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ABSTRACT: Historically, geotextile containment has been used to encapsulate sandy soils to
permit their use as flexible, erosion-resistant, mass-gravity structures in hydraulic and marine
applications. More recently, geotextile containment has been used as a means of disposing of, and
dewatering, various waste streams and contaminated sediments. The paper reviews the three main
geotextile containment units in use – geotextile tubes, geotextile containers and geotextile bags –
and analyses their use in a wide range of hydraulic and environmental applications. Special
attention is given to the use of geotextile containment for the isolation, dewatering, and disposal of
specific waste streams and contaminated sediments. Note: This paper is an updated version of the
Giroud Lecture presented by C. R. Lawson at the 8th International Conference on Geosynthetics
held in Yokohama, Japan, in 2006.
1. INTRODUCTION
taminated sediments, thereby substantially reducing their
Geotextile containment is used for an increasing range of volume and rendering them manageable for disposal. Also,
applications. Table 1 lists the current three main applica- geotextile containment can be used for the controlled
tion areas commonly referred to: hydraulic and marine, offshore disposal of contaminated soil and sediments.
foundations, and environmental. In hydraulic and marine The application of geotextile containment in founda-
applications geotextile containment prevents the erosion, tions may be considered more a case of geotextile
and collapse, of sand fill, thereby enabling its use in confinement than of containment, because the aim is to
erosion-resistant structures. In foundation applications improve the bearing capacity of the columns by generating
geotextile containment improves the bearing capacity of confining tensions in the geotextile skin: consequently,
stone and sand columns in low-shear-strength foundation this application is not considered further in this paper.
soils. In environmental applications geotextile containment Thus the paper will concentrate on two of the applications
enables controlled dewatering of slurry waste and con- of geotextile containment listed in Table 1: hydraulic and
marine applications, and environmental applications.
Table 1. Range of applications of geotextile containment
2. TYPES OF GEOTEXTILE
Geotextile containment Examples
applications
CONTAINMENT UNIT
Geotextile containment, in one form or another, has been
Hydraulic and marine Mass-gravity revetment and dyke
used for many years for a wide variety of hydraulic and
structures
Mass-gravity offshore structures marine applications. The most common, and widely used,
Surface protection to stream banks geotextile containers are the well-known, ubiquitous sand-
Foundations Encasing of stone and sand columns bags that are seen the world over, shoring up flood
Environmental Dewatering of waste and defences in times of natural calamity.
contaminated sediments
Three fundamental types of geotextile containment unit
Offshore disposal of contaminated
soil and sediments exist, differentiated by geometrical shape and volume:
geotextile tubes, geotextile containers, and geotextile bags.
384
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 385
Geotextile tubes (Figure 1a) are tubular containers that are Geotextile tubes are laid out and filled on site to their
formed in situ on land or in water. Geotextile containers required geometrical form. The tubes are filled by hydrau-
(Figure 1b) are large-volume containers that are filled in lically pumping fill into the tube. Geotextile tubes range
barges above water and then deposited into submarine in size from 1 m to 10 m in diameter, and up to 200 m in
environments. Geotextile bags (Figure 1c) are small- length.
volume containers that are filled on land or above water Geotextile containers are large-volume containers that
and then pattern-placed either near water or below water are filled above water and then positioned and placed at
level. water depth. The volumes of these containers more
commonly range from 100 m3 to 700 m3 , although con-
tainers as large as 1000 m3 have been installed. To
facilitate the installation of geotextile containers of this
magnitude, an efficient and practical installation system
must be utilised. To date, this has been accomplished by
means of split-bottom barges.
Geotextile bags are manufactured in a range of shapes,
and they are installed in a pattern-placed arrangement that
greatly improves their overall stability and performance.
Today, geotextile bags range in volume from 0.05 m3 to
around 5 m3 , and may be pillow-shaped, box-shaped or
mattress-shaped, depending on the required application.
When considering geotextile containment, a distinction
must be made between those applications where the
geotextile containment is required only for temporary or
(a)
expedient use and those applications that require long-
term performance. For example, for temporary or expedi-
ent works the requirements for the geotextile container are
fairly basic, as it has only a short life expectancy over
which it has to perform; however, for long-term applica-
tions the performance requirements for the geotextile
container are more severe. With regard to long-term
performance, a distinction also must be made according to
the type of hydraulic environment acting on the geotextile
container. For instance, the action of still, or slowly
moving, water will have a different effect on the geotextile
container than the action of breaking waves.
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386 Lawson
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 387
Seabed
Scour apron (optional) Scour apron
(a) (b)
Shallow seabed
Scour apron
(c) (d)
Water forces
Sand build-up Geotextile causing erosion
on protected tube
side of groyne
Contained
sand fill
Sand to be
protected Scour apron
(e)
Figure 4. Hydraulic and marine applications of geotextile tubes: (a) revetments (exposed or submerged); (b) offshore
breakwaters; (c) protection dykes; (d) containment dykes; (e) groynes
does not erode the soil and undermine the lower geotextile the filled geotextile tube is located a certain distance
tubes in the multiple-height revetment structure. Examples offshore in order to dissipate wave forces before they can
of use are given by Nickels and Heerten (1996) and reach the shoreline. Again, scour aprons are used beneath
Artières et al. (2005). the geotextile tube breakwater to ensure that local erosion
does not undermine the breakwater structure.
3.2.2. Offshore breakwaters In many instances the geotextile tube is left exposed,
Geotextile tubes are used for offshore breakwaters (Figure which consequently affects its design life. Additional
4b) to prevent the erosion of shoreline developments. Here techniques or treatments may be applied to the geotextile
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388 Lawson
tube breakwater to increase its exposed design life. These hydraulically. The advantage of this approach is that the
are discussed in more detail in Section 3.8. Examples of same hydraulic fill used in the reclamation can also be
use are given by Townsend (2005), Oh and Shin (2006), used inside the geotextile tubes for the containment dykes,
Alvarez et al. (2007) and Shin and Oh (2007). thus avoiding the need to import rock fill for the dykes.
Containment dykes constructed from geotextile tubes
3.2.3. Protection dykes provide an economic alternative to other forms of con-
Geotextile tubes are used for protection dykes (Figure 4c), struction, such as sheet-piled walls, especially where the
where they prevent flood and storm damage to valuable foundation soil is soft. Where water forces dictate, and
structures and real estate. Protection dykes also may be where longevity is required, rock armouring can be placed
used for river, lake or stream training works. around the geotextile tube core (Figure 4d). Examples of
Where geotextile tube protection dykes are constructed use are given by de Bruin and Loos (1995), Spelt (2001),
it is common to cover the geotextile tube with local soil. Fowler et al. (2002b), Yee (2002), Yee et al. (2007), Shin
The geotextile tube is required to function only intermit- et al. (2008) and Yee and Choi (2008).
tently during storm or flood periods when the soil cover is
eroded. The use of the soil cover provides several 3.2.5. Groynes
advantages to the geotextile tube core. First, it hides the Geotextile tubes can be used as groynes (Figure 4e) to
geotextile tube core, thereby providing an aesthetic envir- prevent the littoral movement of sediment. In most cases
onment and ensuring no damage due to vandalism. the geotextile tubes are left exposed, but coatings or a
Second, it protects the geotextile tube from long-term rock covering may be applied, depending on the circum-
exposure to direct sunlight (UV degradation). stances and the required life expectancy. Examples of use
Where geotextile tubes are used for river, lake or stream are given by Jackson (1987) and Fowler et al. (2002b).
training works it is common to leave the tube exposed
except for major structures, where rock armour layers may 3.3. Limit state design modes
be placed over it to dissipate hydraulic forces. Where the Geotextile tubes behave as mass-gravity units, and thus a
tubes are left exposed, a geotextile shroud may be used conventional design approach following standard proce-
across the top of the tube, or a coating applied, to enhance dures of assessing the possible modes of failure or
its longevity in an exposed environment. Examples of use deformation can be employed to arrive at a safe design
are given by Austin (1995), Fowler (1997) and Ghazali et solution. Figure 5 lists the various limit state modes that
al. (2006). should be assessed: these are divided into external modes
(affecting the performance of the geotextile tube structure
3.2.4. Containment dykes overall) and internal modes (affecting the performance of
Geotextile tubes are used for the cores of containment the internal structure of individual geotextile tubes). Either
dykes (Figure 4d) where water depths are relatively a global factor of safety or a partial factor of safety
shallow. Here, the tube structure contains a filled reclama- approach can be applied when assessing the various limit
tion area, the reclamation fill being dry-dumped or placed state modes.
(i) Geotextile skin rupture (ii) Erosion of fill through geotextile (iii) Deformation of contained fill
skin
(b)
Figure 5. Limit state modes for geotextile tubes: (a) external; (b) internal
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 389
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390 Lawson
Continuum mechanics have also been used to model Circumferential tension distribution
geotextile tube behaviour (e.g. Seay 1998; Cantré 2002). around filled geotextile tube
While this approach can model the tension distribution
around the circumference of a geotextile tube containing a
shear-resistant fill, it is virtually impossible to model the
filling process. As the filling process has a major effect
on the final filled shape of the geotextile tube, it also has
a major effect on the geotextile skin tensions. Where Filled geotextile tube
continuum methods have proved very useful is in the
modelling of deformations of geotextile tube structures on
soft foundations, as they can account for the complex
vertical stress distribution at the base of a filled geotextile
[Tmax]c
tube reasonably well.
Figure 7 shows the maximum circumferential tension
[Tmax ]c for filled geotextile tubes having theoretical dia-
meters DT ¼ 3.0 m, 4.0 m and 5.0 m using the procedure
of Palmerton (2002). As noted in Table 2, the maximum
filling height is HT 0.55DT, which results in maximum Location of maximum circumferential tension
circumferential tensions [Tmax ]c of 18 kN/m, 32 kN/m and (a)
50 kN/m, respectively, for the three geotextile tube sizes.
The magnitude of the circumferential tension around a
filled geotextile tube is a function of the curvature of the 50⫺70%[Tmax]c
geotextile skin, with the highest tension [Tmax ]c coinciding
with the location of highest curvature. This occurs at the
sides of the filled geotextile tubes (Figure 8a). Elsewhere
around the filled geotextile tube the circumferential
tension is lower, especially across the base of the geotex-
tile tube, where the circumferential tension is very low Filled geotextile tube
because the geotextile skin is essentially flat in this
location.
Figure 8b shows an approximation of the distribution in
circumferential tension around a geotextile tube expressed
as a percentage of the maximum circumferential tension
[Tmax ]c . When designing a geotextile tube, the magnitude
of the circumferential tension and its location need to be
kept in mind when seaming geotextile sheets together to
form the resulting geotextile tube. 10⫺15%[Tmax]c 100%[Tmax]c
100
(b)
γ ⫽ 20 kN/m3
Maximum circumferential tension, [Tmax]c (kN/m)
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 391
140
erosion. However, in some instances it may be necessary
[Tmax]a/[Tmax]c ⫽ 0.63 to stack multiple geotextile tubes in order to reach the
120 desired height to prevent erosion. Figure 10 shows three
Maximum axial tension [Tmax]a (kN/m)
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392 Lawson
Table 3. Geotextile hydraulic properties and required protection for geotextile tubes according to type of hydraulic regime
Intermittent Continual
Note: AOS is the apparent opening size of the geotextile tube skin; qn,100 is the volume flow rate at 100 mm constant head through the
geotextile tube skin.
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 393
stiffness in order to maintain the sand fill in a confined term exposure to UV light. This is normally used in
state. The geotextile skin should not undergo elongation hydraulic and marine applications where severe
or relaxation over time, which would then allow the sand hydraulic forces occur.
fill to deform, and the geotextile tube to lose its shape and
height. Extreme natural occurrences can also affect the long-
term performance of exposed geotextile tubes. Examples
3.8. Protection measures applied to geotextile tubes include the damaging effects of ice flows, and trees
External protection measures are applied to geotextile carried in water during floods, on the exposed surface of
tubes for a variety of reasons: geotextile tubes. Where this is known to be a problem,
then the geotextile tube structure must be protected. The
• to reduce the impact of the hydraulic forces acting form of protection from this type of exposure is normally
directly on the geotextile tube; armour covering.
• to enhance the design life of the geotextile tube in an Vandalism can also affect the long-term performance of
exposed environment; geotextile tubes. This type of damage is normally in the
• to protect from extreme natural occurrences, e.g. ice form of localised cuts and tears. The best way of protect-
flows; ing against this likelihood is to cover the geotextile tube
• to protect from vandalism. so that it is out of sight. Alternatively, robust coatings can
be applied that prevent vandalism. Failing this, a good
Section 3.6 covers the types of protection measures used maintenance scheme should be put in place to correct any
to reduce the impact of hydraulic forces. acts of vandalism.
In many instances geotextile tubes are required to
perform over a relatively long design life in an exposed 3.9. Case study 1: Geotextile tubes for containment
environment. In this environment UV degradation can dykes at Naviduct Project, Enkhuizen, The
occur, with the geotextile tube design life dependent on Netherlands
the level of UV radiation and the resistance of the This project, originally reported by Spelt (2001) and
geotextile tube skin to this radiation. If the geotextile tube Lawson (2003), is an example where geotextile tubes were
is located in a marine environment, marine growth used for containment dykes in an environmentally sensi-
generally occurs quickly on the outer surface, and this tive lake in The Netherlands.
tends to mask the geotextile skin somewhat from the The Krabbersgat Lock at Enkhuizen is an important
effects of UV radiation. However, for good long-term bottleneck in the main network of waterways in The
performance in an exposed environment, additional pro- Netherlands. Owing to an increase in shipping and road
tection measures are normally required for the geotextile traffic at the lock, significant time delays were occurring
tube skin. These measures are listed below in order of for both shipping and road transport. To ensure smooth
providing longer-term performance. movement of shipping and road traffic it was decided to
construct a combination of an aqueduct and a lock below
• Additional stabiliser packages in the geotextile tube which a tunnel for road traffic could pass (this structure is
skin: the enhanced performance of the stabiliser known as a ‘naviduct’).
package improves the performance of the geotextile For cost and environmental reasons a crescent-shaped
tube skin over time. containment area was constructed in the lake adjacent to
• More robust, or multi-layer geotextile skin: extra the naviduct site (Figure 11a). This containment area acted
design life is achieved by the use of more robust or as a local disposal for the spoil material from the adjacent
multi-layer geotextile skins that degrade over a construction site. Once finished, the partially filled con-
longer period of time. tainment area will be vegetated and will act as a bird
• Geotextile shrouds: the outer geotextile shroud sanctuary. Further, the crescent shape of the containment
provides protection for the inner geotextile tube skin. area is to act as a barrier to drifting ice during winter.
The geotextile shroud becomes sacrificial over the The construction of the containment dykes was carried
design life of the geotextile tube structure. These are out using a double layer of geotextile tubes of filled height
used where the geotextile tube structure is continu- 2.8 m (Figures 11b and 11c). Geotextile tubes were used
ally exposed to the environment, and where the for the containment dykes because the locally available
hydraulic forces are not severe. sand fill from the naviduct site was too fine and uniform
• Geotextile coating: a robust coating is applied to the to be used by itself as the structural component of the
geotextile tube to protect it. Coatings can be applied dykes. Instead, the geotextile tubes were filled with the
in a variety of colours. local fine sand, and this provided the structural basis for
• Soil covering: the geotextile tube is covered by soil the containment dykes.
or sand to prevent long-term UV exposure. Here the The crescent-shaped containment area utilised 7.5 km
geotextile tube structure performs intermittently of geotextile tubes, two abreast, in the containment dyke.
during periods of storm activity, and is then covered Before placement of the geotextile tubes a geotextile filter
over again by soil or sand. layer was placed on the lake bed at the base of the dykes
• Armour covering: a flexible armour covering is used for erosion control purposes. The geotextile tubes were
around the geotextile tube structure to prevent long- laid out in the water, anchored in place, and then filled by
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 395
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396 Lawson
Geotextile container
Split-bottom barge
Container fill
Geotextile container
Geotextile container
Seabed
Figure 13. Installation procedure for geotextile containers (after Pilarczyk 2000)
0.7, with values around 0.45 to 0.55 being the most Bezuijen et al. (2005) have also investigated the stability
common and economic. of multiple geotextile container layers, and have presented
The use of three possible volumes to describe the calculation models for this.
capacity of geotextile containers—barge volume capacity
in which the geotextile container is placed, fill volume 4.2. Applications of geotextile containers
used in the geotextile container Vf, and equivalent geotex- Geotextile containers are used for a range of hydraulic
tile container volume VC —has led to some confusion and marine applications where submarine mass-gravity
when rating the volume capacity of geotextile containers, support or barrier type structures are required. These are
and their resultant cost. In the author’s opinion geotextile shown in Figure 16, and are described briefly below.
containers should be rated according to the amount of fill
placed in the container, i.e. to Vf, as this then enables a 4.2.1. Offshore breakwaters
direct calculation of the quantities involved in terms of fill Geotextile containers are used as part of offshore break-
quantity and geotextile container quantity. waters (Figure 16a) to prevent erosion of the shoreline.
For hydraulic and marine applications the volumes of The technique here is the same as that for geotextile tube
the geotextile containers are normally limited to less than offshore breakwaters, except that geotextile containers are
400 m3 (in terms of fill volume) to ensure that a well- used at greater water depth, and a rock covering is
defined shape results. Further, the installation depths are normally placed across the top of the containers to raise
normally limited to less than 20 m, as these types of the breakwater to its required height.
structure are commonly located at relatively shallow water
depths. The type of fill used is sand, or a high percentage 4.2.2. Containment dykes
of sand, to ensure long-term volume and shape stability of Geotextile containers are used for containment dykes
the installed containers. The use of this type of fill also (Figure 16b) where the water depth facilitates placement
reduces the tensions generated in the geotextile skin of the containers. The technique is the same as that for
during installation, as considerable drop energy is ab- geotextile tubes except that the geotextile containers are
sorbed by the shear resistance of the fill. used at greater water depth. A rock covering is normally
To create effective submarine structures, geotextile placed across the top and down the outer face of the
containers must be installed to defined accuracies and geotextile containers to raise the containment dyke above
tolerances, especially if multiple container layers are water level. Where the dyke is to remain submerged,
required. Herein lies one of the major limitations of this geotextile containers may be the sole units. Examples of
technique, because placing accuracy is dependent on use are given by Wei et al. (2001), Yee (2002) and
various factors that may be difficult to control on site, Bezuijen et al. (2002a).
including the accuracy of barge location and orientation,
water currents, placing depths, and seabed conditions. 4.2.3. Artificial reefs
Several of the factors affecting geotextile container place- Geotextile containers can be used to construct artificial
ment have been studied by Bezuijen et al. (2002b, 2005). reefs (Figure 16c). Here, the containers provide a raised
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 397
Top of barge
wb
h0
Fill in barge
h1
At lb
wb
h2
Af
h1
(a)
Opened barge h2
Geotextile container
skin lb
Af
b0
(b) Dc
Ac
Figure 14. Fill area and required geotextile container
circumference parameters: (a) split-bottom barge cross-
section parameters; (b) resulting geotextile container
circumference parameters (after Pilarczyk 2000)
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398 Lawson
Reclaimed land
Foundation Foundation
Geotextile containers Geotextile containers
(a) (b)
Rock fill
Calm water
Seabed or
river bed
Figure 16. Hydraulic and marine applications of geotextile containers: (a) offshore breakwaters; (b) containment dykes;
(c) artificial reefs; (d) slope buttressing
using geotextile containers is that a ‘soft’ buttress struc- 4.3.1. Filling of geotextile container in the barge
ture is provided that won’t damage shipping. Examples of The first stage of geotextile container installation involves
use are given by Jagt (1988) and CUR (2004). the laying-out of the container in the split-bottom barge,
its filling, and the final sealing of the geotextile container.
The tensions generated in the geotextile container are
4.3. Tensions generated in geotextile containers and relatively low during this stage, and are due primarily to
ultimate tensile strength requirements draw-down of the container in the barge during filling.
The tensions generated in a geotextile container vary De-stressing the container during filling can alleviate
throughout the installation procedure. Figure 17 shows the much of these tensions.
five stages of geotextile container installation: filling of the
geotextile container in the barge; reshaping of the geotextile 4.3.2. Reshaping of geotextile container to exit barge
container to exit the barge; free fall of the geotextile contain- As the split-bottom barge opens, the geotextile container
er through the water; impact of the geotextile container on undergoes a change in shape in order to exit the barge
the seabed; and the final installed shape of the geotextile (Figure 17). This change in shape and the exiting of the
container on the seabed. All five installation stages generate container create significant tensions in the geotextile skin.
different tensions in the geotextile container, as shown in The magnitude of the tensions generated in the geotex-
Figure 17. These are discussed in further detail below. tile skin of the container is affected by:
The tensions developed in geotextile containers are
complex, and are dependent on many factors. Several • the ratio of the internal width of the barge to the
researchers have attempted to quantify the tensions gener- width of the opening in the split-bottom barge;
ated in geotextile containers during installation. Bezuijen • the speed of opening of the split-bottom barge;
et al. (2005) and CUR (2006) summarise the relationships • the surface condition of the inside of the barge;
developed by a number of Dutch researchers using • the surface condition of the gate in the split-bottom
analytical models to calculate geotextile container tensions barge.
during the installation procedure. An analytical calculation
is provided to describe each of the installation stages The change in shape of the geotextile container is
shown in Figure 17. Palmerton (2002) has applied the minimised if the split-bottom barge can open quickly to
distinct element method to model the procedure of an amount equivalent to its internal width. In practice, this
geotextile container installation. While in its early stages is not possible, as the most common split-bottom barges
of development, this method shows particular promise, as open slowly and only by an amount approaching 50% of
it can model all stages of installation in one progressive the internal width. Thus, to exit the barge, the geotextile
modelling process. container has to undergo a considerable change in shape,
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 399
Filling of Reshaping of container Free fall of container Impact of container Installed container on
container in to exit the barge through water on seabed seabed
barge
Geotextile tension
Figure 17. Geotextile tensions generated at various stages of geotextile container installation
which can generate significant tensions in the geotextile enough, then the container may reach a terminal velocity
skin. before reaching the seabed floor. Normally, terminal
When exiting the barge, frictional forces are generated velocity is reached within 10–15 m of exiting the barge.
between the inner surface of the barge and the geotextile The magnitude of the terminal velocity of the geotextile
container. This increases further the tensions generated in container depends on the type of fill used (whether it is
the container. To minimise the effects of friction the inner wet or dry) and on the amount of drag on the container,
surface of the barge should be smooth; alternatively, a but is normally between 5 and 8 m/s.
woven geotextile sheet should be used on the inner barge During fall, tensions are generated in the geotextile
surface to decrease friction effects. container owing to balancing the forces of fill weight,
The narrowest point of exit of the geotextile container buoyancy, drag, etc.
occurs at the lips of the barge. Here the condition of the lips
of the barge greatly influences the localised tensions gener- 4.3.4. Impact of geotextile container on seabed
ated in the geotextile skin. For best performance the lips As the geotextile container falls through the water it gains
should be smooth, and free of any sharp or rough surfaces. in energy. On impacting the seabed floor this energy is
Three-dimensional effects also generate tensions in the dissipated instantaneously in the form of a change in shape
geotextile container when exiting the barge. The rate of of the geotextile container (it flattens), with a resulting
exit is generally not the same along the length of the quick increase in tension in the geotextile skin (Figure 17).
container. This causes the filled container to bend, which The magnitude of the tensions generated in the geotex-
generates tensions in the geotextile skin along its length. tile skin of the container on impacting the seabed is
This effect can be reduced by decreasing the length of the affected by the following:
containers in relation to their diameter, and by closely
controlling the filling of the container. • the mass, i.e. size, of the container;
• the velocity at impact;
4.3.3. Free fall of geotextile container through water • the container angle at impact;
On exiting the barge the geotextile container falls through • the internal shear resistance of the container fill;
the water, gaining in velocity. If the depth of water is great • the condition of the seabed at impact.
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400 Lawson
The size of the container and its velocity at impact tensions generated in the geotextile skin will be reduced if
generate energy that is dissipated by a change in shape of the amount of fill is reduced.
the container and an increase in tensions in the container As stated in Section 4.3.4, the internal shear resistance
skin. The size of the containers is normally decided on the of the contained fill helps to dissipate the container impact
basis of balancing the geometry of the overall container energy, and so affects the final shape of the contained fill
structure with the availability of suitable split-bottom on the seabed. Sand and other granular fills are used for
barge sizes. For most hydraulic and marine applications hydraulic and marine structures as they have good internal
this results in container sizes ranging between 100 m3 and shear resistance and thus maximise the height of the
700 m3 . contained fill once installed. In general, installed container
The greater the water depth, the greater the velocity of heights of 1.0 to 1.5 m are common.
the geotextile container at impact up until a terminal The geotextile skin should have adequate tensile stiff-
velocity is reached. As stated in Section 4.3.3, terminal ness to provide some confinement to the contained fill.
velocity occurs at around 10–15 m of water depth: thus This prevents the contained fill from spreading over time
the impact energy should not increase for water depths and the resulting structure losing height.
greater than this.
If the container remains horizontal during fall, then this 4.3.6. Ultimate tensile strength requirements of geotex-
generates lower tensions in the geotextile skin on impact tile containers
with the seabed. However, if the container impacts at an Figure 17 shows the relative tensions generated in the
angle then greater localised tensions are generated. For geotextile skin of the container during the various installa-
best performance it is important for the container to tion stages. The highest tensions are generated during
remain near horizontal during fall. Reasons for angled fall exiting of the container from the split-bottom barge and
of containers are uneven distribution of fill in the contain- impact of the container on the seabed. Specific individual
ers, uneven exit from the split-bottom barge, and water circumstances will dictate which of these two stages
currents during fall. Obviously, a greater water depth generates the higher tensions for a particular project.
allows more opportunity for the falling container to As stated previously, the tensions generated in geotex-
change alignment. tile containers are complex, and depend on many factors.
The internal shear resistance of the container fill helps Analytical solutions that exist to calculate the tensions in
to dissipate the energy resulting from seabed impact. The geotextile containers (e.g. Bezuijen et al. 2005; CUR
change in shape of the installed container will not be as 2006) require the application of large factors of safety
extensive if the container fill consists of granular material (around 4 to 5) to determine the safe required tensile
compared with soft clay, and thus the tensions generated strengths of the geotextile skin. This large factor of safety
will not be as great. For hydraulic and marine structures is to account for the many unknowns. High tensile
the fill within geotextile containers is normally always strengths are required in both the circumferential and the
granular material, e.g. sand. longitudinal directions of the geotextile skin. Geotextile
If the seabed is soft then there will be some cushioning strengths of 100 to 200 kN/m, along with high-capacity
for the container when it impacts on the seabed. This seams, are common for geotextile containers.
results in lower induced tensions than if the seabed had a
hard and/or rough surface. 4.4. Effect of different hydraulic environments on
geotextile containers
4.3.5. Installed shape of geotextile container on seabed Geotextile containers are required to perform in a variety
Once settled on the seabed floor the geotextile container of hydraulic environments, as evidenced by the applica-
assumes its final shape (Figure 17). The final shape tions shown in Figure 16. For the majority of applications
attained depends on several interrelated factors: the geotextile containers either are part of a larger mass-
gravity structure or are located at some water depth
beneath the surface. In these instances the hydraulic forces
• the volume per unit length of the geotextile container;
acting directly on the geotextile containers are limited, and
• the amount of fill placed in the geotextile container
therefore the geotextile skin has to have only limited
compared with the container volume;
hydraulic properties.
• the internal shear resistance of the container fill;
However, where geotextile containers are located in the
• the tensile stiffness of the geotextile skin.
vicinity of breaking waves and high water flows, special
attention should be paid to the long-term performance of
The greater the volume per unit length of the geotextile the containers, for the following reasons. First, geotextile
container, the greater the height of the contained fill on containers, unlike geotextile tubes, cannot be filled to
the seabed (in conjunction with the other factors listed maximum density with sand fill, and consequently are
here); but the greater the volume per unit length, the more prone to liquefaction and change of shape over time.
greater the tensions generated in the geotextile skin during This change in shape may result in a critical loss of height
installation. of the structure. Second, consideration needs to be given to
The height of the contained fill on the seabed will be the required hydraulic properties of the geotextile container
reduced if the amount of fill placed in the geotextile skin to ensure that the container fill is not eroded out of the
container is less than the container volume; but the container. The relationships given in Table 3 for geotextile
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402 Lawson
Pulau
Tekong
Silt protection
screen
Marker buoy
Sea level ⫹3 m CD
Dyke level
⫺2 m CD
Singapore Underwater geotextile Dumping level
Island container dyke ⫺3 m CD
Spoil disposal
site Future reclamation
area
Seabed ⫺2 m to ⫺6 m CD
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 18. The use of geotextile containers to construct an underwater containment dyke, Pilau Tekong offshore disposal site,
Singapore: (a) location of underwater dyke; (b) section through underwater dyke; (c) filling of geotextile containers;
(d) positioning of geotextile container barge for dumping
installation cycle time to fit with the contractor’s mode of containment techniques, with many of the traits common
operations. The positioning of the geotextile containers to both geotextile tubes and geotextile containers. For
prior to dumping was accomplished by use of a ‘mother’ example, geotextile bags are filled off site and then
barge for accurate alignment of the dumping barge contain- installed to the geometry required in a similar manner to
ing the filled container (Figure 18d). The alignments were geotextile containers. Further, for best performance they
carefully controlled by use of GPS technology. have to be filled to maximum volume and density with
The 1.6 km long containment dyke was formed using sand in an identical manner to geotextile tubes. However,
108 geotextile containers, and took 85 days to construct. geotextile bags have two distinct differences from other
This was despite initial delays due to the contractor geotextile containment techniques: they can be manufac-
learning the procedures involved, and the 5 h transport tured in a range of shapes, and they are installed in a
time between the container filling site and the container pattern-placed arrangement that greatly improves their
installation site. overall stability and performance. Today, geotextile bags
range in volume from 0.05 m3 to around 5 m3 , and are
pillow-shaped, box-shaped or mattress-shaped depending
5. GEOTEXTILE BAGS FOR HYDRAULIC on the required application.
AND MARINE APPLICATIONS For best performance it is essential that the geotextile
bags be filled to maximum density and volume. This
5.1. Fundamentals of geotextile bags becomes more difficult as the volume of the bag increases,
Geotextile bags, in the form of the ubiquitous ‘sandbags’, but can be enhanced by using water to compact the sand
can be considered the common ancestor of all geotextile fill hydraulically within the geotextile bag. Filled density
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Sand build-up
Water forces on protected
causing erosion side of groyne Geotextile Water forces
bags causing erosion
Retained
soil
Rock fill
Calm water
Seabed or
river bed
(c) (d)
Scour hole
(e) (f)
Figure 20. Hydraulic and marine applications of geotextile bags: (a) revetments (exposed or submerged); (b) groynes;
(c) artificial reefs; (d) slope buttressing; (e) scour prevention; (f) protection dykes (temporary)
1998). For this application the reef has to be constructed to units. Geotextile bags can be easily installed using simple
good geometrical tolerances of height and shape as well as machinery. The bags conform to the shape of the scour
side-slope tolerances, and these tolerances have to be hole, and thus provide good sealing qualities. An example
maintained throughout the design life of the reef. For this of use is given by Heibaum (1999).
application geotextile bags have to be of a specific
geometry, and have to be installed carefully in order to 5.2.6. Protection dykes
meet the required geometrical tolerances of the reef. An Protection dykes are one of the original applications of
example of use is given by Borrero and Nelson (2002). geotextile bags (Figure 20f). These bags, in the form of
small sandbags, can be seen the world over shoring flood
5.2.4. Slope buttressing defences during times of natural calamity. This expedient
As with geotextile containers, geotextile bags can be used use of geotextile bags constitutes the most basic, and
to provide buttress support to an unstable slope in a common, form of geotextile containment application. One
hydraulic environment (Figure 20d). Here, the geotextile example of use is given by Tonks et al. (2005).
bags act as a mass-gravity structure, providing additional However, geotextile bags may be used for more sophis-
restraint to the toe of the unstable slope. ticated and substantial protection dyke structures, where
One advantage of geotextile bags for this application is they may be required to perform over long periods of
that installation can be carried out by simple lifting time. Here, the geotextile bags are required to perform in
equipment: thus geotextile bags can be installed at shallow the same manner as geotextile tubes for this same applica-
water depths if necessary, unlike geotextile containers, tion. The pattern-placement of geotextile bags forms a
which have to be installed at relatively greater water stable mass-gravity structure that is resistant to erosion
depth. An example of use is given by Zhang et al. (2006). when subjected to hydraulic forces.
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 407
Geotextile tube Slurry pumped
Introduction of slurry into dewatering
tube
Water pumped
out of platform
Dewatering slurry
Addition of
dewatering accelerant
Impermeable barrier
Drainage blanket
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408 Lawson
Initial filling
Refilling Refilling Refilling
Drying
Dewatering Dewatering Dewatering Dewatering Consolidation (optional)
Contained volume
Time
Figure 24. Filling, dewatering and consolidation stages when using geotextile tubes
1
tensile strength of the geotextile skin and seams. Once S¼ (6)
1þw
maximum volume has been reached, the geotextile tube is
left to dewater for a period of time. This dewatering and where S is the solids concentration (by weight) of the
resulting volume reduction must occur over a practical slurry, and w is the water content of the slurry. For
time period in order to optimise the overall dewatering example, using Equation 6, a solids concentration of 5%
process. Normally this is between two weeks and two equates to a water content of 1900%. Clearly, the term
months, depending on the type of operation. ‘solids concentration’ would appear more reasonable when
Once dewatering has occurred, the geotextile tube is dealing with slurry-like materials than the term ‘water
refilled with slurry to its maximum volume capacity, and content’.
the process of refilling and dewatering is repeated between The fundamental principles of dewatering using geotex-
four and six times until refilling becomes inconsequential tile tubes are shown in Figure 25. The slurry waste, or
with regard to volume off-take. The geotextile tube is left sediment, is pumped into the geotextile tube at a specific
to go through its final dewatering stage and then on to its solids concentration, filling it to a specific volume. Over
consolidation stage. During the consolidation stage water time, water passes out of the slurry through the skin of the
passes out of the geotextile tube much more slowly than geotextile tube, resulting in a reduction of the contained
during the dewatering stages. The reason for this is that slurry volume and a consequent increase in solids concen-
pore water is released much more slowly than free water. tration within the geotextile tube (Figure 25a). The rate at
The consolidation stage may take between two and six which this volume reduction occurs diminishes over time
months, depending on the type of contained slurry and the as the contained slurry inside the geotextile tube reduces
target final solids concentration. in hydraulic conductivity, and consequently the rate of
Finally, the geotextile tube skin is removed, if the increase in solids concentration also slows.
dewatered waste is to be transferred off-site or recycled. The change in contained slurry volume within the
In some instances the exposed dewatered waste is left in geotextile tube and the change in solids concentration are
place for further drying by evaporation before removal. interrelated. Suppose the geotextile tube is filled to an
initial volume V0 with slurry of initial solids concentration
S0 (Figure 25b). The geotextile tube is then allowed to
6.3. Geotextile tube dewatering fundamentals dewater for a period of time t, after which the contained
As stated in Section 6.1, dewatering accomplishes two volume of slurry within the geotextile tube has reduced to
primary objectives with regard to the treatment and Vt , with a resulting solids concentration increase to S t . If
disposal of slurry-like waste and contaminated sediments: it is assumed that negligible solids escape from the
a significant reduction in volume of the contained slurry- geotextile tube during the dewatering process, and the
like material, and a resulting improvement in its consis- solids concentration is constant throughout the contained
tency (i.e. level of solidification). In dealing with slurries mass, then the following relationships between contained
where there are large amounts of water present it is slurry volume change and solids concentration change
common to refer to the solid component in the slurry in apply.
terms of a ‘solids concentration’, which is the weight of The ratio of the contained slurry volume at time t
solids present divided by the total weight of the slurry. compared with that at time t ¼ 0 is
This is a little different from geotechnical engineering
Vt 1 St 1 1 S0 1
practice, where the term ‘water content’ is normally used ¼ þ þ (7)
V0 St G S0 G
to describe the solids-to-total weight relationship. How-
ever, there is a relationship between solids concentration where Vt , V0 , S t and S0 are as shown in Figure 25b, and G
and water content: is the specific gravity of the contained slurry. The term
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 409
1.0
Solids concentration
Contained volume
0.6
Equation 7
0.4
Volume curve
Equation 8
0.2
0
5 10 15 20 25
Time
Solids concentration, St (%)
(a)
Figure 26. Comparison between Equation 7 and Equation 8
V0
given reduction in contained slurry volume. This can be
St
Solids concentration, S
determined from
Contained volume, V
Solids concentration
1 S0
1 ˜V t 1S
St ¼ 0 (10)
1 S0
Volume 1þ
Vt
1 ˜V t 1 S0
S0
where ˜Vt is the contained slurry volume reduction over Biosolids 1–4 15–25
time t. For example, if the initial slurry solids concentra- Agriculture 2–4 20–25
tion S0 ¼ 5%, and the slurry solids concentration at time t Mineral processing 3–10 40–70
was S t ¼ 15%, then this would result in a 70% reduction Industrial by- 4–10 25–75
products
in the contained slurry volume.
Contaminated 10–14 35–70
Alternatively, it may be important to know what the sediments
expected increase in solids concentration would be for a
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410 Lawson
this is dependent on the type of waste stream. The more Dewatering phase Consolidation phase
inorganic particulate wastes (e.g. mineral processing, some Free water flow Pore water flow
industrial by-products and contaminated sediments) yield
higher final solids concentrations.
Solids concentration curve
Solids concentration
6.4. Dewatering performance of geotextile tubes
Contained volume
6.4.1. Filtration through geotextile tubes
Geotextiles are used successfully to filter intact soils. Here
the soils consist of particles of varying sizes in a support-
ing structure. Geotextile filter criteria exist to enable the Volume reduction curve
determination of suitable geotextile hydraulic properties to
filter a wide range of intact soil types effectively. More
recently, geotextile filter criteria have been extended to
situations where appreciable quantities of organic matter Time
exist in the draining medium, e.g. in landfills. Here it has
been demonstrated that geotextile filters with open pores Figure 27. Dewatering and consolidation phases in geotextile
and simple pore structures work most effectively (Giroud tube dewatering
1996).
In dewatering applications the slurry waste or contami-
nated sediment may consist of little intact solid matter movement of significant quantities of suspended solids
(the solids are in a non-supporting structure, i.e. in water), can also occur, and this may form a cake at the geotextile
but may comprise large amounts of suspended solids, surface, which may impede further flows. The loss of this
colloids and suspended organic matter. To further compli- free water collapses the waste into a semi-coherent mass,
cate matters, quantities of heavy metals and organic and if allowed to drain further, the geotextile tube enters
contaminants may also be present. Because of this very the consolidation phase.
different filtration environment, compared with conven- During the consolidation phase water movement occurs
tional soil filtration, conventional geotextile filter criteria along and through the pores in the contained waste. The rate
may have limited relevance. Further, the governing per- at which water is lost is relatively slow compared with the
formance criteria for the dewatering of waste are different dewatering phase, and is governed by the hydraulic con-
from that of conventional soils. ductivity of the waste and the effect of any filter cake build-
There are three overall performance criteria for dewater- up on the inside of the geotextile surface during the loss of
ing waste: the free water. If allowed to proceed, the consolidation phase
results in a relatively small volume reduction over an
• There must be a significant reduction in the extended length of time (again, this is dependent on the type
contained volume (and a comparable gain in solids of waste and the size and type of the geotextile tubes).
concentration), and this must occur over a relatively The transition between the dewatering phase and the
short time period. consolidation phase is ill defined and, as such, is difficult
• There can be an initial loss of solids through the to determine. Also, the time it takes for this transition to
geotextile tube, but this must stop a relatively short occur can vary considerably, depending on the type and
period after dewatering begins. consistency of the waste stream, the use of dewatering
• The effluent quality must remain constant with time. accelerants, the size and type of geotextile tubes, etc. In
practice, where dewatering times are limited because of
These three performance criteria are discussed in more project time constraints, the consolidation phase is rarely
detail in Sections 6.4.1.1, 6.4.1.2 and 6.4.1.3 below. allowed to occur, and thus little pore water is actually
drained from the contained waste. Consequently, the final
6.4.1.1. Reduction in contained volume The reduction solids concentration attained normally reflects the loss of
in contained volume in a controlled manner is the free water only (see Table 4 for the typical final solids
fundamental performance criterion for geotextile tube concentrations of various wastes).
dewatering.
During dewatering, volume reductions in geotextile 6.4.1.2. Loss of solids During the dewatering phase,
tubes result from two phases: a dewatering phase and a when free water passes from the waste and out of the
consolidation phase (e.g. see Figure 24). These two phases geotextile tube, suspended solids and organic matter
are shown diagrammatically in Figure 27. The dewatering may also be carried out of the tube. So as not to
phase involves the movement of free water to the geotex- adversely affect effluent quality it is important that this
tile tube surface. This movement of water occurs over a loss of solids decreases to zero relatively quickly.
relatively short period of time (anything from one week to Normally, if the dewatering process is operating
two months, depending on the type of waste and the size correctly, the time taken to reach zero loss of solids is
of the geotextile tubes), and results in a relatively large between one hour and one day, depending on the nature
loss in contained volume in the geotextile tube. If the of the waste being dewatered and the type of geotextile
waste is in its natural state inside the tube then the being used for the tube.
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 411
If solids and suspended organic matter continually flow dewatering rates and effluent quality. A recent appraisal
out of the geotextile tube with the effluent water, this may of the hanging bag test is given by Koerner and Koerner
have implications on any downstream effluent treatment. (2006). A more recent development of the semi-perform-
As downstream effluent treatment processes can be rel- ance test is the geotextile tube dewatering test (Figure
atively costly it is important to minimise suspended solids 28b(ii)). This test is simpler to operate than the hanging
and suspended organic matter loss from the dewatering bag test while providing the same performance data. The
tubes. test utilises a small cushion-shaped geotextile container,
with the slurry introduced via a pipe into the container.
6.4.1.3. Effluent quality Effluent quality is governed by For new projects it is normal to carry out full perform-
the presence of suspended matter and dissolved solids ance testing, either by using a separate prototype tube or
and compounds. The effluent quality determines by combining this testing with the first dewatering tube of
whether further downstream effluent treatment is the project. The scale of the prototype testing can range
required before the water is passed into the environment from a small-size tube to the full-size planned dewatering
or recirculated. tube (Figure 28c). The full performance testing is used to
To best control effluent quality it is important that no confirm, or modify, the design assumptions derived from
suspended solids and organic matter are allowed to pass smaller scale testing, e.g. HBT, and to allow the new
out of the geotextile tubes during dewatering. One way of assumptions to be incorporated into the main project.
achieving this is to use chemical dewatering accelerants
in the contained waste to collapse any suspended matter 6.4.3. Rate of dewatering
and prevent its loss. This has an important secondary The rate at which the dewatering process occurs is
effect, as the collapsed waste structure also reduces dependent on the change in hydraulic conductivity of the
significantly the loss of other pollutants (e.g. heavy contained waste during dewatering and the filtration per-
metals, organic compounds) from the tubes, thus improv- formance of the geotextile skin in the geotextile tube. The
ing effluent quality. filtration performance is dependent on the hydraulic prop-
erties of the geotextile, the nature of the pore structures
6.4.2. Evaluating geotextile tube performance within the geotextile, and its interaction with the contained
Wastes and their behaviour vary considerably, not only slurry waste. Several researchers have begun to analyse the
between different waste streams but also from site to site. filtration rates of slurry wastes with various geotextile
Consequently, each new dewatering application undergoes filters in order to quantify performance parameters (e.g.
an evaluation programme in order to arrive at the optimal Moo-Young et al. 2002; Kutay and Aydilek 2004; Muthu-
geotextile tube dewatering solution. Figure 28 shows the kumaran and Ilamparuthi 2006; Huang and Luo 2007; Liao
three stages of evaluation in order of complexity: initial and Bhatia 2008). To date, this research work has concen-
scoping (e.g. cone test), semi-performance (e.g. hanging trated on the dewatering of natural sediments.
bag test or geotextile tube dewatering test), and full An important dewatering performance parameter is the
performance (e.g. full-scale prototype test). time over which dewatering occurs. The dewatering time
Initial scoping tests, such as the cone test (Figure 28a), must be consistent with the overall dewatering operation.
are simple empirical laboratory or field tests that are used Normal dewatering operations require the dewatering time
for screening waste stream/chemical accelerant combina- to be between one and two months. Longer dewatering
tions, and can also be used to give insight into final times constrain the speed of waste processing and the
percentage solids concentration, effluent quality and con- volumes that can be treated.
tained volume reduction. They are simple to perform, and Maintaining the dewatering period within a relatively
multiple tests can be carried out easily. short time frame normally requires the use of dewatering
Once the simple scoping tests have been done, it is accelerants, as the time frame associated with the dewater-
normal to continue to the next level of testing, the semi- ing of sludges under normal conditions can be long and
performance tests. These tests are carried out in the field, the process inefficient.
and attempt to model on a small scale the likely in-
service condition. To date, two semi-performance tests
have been developed: the hanging bag test (Figure 28b(i)) 6.5. Use of dewatering accelerants
and the geotextile tube dewatering test (Figure 28b(ii)). Slurry wastes and contaminated sediments consist of little
The hanging bag test (HBT) has been in existence for a intact solid matter, but comprise large amounts of sus-
number of years: it utilises a piece of the planned pended solids, colloids and (possibly) suspended organic
dewatering geotextile, 1.7 m long by 0.6 m wide, fash- matter. Also present can be significant quantities of heavy
ioned into a bag. The slurry waste is poured into the top metals and/or organic contaminants. To dewater effi-
of the bag and the amount of effluent, its quality and the ciently, the geotextile tube must retain much of the solids
contained volume (or solids concentration) are recorded and organic matter and control the passage of any heavy
over time. A draft ASTM standard exists for this test as metals and organic contaminants, while allowing the water
well as a draft GRI standard test method (GRI GT12 to pass. Further, for practical purposes, the loss of water
2004). This test is normally always used at the evaluation must occur in a relatively short time period. Meeting these
stage of every planned geotextile tube dewatering project. two conflicting requirements has led to the common use
It provides valuable performance information relating to of dewatering accelerants.
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412 Lawson
(a)
(i) (ii)
(b)
(c)
Figure 28. Different levels of evaluating the performance of geotextile tube dewatering: (a) initial scoping tests (e.g. cone test):
(b) semi-performance tests (e.g. (i) hanging bag test, (ii) geotextile tube dewatering test); (c) full performance tests (e.g. full-
scale prototype test)
Currently, there are two ways to accelerate the rate of the slurry waste prior to entering the geotextile tube;
dewatering: and/or
• the use of an electro-osmotic potential within the
• the addition of chemical dewatering accelerants into geotextile tube to accelerate dewatering.
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 413
(A third acceleration method also exists, that of pressure, Solids concentration, with
but is not discussed here because it is not considered accelerant
feasible with geotextile tube dewatering.)
Solids concontration
Contained volume
accelerant
years in the water treatment industry to separate sus-
pended solids, colloids and organic matter from water.
These chemical agents neutralise the interparticle charges
Volume, without accelerant
and consequently collapse the suspended solids and
organic matter. The collapse of the slurry structure also
traps heavy metals and organic contaminants within the
collapsed structure, and produces relatively large amounts Volume, with accelerant
of free water.
Flocculating agents can be used in geotextile tube Time
dewatering to accelerate the dewatering rate and enable (a)
effective dewatering over a relatively short period of time.
20
The chemical accelerant is introduced into, and mixed
Consolidation trend line
with, the waste prior to its entry into the geotextile tubes.
Anionic polyelectrolytes are acrylates and are most effec- Without chemical accelerant
tive at lower pH. Non-ionic polyelectrolytes are typically 40
polyacrylamides. By tailoring structures and molecular
weights it is possible to design a polymer-dewatering 20
accelerant for most coagulation and flocculation problems.
The chemical dewatering accelerant that works best in
0
any system can be determined only through experimental 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
screening by small-scale filtering or hanging bag tests, or Time (days)
by geotextile tube dewatering tests (see Section 6.4.2). (c)
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414 Lawson
dewaters to around 15% solids concentration after 1.5 to 2 cathode to accelerate the movement of pore water through
months. The geotextile tube containing the waste, but with fine-grained soils. Heat is dissipated as a by-product of
no accelerant, dewaters to the same solids concentration, this mechanism. Results indicate that the rate of pore
but takes 4 months to do it. Clearly, the addition of the water movement can be up to five times that of normal
chemical dewatering accelerant is of benefit here. Figure pore water flows. Limitations of this technique are the cost
29b shows both the accelerated and the non-accelerated of electricity to drive the process, and attrition of the
waste trending to a ‘consolidation trend line’, where any anodes, which degrade as part of the process.
further increase in solids concentration is governed by More recently, electro-osmosis has been used to accel-
the loss of pore water only from the waste. Both have the erate the in situ dewatering of sewage sludge (Miller et al.
same consolidation trend line, but the waste with the 1998; Jones et al. 2006). Both cases demonstrated that the
accelerant reaches this trend line much sooner. solids concentration increased at a greater rate, and
Figure 29c shows the geotextile tube dewatering of fly achieved a higher value, when the electro-osmosis process
ash slurry from a thermal power station. The optimal was applied, compared with normal dewatering conditions.
performing chemical dewatering accelerant has been Tyagi (2006) has applied electro-osmosis to the dewatering
added to the slurry in one tube, with no accelerant used in of wastewater sludge containing high levels of heavy
the other tube. The results show that both tubes dewater at metals.
a similar rate and achieve a maximum solids concentration The technology electro-kinetic geosynthetics (EKG)
of around 70% after only 30 days. Clearly, the addition of was first proposed by Jones (1996) for geosynthetic
the chemical dewatering accelerant has no benefit with electro-osmotic applications in soils. This technology is of
this type of waste. interest to geotextile tube dewatering because the electro-
The difference in performance when using chemical osmotic elements can be integrated within the geotextile
accelerants for the two waste streams may be rationalised tube itself. By incorporating the cathode into the geotex-
as follows. The sewage sludge is composed of significant tile skin of the tube and using a non-degrading anode in
quantities of suspended solids and organic matter. The the centre many of the problems associated with conven-
chemical accelerant collapses this structure, producing tional electro-osmotic dewatering are overcome.
free water that can be readily drained out of the tube. On Figure 30a shows the fundamental principles of EKG
the other hand, the fly ash slurry is particulate in nature, accelerant use with geotextile tube dewatering. The appli-
and has negligible suspended solids and nil organic matter, cation of a voltage causes an increase in the rate of
and hence the chemical accelerant has negligible effect on dewatering, which results in a consequent increase in the
its dewatering capability. rate of solids concentration. This also results in an in-
An important secondary consideration in the use of crease in the final solids concentration, compared with
chemical dewatering accelerants concerns the ability of normal dewatering conditions. The greater the voltage
the treated waste to trap and contain contaminants within applied, the higher the rate of dewatering, and the higher
the geotextile tube and not allow them to pass out with the the final solids concentration for the same dewatering time
effluent water. This has major implications when consider- (or, conversely, the shorter the time required to reach a
ing effluent quality. Examples exist of the ability of specific solids concentration).
appropriate chemical dewatering accelerants to contain The effect of the EKG accelerant shown in Figure 30a
heavy metals, e.g. mercury, lead, zinc, cadmium and should be contrasted with that of the chemical accelerant
arsenic, and non-soluble organic compounds, e.g. poly- in Figure 29a. The chemical accelerant does not increase
chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydro- the natural final solids concentration, although it does
carbons (PAHs), pesticides and dioxins. The ability of the increase the dewatering rate, whereas the EKG accelerant
accelerant to enable these heavy metals and non-soluble increases both the dewatering rate and the final solids
compounds to be trapped depends on how the accelerant concentration.
reacts with the waste stream overall. If the accelerant can Figure 30b shows the results of small-scale geotextile
collapse the waste stream structure effectively then high tube (approximately 1 m dia.) dewatering tests on acti-
percentages of these contaminants can be contained within vated municipal sewage sludge. The sewage sludge was
the geotextile tube. This ability of chemical dewatering placed in the geotextile tubes and allowed to dewater
accelerants to trap organic compounds has also been (initial solids concentration ¼ 0.7%). One test had no
demonstrated in the geotextile tube dewatering of animal EKG applied; the second had an EKG potential equivalent
waste, where compounds of organic nitrogen and phos- to 30 V/m and a current of 0.5 A applied; a third had an
phorus have been fully contained within the geotextile EKG potential equivalent to 50 V/m and a current of
tubes (Worley et al. 2004, 2005). 0.7 A applied. The results clearly demonstrate the im-
provement in dewatering when the EKG treatment is
6.5.2. Electro-osmotic dewatering accelerants applied compared with the normal (untreated) case. Both
The use of chemical dewatering accelerants is far more an increase in the rate of dewatering and an increased
developed than that of electro-osmotic dewatering accel- level of final solids concentration were obtained. Also, the
erants. Electro-osmosis has been used on a limited scale rate of dewatering increases for an increased applied
as a means of accelerating the dewatering of fine-grained voltage.
soils for some time (e.g. Bjerrum et al. 1967). This Glendinning et al. (2006) also report dewatering tests of
technique utilises an electric potential between anode and digested lagoon sewage sludge using EKG in the labora-
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 415
With EKG, 30 V/m the specific waste stream (see Section 6.4.2), and should
account for the effect of dewatering accelerants etc., if
relevant. Coarse material in the waste does not undergo a
20
volume change during dewatering, but does affect the total
volume of dewatered solids produced.
Without EKG The above parameters enable the determination of the
10 dewatered solids volume and rate of effluent water
production. The dewatered solids can be disposed of on
site or off site, or may be recycled, etc. The quality of the
0 effluent water produced determines its use and whether
0 20 40 60 80
Time (h)
further downstream treatment is required. The effluent
(b) water may be recirculated or, if it is of good quality, can
be passed to the environment.
Figure 30. Effect of EKG accelerant on rate of geotextile The above parameters also enable the determination of
tube dewatering: (a) effect on rate of solids concentration the quantity and sizes of geotextile tubes required to
increase; (b) effect on dewatering rate of sewage sludge dewater the waste stream. The capacity of the geotextile
tubes is also affected by the heights to which they can be
filled. The allowable geotextile tube filling height also
tory. Using an applied voltage of 100 V/m, solids concen- influences the size of tube used, as this governs the
tration increased from around 14% (initially) to 23% and magnitude of the tensions generated in the tube during
27% (for the two tests) after 21 days. This results in a filling, and affects the required ultimate tensile strength of
volume reduction of 40% and 50%, respectively, for the the geotextile skin. This is discussed in the section below.
two tests. While geotextile tubes are the most common means of
Fourie et al. (2002, 2004) have used the EKG technique dewatering, geotextile bags have also been used if the
to dewater in situ fine-grained residue from mineral sands volumes are small. In some instances, to aid portability,
processing, diamond mine tailings and lead–zinc mine geotextile bags are maintained inside steel containers
tailings. All results showed increased dewatering rates and during filling and transport to an off-site disposal facility.
higher final solids concentration when the EKG technique
was applied. While the test programme did not include 6.7. Filling heights and tensions generated in
geotextile tubes, it is considered that the results would be geotextile tubes during dewatering, and ultimate
comparable had they been used as the containment/ tensile strength requirements
dewatering medium. The tensions generated in geotextile tubes for dewatering
Accelerated dewatering using the EKG technique with are similar to those for hydraulic and marine applications
geotextile tubes has very interesting potential. However, (Section 3.4.1). During filling, tensions are generated in
more work is required to quantify the performance three locations in the tube units: around the circumference
benefits for a range of slurry-like waste streams. of the tubes, along the length of the tubes, and at
the connection of the filling ports with the tubes (see
6.6. Volumes of slurry dewatered and flow rates Figure 6).
To ensure that a dewatering operation proceeds as planned, When slurry waste is used for filling the tubes, the
a volume or rate balance between the amount of slurry tensions generated in the circumferential and longitudinal
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416 Lawson
directions can be readily analysed by use of the membrane necessary to stack multiple dewatering tubes on top of
theory methods of Leschinsky et al. (1996), Plaut and each other. The loads exerted by the upper geotextile tubes
Suherman (1998) and Palmerton (2002). Figure 31 shows must be taken into account when determining the required
the maximum circumferential tensions generated in tensile strengths of the lower tubes. Figure 32a shows a
4 m, 6 m and 8 m diameter geotextile tubes at different typical two-tier stack array of geotextile tubes undergoing
filling heights (the density of the slurry is assumed to be dewatering. The lower tubes have completed the various
11 kN/m3 ). It is observed that for HT /DT ratios . 0.4 the dewatering stages, and are undergoing consolidation,
circumferential tensions increase significantly for increas- while the upper tubes are being filled and dewatered.
ing filling heights. When geotextile tubes are stacked on top of each other
The maximum longitudinal tension generated in the additional tensions are generated in the lower tubes as a
tube can be approximated using the same relationship as result of the weight exerted by the upper tubes. Further,
presented in Figure 9: that is, the longitudinal tension additional localised tensions are generated in the tubes in
is approximately 63% of the maximum circumferential the location where one tube has to span over the gap
tension. between two lower tubes (Figure 32b). Plaut and Filz
The magnitude of the port connection tensions can be (2008) have developed relationships to analyse the tension
significant, especially if the dewatering tubes are filled to effects of stacked geotextile tubes in general. Additional
maximum filling heights. To prevent rupture at the ports, localised tensions resulting from spanning lower tube gaps
and to enable greater filling heights, special polymeric may be highly variable, depending on the size and depth
port connections have been developed to resist the high of the gaps.
stresses in these locations (Yuan et al. 2008).
The resulting tensile strengths of geotextile tubes are 6.9. Dewatering applications using geotextile tubes
determined by applying a safety factor between 3.5 and 5 Currently, geotextile tubes are used to dewater a wide
times the maximum tensions generated. As with geotextile range of slurry-like wastes and contaminated sediments.
tubes for hydraulic and marine applications, the judicious Virtually any industry that generates slurry waste can
application of high-capacity geotextile seams is crucial to utilise geotextile tubes for dewatering and post-processing
the structural performance of the dewatering tubes. of the waste. Listed below are the major industry group-
To maximise dewatering capacity it is important for the ings that have used geotextile tube dewatering to date.
geotextile tubes to be filled to a maximum safe height in
order to maximise the volume throughput. Safety is 6.9.1. Municipal waste and water treatment
important here in order to ensure that the tubes do not The dewatering of municipal waste (sewage) sludge was
rupture and discharge the waste in an uncontrolled manner. an early application for geotextile tube dewatering (e.g.
Good control over pumping during the filling stages is
very important to ensure the tubes are not overstressed.
γ ⫽ 11 kN/m3
Maximum circumferential tension [Tmax]c (kN/m)
80
DT ⫽ 8 m
(a)
60
High localised tensions
40
DT ⫽ 6 m
20
DT ⫽ 4 m
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 (b)
HT /DT ratio
Figure 32. Stacking of geotextile dewatering tubes: (a) two-
Figure 31. Maximum circumferential tensions in geotextile tier example; (b) diagram showing locations of high localised
tubes according to Palmerton (2002) tensions
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 417
Fowler et al. 1996). Most municipal sewage treatment nutrients are contained within the geotextile tubes during
plants store the generated sludge from the sewage treat- dewatering.
ment plants in ponds, where further anaerobic processes It is reasonably common for the dewatered animal waste
take place. Over time, these ponds fill with sludge and to be recycled as fertiliser on pastures. An example of use
require cleaning. Further, these ponds are seldom engi- is given by Worley et al. (2004), where geotextile tubes
neered containment facilities, and consequently may leak are used to dewater dairy cattle waste.
and pollute local watercourses, etc. Thus the cleaning and
reclamation of these ponds have become an important 6.9.3. Food processing
environmental issue. Geotextile tubes have been used Food processing produces large quantities of slurry-like
extensively for dewatering sludge from these containment waste, whether it is part of the manufacturing process or
ponds. The effluent water is normally recirculated to the part of the growing process. Examples of food processing
ponds, with the dewatered solids disposed of elsewhere. industries that have used geotextile tubes to dewater waste
Sludges are produced at several stages of the sewage are potato processing (washing and skin waste), cheese
treatment process (termed primary and secondary processing, wine processing and abattoirs. Many other
sludges). Primary sludges are generated in clarifiers, and possibilities exist.
are the result of flocculation sedimentation. Secondary Intensive aquaculture activities generate considerable
sludges are also generated in clarifiers by flocculation waste from the high-growth feeding of fish and crusta-
sedimentation, but follow biological treatment. There is ceans. This benthic waste can be toxic to fish and
considerable regulatory pressure for the conversion of crustaceans, and has to be removed from the aquaculture
sewage sludges to clean biosolids, as these can be used impoundments at frequent intervals. Dewatering of this
for fertiliser, etc. Geotextile tubes also have been used waste and subsequent disposal in containment facilities is
to dewater sludges emanating directly from clarifiers. becoming the practice where environmental regulations
Some examples of use are given by Fowler et al. exist.
(2002a).
In a number of instances geotextile tubes have been 6.9.4. Mining waste
connected directly to digesters. Here the effluent water is Various types of waste are produced from the mining of
recirculated within the treatment process, and the humic minerals: examples include, tailings, mineral fines, and
solids are removed for disposal or allowed to compost. processing sludge. Large mining activities produce large
One limitation on the use of geotextile tubes to dewater amounts of tailings, which are stored in open tailings
sewage sludge is that a flat area has to be available to dams in isolated locations. There are, however, many
carry out the dewatering. Space limitations exist with instances where tailings are produced in relatively small
many metropolitan sewage treatment plants because of amounts from small mines that are close to population or
encroaching development and treatment plant capacity environmentally sensitive areas. The management of these
expansion. In these cases alternative dewatering treatment tailings or their reclamation and remediation provides
technologies may be more appropriate. many opportunities, because in many cases the tailings
Geotextile tubes are also used to dewater the outflow have first to be dewatered before they can be rendered
from septic tanks. Here, the activated sludge is normally stable and inert. An example of geotextile tube dewatering
collected from septic tanks by use of vacuum trucks and of lead and zinc mining tailings for a small capacity mine
transported to a central depot, where the sludge is pumped in Greece is given by Newman et al. (2003).
into geotextile tubes to dewater. An example of use is Other mining activities produce mineral fines as part of
given by de Castro et al. (2008). the washing process (e.g. coal mining), which can be
More recently, geotextile tubes have been used to reclaimed and reused following dewatering.
dewater alum sludge, the waste by-product of fresh water
treatment plants. In many locations the direct disposal of 6.9.5. Industrial waste
this sludge is not allowed, and dewatering it to solid form Many industrial processes produce waste that is stored in
and then disposal in an off-site landfill is the only cost- waste ponds on the industrial site. Over time these ponds
effective alternative. fill with waste, and have to be cleaned to enable the ponds
to continue to function.
6.9.2. Agricultural animal waste A common form of waste reclamation is to dewater the
Cattle, chicken and hog farms produce large amounts of waste from the ponds and, depending on the nature of the
waste, which is commonly stored in sludge ponds near the dewatered waste, then dispose of it in landfill, incinerate
animal housing facility. The floor of the animal housing is it, use it for other applications, or recycle it back through
washed out daily, with all the waste being washed into the industrial plant.
nearby retention ponds. Over time these ponds become
filled with sludge, and they have to be cleaned out 6.9.6. Construction waste
periodically. A number of construction activities generate slurry waste,
Animal waste is more difficult to dewater than sewage which for environmental reasons is becoming increasingly
waste, being generally more fatty (and finer) in nature. It difficult to dispose of directly. Examples include drilling,
normally has to be treated with a conditioning agent as grouting and diaphragm wall muds. Because the quantities
well as a chemical accelerant to ensure colloids and of slurry produced are relatively small, small-sized geo-
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418 Lawson
textile tubes or geotextile bags have been used to dewater Green Bay
the slurries on site prior to their disposal in solid form in N
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 419
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420 Lawson
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 421
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422 Lawson
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
Figure 37. Various stages of the dewatering process at Porto Maghera: (a) removal of contaminated sediment; (b) separation of
clean aggregates at washing plant; (c) maintaining contaminated fines in suspension before pumping to geotextile tubes;
(d) geomembrane-lined drainage basin; (e) geotextile tubes dewatering contaminated sediments; (f) water effluent containment
pond prior to transfer to water treatment plant
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 423
(e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aro- the bottom of the offshore disposal site, further dissipation
matic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides and dioxins) and does not occur, provided the bed of the disposal site is
heavy metals (e.g. mercury, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc free from marine currents. Thus the critical contaminant
and arsenic), while raw sewage has also been deposited dissipation phase occurs during the actual dumping of the
(in undeveloped areas). Today, these contaminated sedi- contaminated sediments.
ments present a major problem when it comes to their safe Geotextile containers have been used to ensure that the
disposal from marine construction sites and land reclama- dumping of contaminated sediments is carried out in a
tion schemes. These contaminated sediments may vary controlled manner. The basic technique is shown in Figure
from overconsolidated clays to very soft clays. 38b, where the geotextile container has been filled with
Due to a shortage of available land in Asia the onshore the contaminated sediment and is dumped within the
disposal of contaminated sediments is virtually impossible. offshore disposal site. The geotextile container prevents
Furthermore, the treatment of contaminated sediments is the contaminated sediment fill from dissipating into the
very expensive, and can be very difficult. Consequently, surrounding marine environment, and also encapsulates
controlled offshore disposal sites are employed. These the contaminated sediments on the bed of the disposal
offshore disposal sites are normally located in an area that site. This technique was first used in the USA (e.g. Fowler
has been pre-dredged, or are contained within submarine et al. 1995b; Fowler and Trainer 1998), and has since been
dykes, and are founded at considerable water depth used elsewhere.
(normally . 20 m). The integrity of the geotextile containers during filling,
Non-soluble organic compounds, heavy metals and raw dropping and after placement is crucial for the safe,
sewage remain motionless and non-soluble within a controlled disposal of contaminated sediments. Section 4.3
stationary soil mass. However, when the contaminated discusses in detail the tensions generated in geotextile
sediments are disposed of in an uncontrolled manner at an containers during installation for hydraulic and marine
offshore disposal site, as shown in Figure 38a, it can structures. For contaminated sediment disposal the gener-
dissipate into the surrounding marine environment by the ated tensions can be significantly greater, for the follow-
action of tidal and marine currents. Normally, on reaching ing reasons. First, the size of the containers used is
relatively large (cf. those used for marine structures), and
they are dropped in considerable water depth. Second, the
Disposal barge fill material is overconsolidated or soft clays that provide
little-to-negligible internal shear resistance during dump-
ing. High-capacity seams have to be used throughout the
geotextile container to ensure its mechanical integrity.
Contaminated Figure 39 shows data obtained from a number of
sediments
geotextile container installation sites. The vertical axis
represents the geotextile container volume (in m3 ) multi-
Dissipation Dissipation plied by the water depth of installation (in m). The
into marine into marine
environment environment maximum value of 20 000 m4 shown on the vertical axis
can equate to a 1000 m3 geotextile container installed in
20 m water depth (which is an extreme instance). The
higher the value on the vertical axis, the more severe the
Bed of marine dumping site application in terms of larger container volumes and/or
(a)
Disposal
applications
15,000
Hydraulic & marine
applications
Contaminated 10,000
sediments
Severity
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424 Lawson
greater water depths. The horizontal axis represents the especially if they are continually exposed over long
type of fill placed inside the geotextile container. Basi- periods of time. In these situations, aspects such as UV
cally, three fill types have been used: sand, overconsoli- resistance, abrasion resistance and liquefaction of the sand
dated clay and soft clay. In moving to the right along the fill need to be taken into account.
horizontal axis the severity increases, because the contain- Geotextile tubes and geotextile bags provide an efficient
er fill has less internal shear resistance (and therefore less medium for the dewatering of slurry waste streams and
absorption of energy). This has a significant effect on the contaminated sediments. Their high contact surface area
tensions generated in the geotextile container when it and good filtration characteristics, in addition to their
impacts on the seabed (see Section 4.3.4). simplicity, make them readily suited for this technique.
The data shown in Figure 39 can be divided into two The addition of chemical dewatering accelerants can
distinct regions according to the type of geotextile con- enhance the rate of dewatering significantly, and can trap
tainer application. The lower left region is where geotex- contaminants within the dewatering waste. Other dewater-
tile containers are used as structural elements in hydraulic ing accelerant techniques, such as EKG, offer interesting
and marine applications (see Section 4). Here, the drop- prospects in the future. To ensure success, the geotextile
ping conditions are less severe, as the geotextile containers tube dewatering system needs to be designed hydraulically
are relatively small in volume in order meet specific to ensure all components meet the capacity requirements.
installed geometric requirements, and are normally placed Also, the strengths and filling heights of the geotextile
in relatively shallow water depths. Furthermore, the fill in tubes must be closely controlled.
these geotextile containers is sand, or a high percentage of Geotextile containers have demonstrated their ability to
sand, for its structural and volume stability. safely dispose of contaminated sediments in offshore
The upper right region in Figure 39 is where geotextile disposal facilities. This application is more severe on the
containers are used to dispose of contaminated sediments. geotextile container than the more conventional hydraulic
Here, the disposal conditions are more severe, as the and marine application because of the relative size of
geotextile containers are relatively large in volume in containers used, their dropping depth, and the normally
order to conform to dredging and reclamation capacities, poor shear resistance of the contained fill. Ensuring the
and are normally placed in relatively deep offshore integrity of the geotextile container during installation
disposal sites. Further, the contaminated fill in these requires the use of high-strength geotextiles with high-
geotextile containers is either overconsolidated clays or capacity seams, along with relatively small pore sizes to
soft clays. Recently, the work of Cheek and Yee (2006) ensure negligible loss of fill.
has extended the boundary of this region further to the
right (more severe) by disposing of very soft sediments in
large containers from a reclamation site in Hong Kong.
While the conditions are more severe for disposal
NOTATIONS
applications, the geotextile containers must maintain Basic SI units are given in parentheses.
mechanical integrity during installation to ensure that the
contaminated sediments do not dissipate into the surround- Ab cross-sectional area of hopper in split-bottom
ing marine environment. The required tensile strengths of barge (Figure 14a) (m2 )
geotextile containers increase as the application moves AC equivalent geotextile container cross-sectional
from the lower left in Figure 39 to the upper right. This area (Figure 15) (m2 )
applies both to the tensile strength requirements of the Af cross-sectional area of fill in hopper of split-
geotextile itself and to that of the seams in the geotextile bottom barge (Figure 14a) (m2 )
container. For disposal applications high-strength geotex- AT cross-sectional area of filled geotextile tube
tiles using high-capacity seams and other special joining (m2 )
techniques are required. b0 width of opening at base of split-bottom barge
(Figure 14b) (m)
b0max maximum opening width at base of split-
8. CONCLUSIONS
bottom barge (m)
Geotextile containment presents very interesting opportu- bB base width of geotextile bag (m)
nities in the areas of hydraulic and marine engineering, bT base width of filled geotextile tube (m)
and environmental engineering. The three basic contain- CC circumference of geotextile container (m)
ment units—tubes, containers and bags—can be applied to CT circumference of geotextile tube (m)
many applications. DC equivalent geotextile container diameter
By containing sand and other similar materials, geotex- (Figure 15) (m)
tile tubes, containers and bags act as mass-gravity struc- DT theoretical diameter of geotextile tube (m)
tures in hydraulic and marine applications. Sand, or FS global factor of safety (dimensionless)
similar fill, is used for these applications because it does G specific gravity (dimensionless)
not undergo consolidation once installed, and the units can h0 free-board height of hopper in split-bottom
maintain their existing shape and height. barge (Figure 14a) (m)
When geotextile containment structures are installed in h1 side vertical height of hopper in split-bottom
hydraulic and marine environments care is required, barge (Figure 14a) (m)
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Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering 425
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426 Lawson
Duke, M. L., Fowler, J. & Schmidt, M. L. (2000). Dredging Australian Conference on Coastal and Ocean Engineering,
and Dewatering of Hazardous Impoundment Sediment Using the Launceston, Australia, pp. 235–238.
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of the 7th International Conference on Geosynthetics, Nice, France, Thomas Telford, London.
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Fourie, A. B., Johns, D. & Jones, C. J. F. P. (2004). In-situ dewatering of (2006). Case history: in-situ dewatering of lagooned sewage sludge
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