Evaluation of effectiveness of coir Geotextiles for soil conservation

Abstract

Geotextile is a woven/non woven knitted structure of natural/synthetic textile fibres newlineused in various geotechnical, civil engineering and soil conservation applications. newlineApplication of coir geotextiles for soil erosion control assumes importance as the newlineability of coir fibres to absorb water, and its biodegradable nature. These are the prime newlineproperties that make it a good choice as an eco-friendly technology for erosion newlinecontrol. Through the literature, it is understood that, the efficacy of coir geotextiles for newlinevarious soil and water conservation applications was not studied systematically. newlineThough some attempts were made to study its engineering behavior while using it for newlinesoil conservation, an exhaustive study in the field applications are lacking. Through newlinethis research, it was intended to study the application of coir geotextiles in soil and newlinewater conservation and explore its possibility in detail by conducting experimental newlineresearch in field for slope stablisation, retaining wall, mulching and biodegradation. newlineThe study was carried out in four different slope intensities, with different treatment newlineconditions, with various combinations of coir geotextiles and crops. The study was newlinecarried out in the high land region of Kerala. Coir geotextiles of different mesh sizes newline(H2M8, H2M5, H2M6) were used to find out the efficacy of geotextiles in reducing newlinerunoff and soil loss under varying slopes, namely, 25%, 35%, 45% and 55%. Multi newlineslot divisors were used to measure the runoff from the plots. The effect of different newlinetypes of coir geotextiles on soil loss under various slopes, Soil and water erosion at newlinevarious slopes, Loss of organic matter and major nutrients, Total soil loss Intensity of newlinenatural vegetation were all observed and analysed. The study proves that, use of coir newlinegeotextiles on slope reduce soil loss by more than 90% and the time for stabilization newlineby 60%. Also it can increase the net cultivable area along the slope. newlineThe field study of coir reinforced retaining wall (2 m wide x 10 m long x 2 m high) newlinewas conducted at the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), newlineKudapanakunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, using corrugated asbestos panel as the facing newlineelement. newline