--- title: "Uses of Geotextile bags" date: 2021-01-21 author: "Pawan Khatri" url: https://oceangeosynthetics.com/uses-of-geotextile-bags/ --- January 21, 2021 | [Geotextile](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/geotextile/), [Insights](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/insights/) # Uses of Geotextile bags **Geotextile bags** are made from woven or nonwoven geotextile, usually polypropylene or polyester. They are highly permeable and resist UV, puncture and abrasion, so they hold soil, sand, sediment and other granular fill in place while letting water drain through. That makes them useful wherever water and solids need to be separated on site, or where soil needs protecting from flowing water. Ocean’s own [geo bags](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geo-bags-manufacturers/) range covers woven and nonwoven types. **Geotextile bags can be used during construction of breakwaters,** for scour protection at the base of marine structures, to strengthen a coastline and prevent erosion, and as artificial dunes. They are known as “soft structures”: filled with local sand, they are less intrusive on the coastal habitat than rock, and they cost less where large rock or boulders are not available nearby. They are also used for land reclamation and marsh creation. Filled bags are laid in a ring, and the area inside is filled with soil or dredged material to extend the land surface offshore. For erosion control, geotextile bags are stacked along shorelines at an angle so they break up and dissipate wave energy, protecting the sand or soil behind them. This is used for island and beach preservation, river embankment protection or to protect individual waterfront properties. Bags can be made in sand-like colours so they blend in when finished, or covered with rock native to the area. A rock cover does not reduce their performance and makes the structure look less like construction. On river banks, geotextile bags are often stacked in steps. This stabilises the [soil](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/solution/soil-stabilisation-pavements/) and also lets plants grow back. Once the structure is in place and left undisturbed, vegetation uses it as a base, and hydroseeding is common to speed this up. Plant roots grow through the bags and into the soil beneath, binding the bank more tightly against erosion. This method is used mainly on river embankments. **Geotextile bags may also be paired with [gabion](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/gabions/) structures,** for example as a filled-bag core or toe behind or below gabions, so the structure can take the design loads where cobblestone or gravel for fill is scarce and an environmentally acceptable structure is needed. The technique is used for creek bank revetment and slope stability works. **Wastewater treatment** plants use larger geotextile containers to dewater sludge. Sludge, usually conditioned with a polymer so the solids flocculate, is pumped into the bag; the water drains out through the fabric under gravity while the solids stay inside. Dewatering itself needs no presses or centrifuges, which makes it a low-cost option for smaller plants and developing regions. When the bag is full and the solids have consolidated, it can be removed and disposed of, and in some cases the dewatered material is reused. Large units of this kind are sold as [geotube dewatering containers](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geo-tube/). **Another common use of geotextile bags has been for retention walls.** A retaining wall resists the lateral pressure of soil, either temporarily during construction or as a permanent structure. Filled bags have long been used in wartime to build trench walls and shelters. Geotextile bags are now used the same way for roadside soil retention and to stabilise structures on slopes. As with river banks, these walls are often hydroseeded when finished so that vegetation helps hold the soil. 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