An erosion control system is disclosed for preventing erosion of embankments including a three-dimensional material, the three-dimensional material including void volumes, and a mixture including a particulate material and a binder material included in the void volumes, wherein the binder material includes an organic binder material derived from living matter.

A flood mitigation barrier; the barrier comprising a line of central structures wrapped in a flexible heat shrinkable polymer material.

Processes for making weather resistant, slow-decaying, durable natural fiber/coir geotextiles produce geotextiles having flexibility, permeability, light weight and cost-effective characteristics. In this process an in situ chemical grafting using a mixture of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid and aminoalkyl trialkoxysilanes with cellulose was done followed by curing in presence of sunlight, UV light or heat. The developed product showed durability and strength more than that of natural fiber/fabric and retaining natural fiber/fabric/geotextiles characteristics. The geotextiles have delayed bio-deterioration having wider long-term end use/applications. This process of making durable geotextiles is eco-friendly and retains the desired characteristic.

A frame for cradling a rolled surface covering during installation onto a ground surface, including first and second spaced-apart end panels, a surface covering support base extending between the first and second spaced-apart panels and adapted for holding the rolled surface covering during installation. At least one lower roller extends along the support base between the first and second spaced-apart end panels at a level above the support base, and at least one upper roller extends along the support base between the first and second spaced-apart end panels at a level above the support base and is vertically spaced-apart from the at least one lower roller. The space defines a gap extending along a length of the at least one lower roller and the at least one upper roller through which a free end of the rolled surface covering is extended during installation onto the ground surface.

A reinforced geocell is made of flexible polymeric strips arranged in rows and interconnected in a staggered order lengthwise to form a three-dimensional cell structure when stretched in the direction normal to surfaces of the strips. The strips are provided with drainage apertures and are reinforced in a longitudinal direction with reinforcing threads having at least two fibrous elements twisted along full lengths thereof. A method for producing a geocell includes extruding a polymeric material for producing a sheet material, laying out twisted reinforcing threads onto the sheet material, calendaring the sheet material when heated to 120 to 200 C. to press reinforcing threads into the sheet material, cutting a reinforced sheet material into sheets, perforating the sheets for producing drainage apertures, cutting the sheets into strips, and interconnecting the strips in a staggered order to form a three-dimensional cell structure.

A knitted spacer fabric has a tightly knitted bottom layer, a more loosely knitted upper layer and linking fibres extending across the space between the lower and upper faces. Settable material, e.g. cement, is introduced into the space between the upper and lower faces and can be caused to set by the addition of a liquid, e.g. water. Until set, the fabric is flexible and can be shaped but after the material in space has set, the fabric is rigid and can be used as a structural element in a wide range of situations. The bottom layer has an extension that extends beyond the upper face and is connected to the upper face by elastic connecting fibres that draw the extension towards the other face, thereby at least partly closing the space at the edge of the cloth and preventing the settable material from spilling out. In addition, the packing of the settable material and maximum space between the faces are such that only a predetermined amount of liquid can be accommodated within the space and that amount is matched to the water required to set the cement.

The present invention concerns a geosynthetic element for a geotechnical engineering application. The geosynthetic element comprises: bacteria carriers for carrying bacteria arranged to be propagated from the geosynthetic element to a surrounding geomaterial; and a flow network comprising openings on its surface to allow a reactant to escape the flow network to the surrounding geomaterial along the flow network to produce solid calcium carbonate when in contact with the bacteria. The reactant flow network further comprises a set of inlets for feeding the reactant into the flow network, and a set of outlets for recovering at least a part of the reactant from the reactant flow network.

An erosion control apparatus is disclosed herein comprising a filtering member defining a looped portion; a guide member positioned within the looped portion of the filtering member; and a support member insertable in the looped portion of the filtering member. The guide member facilitates insertion of the support member into the looped portion of the filtering member.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system for making tied block mat with a border includes a mold having an array of mold cavities; and a hopper that receives a hardenable paste and is spaced from the mold to receive a sheet of mesh material therebetween, the hopper having an opening for depositing the hardenable paste into selected mold cavities, the hopper forming a filling zone with the mold wherein the hardenable paste flows through the opening into the selected mold cavities, and a blocked zone where the hardenable paste is prevented from entering other selected mold cavities of the mold; whereby the tied block mat is formed wherein the hardenable paste in the selected mold cavities becomes embedded in the sheet of mesh material in the filling zone, and a border is formed in the blocked zone where the hardenable paste is blocked from entering the other selected mold cavities.

A concrete mat apparatus, including a plurality of elongated concrete members, each member being aligned with and next to another concrete member. Each of the concrete members has an upper generally flat surface, a lower generally flat surface, and a plurality of inclined surfaces that each extend away from an upper or lower surface. Reinforcement extends from a first end portion of each concrete member to a second end portion thereof, the reinforcement including a plurality of longitudinally extending reinforcement bars and a plurality of encircling tie bars at spaced apart intervals. Cabling connects each of the elongated concrete members to another of the elongated concrete members. The combination of elongated concrete members has a width and a length that is at least twice as long as the width. The upper inclined surfaces of one of the elongated concrete members forms a plane with the lower inclined surface of an adjacent elongated concrete member. A plurality of loops are provided along opposed edges of the mat, each loop formed by a portion of the cabling. The loops can be spaced between about one and three feet (30.5 and 91.4 cm) apart.