Innovative wool geotextiles designed for erosion protection

Abstract

Innovative geotextiles built from meandrically arranged thick ropes were produced. For the production of the geotextiles, the strips of woollen nonwoven were used. The segments of the geotextiles were installed on the bank of a drainage ditch. The behaviour of the geotextiles during 1 year was observed. It was demonstrated that the geotextiles installed in the ditch provide immediate protection of the bank. In the soil-covered wool, the process of slow biodegradation was initiated. Because of a low biodegradation rate at the end of the growing season, when the protective vegetation was not well developed, the geotextiles maintained their protective potential. In the following months, the biodegradation led to further destruction of wool fibres. During the biodegradation, the organic compounds rich in nitrogen were released into the soil. In spring, at the beginning of new growing season, the compounds acted as effective fertilizers, promoting the growth of protective vegetation. The vegetation growing on the bank provided an effective protection and took over the protective function of the geotextiles.

Jute bioblanket as a soil rehabilitation strategy in Sorocaba, Brazil: Soil chemistry and SWOT approaches

“…This strategy was also used to control soil erosion in gully areas in Sao Luis in Brazil (Guerra, Bezerra, Fullen, Mendonça, & Jorge, ), and on embankments of roads in the Hyrcanian forest in Iran (Lotfalian, Babadi, & Akbari, ). The use of geotextiles to control soil erosion rates was also explored using innovative wool geotextiles (Broda et al., ). In addition, hydroseeding contributes to reduce soil losses, as we have shown in this research.…”

Biodegradation of Sheep Wool Geotextiles Designed for Erosion Control

“…Basic characteristic of the experimental sites is presented in Table 1. More details concerning the site characteristic and installation procedure were presented in the previous publications [60][61][62][63][64][65].…”

Modification and Properties of Cellulose Nonwoven Fabric—Multifunctional Mulching Material for Agricultural Applications

“…In soil cultivation, various types of textile crop covers, ranging from nets, fabrics and nonwovens to films, are playing a very important role. Their main task is to eliminate weed infestation, reduce soil evaporation or protect the soil against erosion and leaching of minerals as a result of heavy rains [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Crop covers are mainly made of synthetic, petroleum-based polymers, such as polyethylene, polypropylene or polyester, which, depending on what is needed from them, are dyed black, white or green [ 4 , 5 ].…”