Monolithic Protection From Shoreline Erosion
DATE POSTED: May 27, 2019
Does a massive, tapered structure provide better protection from shoreline erosion than rip rap or armor stone when a hard stabilization method is needed to protect property from shoreline erosion?
There’s a large body of evidence to say that it would.
More Than 150 Miles of Protection from Shoreline Erosion
More than 150 miles (241 km) of shoreline worldwide is protected by Geotube® containers against erosion caused by storms, waves, flood waters, ice and human activity. Many of these installations have been protecting shorelines for decades and face some of the toughest waves and weather on the planet.
Geotube® containers are one of the best alternatives for protection from shoreline erosion. The size, shape and materials of Geotube® containers all contribute to their success in providing superior shoreline protection.
Here’s how:
- Virtually immovable mass – A single Geotube® container is more than 100-feet (30.5-m) long and when filled with sand could weigh up to 150 tons (136 tonnes). With that much mass, it becomes extremely difficult for waves or ice to shift the Geotube® container.
- Deflective elliptical shape – As ice advances towards the shoreline, the elliptical shape of the Geotube® containers can deflect the ice and force it up and over the structure. Conventional barriers made of materials such as armour stone or timber, face the ice head-on and are often dislodged or heaved up.
- Durable, impact-resistant technology – Geotube® containers are specially designed for shoreline protection and are manufactured using high-strength polypropylene multifilament yarns that meet several ASTM standards for fabric strength, seam strength and puncture resistance. In extremely demanding applications, Geotube® containers can be further protected with a Geotube® Debris Shield, a polyurea coating, or even a conventional barrier such as an armour stone wall.
- Simple installation – A breakwater structure made of Geotube® containers could be filled with material that is dredged from the water body. This dramatically reduces truck traffic, carbon emissions, and could also reduce the time and cost to complete the project.
A Success Story:
A Geotube® shown during installation at Round Lake, Ontario in 2013. The 100-foot long container has provided several years of shoreline protection from waves and ice push. Due to its bulk and rounded contour, waves and ice have been unable to shift it and compromise the integrity of the shoreline. The Geotube® container is also more aesthetically pleasing than alternatives since it’s covered with soil and provides a gently sloping surface that resembles the natural shoreline.
Learn more about Geotube® containers for shoreline protection.
Contact us to discuss how Geotube® containers can contribute to the success of your shoreline protection project.
Shrouded in secrecy – A closer look at Geotube shoreline protection systems that work under cover
DATE POSTED: February 27, 2019
Shoreline protection systems often need to blend in and maintain a low profile, whether they’re working in a natural environment or in a densely developed urban space. So how do engineers, urban designers and conservation authorities hide expansive Geotube® shoreline protection systems that can stretch for hundreds or even thousands of feet?
Over 150 miles of shoreline worldwide is already protected with Geotube® technology, providing reliable, cost-effective protection from water erosion and storm damage. Most of these systems are permanent–and nearly invisible–installations that can also help improve the aesthetics of the shoreline and rebuild natural habitats such as wetlands.
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
More than 20 years ago, Geotube® containers were installed at Atlantic City, New Jersey to protect more than a mile of shoreline and the famous boardwalk from storms and extreme high tides. The tubes were filled and covered with sand from the local area and planted dune grass to give the appearance of a natural dune.
Cancun Beach, Cancun, Mexico
Cancun’s beaches were severely eroded by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, leaving steep drop-offs and waves advancing right up to ocean-front resort buildings. Over 1.2 miles of Geotube® containers were installed immediately to protect the properties, followed by offshore submerged breakwaters to function as a sandbar and encourage natural beach replenishment. The shoreline Geotube® containers were covered with sand and are invisible to beachgoers.
La Antigua, Veracruz, Mexico
Seasonal flooding and riverbank erosion were threatening many historical structures and a marina in the tourist village of Rio La Antigua. Rather than attempt costly conventional methods such as increasing the height of berms and dykes or shipping in armor stone, engineers installed Geotube® containers in a two-layer, stair-step arrangement. The fibrous surface of the Geotube® containers will entrap sand and sediment, enabling vegetation to be established over time and conceal the containers.
Learn more about Geotube® containers for durable, long-lasting and discreet, shoreline protection.
Prevent shoreline erosion: Geotube® units make resilient, immovable groynes
DATE POSTED: November 27, 2018
Shoreline protection: Geotube® groynes fight erosion in Quebec reservoir
Wind, waves, and currents are no longer a problem for a section shoreline in Lac Saint Jean. A Geotube® shoreline protection system was able to prevent shoreline erosion issues and improve bank conditions at the Quebec lake.
Because the lake acts as a water reservoir for the generation of hydroelectric power, operators keep the water level high. This artificially high water level can potentially destabilize the lake’s shoreline. Since 1986, the site owner has been taking a proactive approach to prevent shoreline erosion.
Three groynes were constructed using Geotube® containers, allowing for the elimination of erosion along a section of shoreline. Each groyne incorporates two Geotube® containers that stretch 200-feet (61-metres) into the lake. In an unusual step, the installation occurred during the winter, as the lake was frozen over. This approach enabled installation of the containers to occur in a dry area rather than in deep water.
Each Geotube® container was placed on a protective scour apron and held in place with anchor tubes. Trucked-in sand was mixed with water from the lake, and pumped into each container. As the lake thawed, water flowed in around the Geotube containers and covered them almost entirely.
Geotube® containers provide significant advantages over conventional construction techniques for jetties or groynes. Typical groynes often incorporate wood, earth, stone, or concrete, making them susceptible to breakage by ice and waves. Conversely, a full Geotube® container becomes a single, massive structure that is virtually immovable. In many cases, a Geotube® groyne can be installed more quickly and at a lower cost than conventional approaches.
Learn more about using Bishop Water’s solids management solution at a WTP.
Contact us to discuss dewatering options for your WTP.
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Energy efficient dewatering technology reduces carbon footprint
DATE POSTED: October 28, 2018
Energy efficient dewatering technology may be the key to reducing your site’s carbon footprint
Knowing the carbon footprint of dewatering options is an important step in designing systems that provide sustainable environmental benefits. Finding an energy efficient dewatering technology leads to greenhouse gas reductions and significant cost savings. Many factors contribute to major differences in the size of a dewatering project’s carbon footprint. These can include variables such as manufacturing, transportation, installation, and operation.
Bishop Water can account for these variables using a carbon footprint calculator to compare the carbon emissions of dewatering systems and identify how a site’s carbon footprint can be reduced.
In 2009, a town in southeastern Ontario was exploring options to dewater process solids from its water treatment plant (WTP). Using a carbon footprint calculator, Bishop Water determined its passive, gravity-driven solids management solution requires about 72% less electricity compared to a belt press.
Dewatering 144 cubic metres (188 cubic yards) of sludge over a 1.5-hour period with this technology only requires about 84 kW. Comparatively, a belt press would need to use approximately 300 kW to dewater the same amount of sludge over a five hour period.
The town ultimately selected Bishop Water’s low-energy solids management solution to provide onsite dewatering. The technology eliminates energy-intensive mechanical dewatering equipment and produces high quality filtrate. The filtrate also meets regulatory requirements for direct release to a receiving body without any additional treatment.
Which breakwater solution has a lower carbon footprint? Geotube® containers or a rock breakwater structure?
Bishop Water also compared the difference between using rocks or Geotube® containers for a breakwater structure. The situation considers a 930-metre-(3,051-foot-) long, 1.8-metre-(6-foot-) high breakwater structure to protect a section of Lake Ontario shoreline.
To create a rock breakwater, a convoy of trucks would have to transport 13,600 tonnes of rock from a quarry that is about 160 km (99 miles) away. Comparatively, a breakwater structure made of Geotube® containers would contain 10,000 cubic metres (13,080 cubic yards) of sand. This sand is from the lake at the construction site in most cases. This approach dramatically reduces truck traffic and could also reduce the time required and cost to complete the project.
A carbon footprint calculator considers all of the factors to determine the carbon footprints. The conclusion shows that the Geotube® breakwater project would emit 2,649 fewer tonnes of carbon since it uses locally dredged sand.
Learn more about how Bishop Water’s solids management solution helped reduce a water treatment plant’s carbon footprint.
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Patented filling ports provide reliable dewatering
DATE POSTED: September 3, 2018
TenCate filling ports provide maximized and reliable dewatering
While the filling port connection is typically one of the weakest points in a standard dewatering container, Tencate’s specialized filling ports provide reliable dewatering performance and help avoid disastrous failures experienced by other containers.
Despite the simple appearance, the high-quality construction of Tencate’s GP4 and GP8 ports has enabled Bishop Water to provide a reliable solids management solution that consistently achieves site requirements for containment and dewatering. Over the last 13 of years, Bishop Water has filled hundreds of Geotube® containers in a number of demanding applications, such as shoreline protection, without any failures.
Tencate’s filling system simplifies the port connection and filling process. Unlike conventional filling ports, Tencate’s GP4 and GP8 connections are made of rubber gaskets and secured with bolts. These parts provide a more stable connection that allows for more reliable dewatering. This is because the filling port increase the safety factor which allows Geotube® containers to fill to taller heights. The GP4 and GP8 connections can handle flows up to 200 LPM (53 gpm) and 500 LPM (132 gpm) respectively. This allows for faster filling of the Geotube® containers and as a result, faster dewatering.
The Bishop Water Solution
Bishop Water can adapt its solids management solution for a wide variety of conditions. They customize each system for the needs of each project. For example, sites with varying sludge conditions require careful polymer control to maximize dewatering performance. Bishop Water staff select the best polymer for a client’s needs and ensure the correct dosage on an ongoing basis.
Let Bishop Water’s expert team assist with all aspects of your project including design, installation, polymer selection, and training.
Read our case study to see how Bishop Water’s solids management solution is a long-term solution at the North Rustico Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Contact us to discuss your dewatering needs.
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Carbon footprint reduced using solids management solution
DATE POSTED:
Bishop Water’s solids management solution reduces carbon footprint and saves money
Did you know that Bishop Water’s solids management solution can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of a project and save money using Geotube® containers?
In fact, in Zutphen, the Netherlands, Geotube® containers dewatered and contained dredged material. Then the containers stayed onsite as part of a harbour remediation project. This drastically cut the project’s carbon footprint and installation costs compared to a conventional solution. The conventional solution would potentially involve mechanical dewatering and hauling sediment and backfill, which can be expensive and energy intensive.
In total, 18,000 cubic metres (23,543 cubic yards) of harbour sediment was dredged and dewatered. Most of this contaminated sediment would otherwise have been trucked out for confinement in disposal facilities, which would have been an additional expense.
Natural dewatering process saves CO2
Geotube® containers quickly and cost-effectively solved the problem on site and with much less carbon emissions than the mechanical belt press technology. In fact, the Geotube® dewatering solution emits only one-fifth the CO2 compared to the conventional mechanical solution.
Little mechanical pumping is required for Geotube® containers to dewater the contained sediment. Excess water drains from the Geotube® containers through the small pores in the geotextile skin, effectively dewatering and consolidating contained material. A chemical accelerant can also speed up the process and help achieve greater dewatering.
The containers can handle very large sludge volumes, achieving a very high solids capture rate with low capital investment. Best of all for Zutphen, the containers can be safely reused as ‘giant sandbags’ and are virtually immovable once in place.
No trucking back and forth saves money and carbon emissions
For Zutphen’s harbour project, Geotube® containers were filled with dredged sediment and dewatered on site. The containers stayed in the same location where they then stabilized the adjacent riverbank, therefore replacing the need to haul in fill materials.
Geotube® containers eliminate the need for a convoy of trucks carrying dredge, slurry, backfill or breakwater rocks. These items are usually trucked in and out of the site, most of the time across vast distances. Geotube® containers can be filled on site with dredged contaminated sediment saving time and money.
From harbours and groynes to beaches and wetlands, Geotube® containers have been customized to the diverse needs of clients world-wide.
Let Bishop Water’s expert team assist with all aspects of your project, including design, site preparation, and installation.
Learn more about Bishop Water’s solids management solution.
Contact us to discuss dewatering options for your WTP.
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Remote dredge simplifies lagoon cleanouts
DATE POSTED: July 27, 2018
Bishop Water gains remote dredge and simplifies lagoon cleanouts
A remote dredge has long played an important role in Bishop Water Technologies’ solids management solution. The dredge incorporates seamlessly into the collection and dewatering process since it pumps sludge directly into the Geotube® containers as a polymer system doses the sludge in-line. It also avoids decommissioning, draining and digging to reduce costs and disruption to the community.
Geo-Dredging and Dewatering Solutions is a key business partner for Bishop Water that provides turnkey sludge cleanout services. They have recently purchased the remote dredge. Bishop Water works with Geo-Dredging and Dewatering Solutions on projects to remove accumulated sludge that can significantly reduce the storage capacity of wastewater treatment lagoons.
Increase your lagoon capacity
Bishop Water’s approach uses a remote dredge while a lagoon remains in service. As a result, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can restore treatment capacity and accommodate increased plant flow. The remote dredge follows a cable across the lagoon, which ensures full coverage of the entire lagoon. During this process, an auger runs across the bottom and collects the sludge.
The Geotube® containers accepts and dewater solids as fast as the dredge can pump them in, therefore eliminating the additional time that conventional settling processes require. Bishop Water’s highly experienced and capable team can provide comprehensive services to design and install a Geotube® dewatering system of any size.
Learn more about Bishop Water’s solids management solution.
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Low energy dewatering solution minimizes carbon footprint
DATE POSTED: May 24, 2018
Low energy dewatering solution minimizes carbon footprint in Southeastern Ontario town
A town in southeastern Ontario has reduced the carbon footprint of its water treatment plant (WTP) by 30% over the last three years. How? By fitting it with Bishop Water’s low energy dewatering solution. Since the solution requires very little mechanical pumping, it resulted in a net carbon reduction by 105 tonnes, which is equivalent to the energy use of 11 homes.
In 2009, the town was exploring new onsite methods to treat and dewater process solids from the WTP. Bishop Water’s solids management solution was ultimately selected. Its simple, passive dewatering process uses significantly less energy during operations and has a smaller carbon footprint compared to conventional mechanical dewatering systems.
The TenCate carbon footprint calculator determined that the solids management solution uses about 72% less electricity compared to a belt press. About 84 kW is required to dewater 144 cubic metres of sludge over a 1.5-hour period using Bishop Water’s solids management solution. Comparatively, a belt press would need to use approximately 300 kW to dewater the same amount of sludge over a 5-hour period.
Natural dewatering process saves CO2
Three dewatering cells, each measuring 9 metres by 23 metres, were constructed to support three Geotube® containers. Suspended solids are first pumped into a 10,000-gallon (37,854-litre) polymerization tank and then into the high-strength TenCate Geotube® containers. In the final stage of the dewatering process, excess water drains from the containers through small pores in the geotextile fabric. This effectively dewaters and consolidates solids in a single step. Once treated, the high-quality filtrate is directed back to the headworks of the plant. Greatly reducing the solids loading into the plant ultimately improves effluent that is discharged to a nearby river.
Comparing carbon footprints
Understanding the carbon footprint of a dewatering solution plays an important role in realizing the energy required for its construction. The carbon footprint calculator includes extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and installation. Additionally it helps clients understand the minimal environmental impact of a dewatering system in operation.
There are many options and variables to consider when building a WTP. Carbon footprints can also differ dramatically from site to site. The carbon calculator can analyze each specific project to quantify the environmental impact of each approach.
Learn more about using Bishop Water’s solids management solution at a WTP.
Contact us to discuss dewatering options for your WTP.
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