We continue to find amazing uses for polypropylene tubes and bags. In this case, PEMEX oil company in Mexico used large poly tubes (referred to as Geotextile Tubes or GT in the original article) at one of their oil facilities. One part of the project involved filling 7.8m circumference poly tubes to support oil pipelines, whose bases were eroding away. The tubes were pumped full of sand using “4-in. discharge-diameter slurry pumps with volume discharge rates up to 40-50m3/hr with 10–30% of solids.” The unique qualities of poly tubes helped create a successful project. As the tubes filled with sand, they naturally conformed to the irregular surface and varying height below the pipe.
The second part of the project is equally interesting. To prevent future beach erosion, the same poly tubes were placed parallel to the shoreline. As waves hit the tubes, a wave energy reduction zone is naturally created. The resulting turbulence induces sand accumulation on the shoreward side of the tubes, ensuring ongoing natural accumulation of sand.
Read the full article at GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
Thanks for letting us know about how you plan on handling erosion control in your area. I will be looking into those tubes in more detail later; perhaps we can implement it somehow in our projects. Thanks again!