Riverbank erosion protection with woven geobags in Sungai Choh, Malaysia

Overview

The housing developments near Sg. Choh in Selangor, Malaysia experiences high surface runoff, causing a significant increase in the river's water volume. This has led to severe erosion along approximately 200 m (656 ft) of the riverbank, posing a risk of collapse.

To address this issue, the Malaysian Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DDI) assessed various erosion protection methods and selected a combination of gabions and large geobags as the preferred solution. GEOTUBE^® GT350M31 woven Geobags were chosen due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of filling and handling.

GEOTUBE GT350M31 Geobags

To ensure durability during installation, every GEOTUBE GT350M31 Geobag undergoes rigorous fabrication and testing to withstand installation stresses without bursting. These geobags are made from heavy-duty woven tapes and sewn to withstand rough handling. The fabric used in manufacturing the bags retains soil particles even under varied hydraulic, dynamic, and abrasive stresses.

Solution

Before installing the geobags, the targeted river section was trimmed, and a layer of MIRAFI^® Polyfelt^® filter geotextile was placed over the prepared soil. The geobags were then laid in an overlapping shingle style to maximize embankment stability. Solmax provided a simple filling frame to the sub-contractor for efficient filling, and nylon lifting straps were used to position the bags.

Once laid, the bags were covered with soil, compacted, and protected by a layer of PROPEX^® Polymat^® Erosion Protection matting. The matting was filled with soil, followed by hydoseeding. To shield the hydrosed from rain, a light dusting of topsoil was applied to the surface.