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This project, submitted by ACE Geosynthetics, won an Award of Excellence in the 2013 International Achievement Awards(IAA) / Geosynthetics presented by the Industrial Fabrics Association International. Each project in its own special way, exhibits outstanding innovation, technical skill and design excellence.
Submissions of geosynthetics projects for the 2014 International Achievement Awards are being accepted now. Submit your projects by June 30, 2014.
The design for this project used several types of geotextile tubes, which were produced with:
- 70-I polypropylene woven geotextile fabric.
- 8.6m and 12.9m circumferences.
- lengths from 10m to 50m.
- 13.8m width with 20m and 50m scour apron.
The geotextile tubes were built for the main independent body of the breakwater, then cover riprap was installed as armor protection.
The new fish port site is located inshore, beside a groin. The client proposed to build a new L-shaped optimization breakwater accommodating the existing groin with a total enclosure length of 700m, forming a fish port.
Authorities assessed a cost-effective, fast construction, and safe scenario to build this breakwater because in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) most breakwaters are rubble mound types. But there was a problem using rubble to construct this breakwater because rubble is a high-cost material. So alternatives were considered for this project.
The geotextile tubes and geotextile apron in the design built the 700-m breakwater. There are a total of four layers of geotextile tubes stacked to reach a 6.5-m height, plus two layers of rock at 0.5m and 2m.
Upon completion in 2013, the structure now reaches the designed height of 9m. Sand is contained effectively with the geotextile tubes and construction was completed smoothly.
The use of geotextile tubes with sand replaced the rock rubble style and saved construction costs in this area. This project is a classic case of the successful application of geotextile tubes for marine engineering.