland flow, the apertures of the fabric entrap the disintegrated soil particles that start carried away with it. Additional advantage is both in respect of velocity reduction and particle entrapment. The moisture in GT creates a congenial climate conductive to growth of vegetation. Within one or two months vegetation starts sprouting. Ultimately after about one year or more, as per the case, GT coalesces with the soil on bio degradation, adding nutrients to the soil.

My Experiments on it

We made a soil bed with resemblance to the natural soil and covered one half of it with geotextiles while the other half was left bare. Then this soil bed was put on a stand with adjustable slope angle. Then water was poured over it with the help of a motor Rainer. We also made many tweaks such as we changed the soil, the slope angle as well as the amount of the rain shower. All the observations were taken and the conclusion was drawn that these geotextiles were completely efficient in curbing slope erosion. All the data is available in the experimental data section.

Evolving a general procedure for curbing slope erosion

After the research, I evolved out a general procedure for curbing slope erosion. First step is selecting the required geotextile, then,the following sequence is followed, so that we can get the most benefits in order to curb the slope erosion: If possible lay grass seeds Fixing of the geotextile on the slope Nailing it to fix it on site Anchoring the geotextile This will result in stopping the erosion & well as ambient place for vegetation, leading to natural slope stabilization.

Role of Geotextile in Riverine Erosion Control

In the case of riverine erosion, it is the current of the river as well as the soft soil of the bank that results in the erosion. The river water hits the bank, and penetrates into the bank soil to some extent and while receding back, it also sculpts out some soil with it. So, to stop it the geotextile acts as a penetrable shield. The water enters through the geotextile and comes out through it, but the geotextile acts as a filter and stops it from taking away the soil, thus protecting it from erosion.

My Experiments on it

In a large tank of water, I created a false river bank. I attached flow pipes on either side of the tank parallel to the bank in order to maintain the water flow. I also had the disturbance simulators attached to the pool side opposite to the bank. On the bank side half of it was covered with geotextile & the other was left bare. I compared the amount of erosion on each side. Also I tweaked with the speed of the water flow, the amount of disturbances etcAnd at last took all our observations which can be found in the experimental data section and found out the conclusion that the geotextiles are very effective in curbing the riverine erosion.

Evolving a general procedure for curbing Riverine erosion

After the research, I evolved out a general procedure for curbing riverine erosion. First step is selecting the required geotextile, then,the following sequence is followed, so that we can get the most benefits in order to curb the riverine erosion:
Fixing of the geotextile on tarza mat Laying of geotextile tarza mat composite on the river bed Anchoring the geotextile on the river bank Laying of two layers of boulder filled wire crates on the the geotextile-tarza mat composite

This will result in stopping the erosion & well as ambient place for vegetation, leading to natural bank stabilization.

Benefits of Natural Geotextiles

Natural geotextiles, dominantly jute geotextile, facilitate and quicken growth of vegetative-cover soil. Vegetation once grown dissipates substantially the kinetic energy of rain drops, serves as a receptor and absorbent of moisture and surface run-off. The wind, which has a sweeping effect, is also prevented from disintegrating soil-particles. Surface rugosity of vegetation also attenuates the velocity of surface run-off. Its root system ensures soil-integration and imparts strength to the soil body. Soil permeability is also improved. JGT has proved to be an ideal nourisher of vegetation in initial stages of its growth. It also improves the soil texture & properties. Moreover its 'eco' characteristics help the environment to be clean also. In addition to that, it is not also very expensive, which makes it rather attractive.

Durability of Jute & Coir

As I found out that durability of JGT and geotextiles made of other natural fibers depend on a number of factors. The type and strength of fibers, physical characteristics of the soil on and in which they are to be laid, duration and extent of their contact with water are principal determinants in respect of their durability. Environmental factors like atmospheric relative humidity and temperature also influence their durability and strength. In fact, mechanism of degradation of natural geotextiles is complex. JGT is seen to degrade faster in an acidic ambiance with pH value less than 5.2. With pH value higher than 7, degradation of JGT is seen to be rather slow and depends on the linear density on yarns (higher linear density is more susceptible to quicker degradation). On top of it, microbial degradation of natural geotextile is an area of concern. Bacteria and fungi with the abetment of conductive ranges in moisture content and temperature quicken the decomposition of JGT. The situation therefore warrants treatment of natural geotextiles- perhaps with exception of coir which can last up to about four years-by giving a coating of rot-resistant additives. Chemicals (usually Copper Napthalete, Cupramonium Phenol) used for this purpose are very effective. Smearing JGT with bitumen of the appropriate grade is restored to where there is possibility of its perennial contact with water e.g. in river bank protective works. Bitumen (90/15 grade usually) still remains the best available material for enhancing the service life of JGT through treatment with bitumen impairs drapability and water absorbing capacity of JGT. Jute and bitumen incidentally have excellent thermal compatibility. The degardation of coir is much slower than jute & thus is not a big problem.

Drawbacks: Maintenance Requirment

Minor repairing work of the geotextiles laid-slants may be required after monsoon season for one or two years. Inspection of geotextile-laid areas is needed within 24 hours after each rainfall or periods of heavy winds or daily during periods of prolonged rainfall. Inspections and consequent action should be continued until vegetative cover is established. But this drawback is not big enough from stopping us to save our soil using natural geotextiles.

My Tested Sites & Benefits to the people

I used my idea at many local places like Santhapada, Talcher thermal etc... The people liked the idea so much, looking at the benefits that they promptly accepted it.

Santhapada

Bharatpur Open Cast

Hingula

Conclusion
After gaining so much success, it would be impossible to not to use such a great idea. So, it can be safely concluded that Natural Geotextiles are completely capable of controlling about 87%-94% soil erosion of slopes & rivers.