Coastal Protection Using Geosynthetic Containment Systems—An Indian Timeline

Maritime countries like India face serious coastal erosion issues. Over 1200 km of Indian coastline is identified as eroding. Unavailability and high cost of natural rocks remain as a major hindrance for construction of conventional hard options like breakwaters, seawalls and groynes. This has forced coastal engineers to find nature friendly and economical alternatives. Experiences from Australia, Germany and United States prove the efficacy of geotextile containment systems in coastal protection. This chapter aims at reviewing Indian examples of protection works using geosynthetic and geotextile containment systems from early 1980s. Geosynthetic protection structures include groynes, submerged reefs, seawalls and breakwaters. Benefits and difficulties in implementation of protection works are identified by reviewing prominent works conducted in the east and west coast of India. Experiences at Hamla, Dahanu and Pentha helped in replacing conventional structures with geotubes. Equilibrium beach profile is attained using near-shore geotube reef system at Hamla and Dahanu, Maharashtra, whereas reef constructed using geotextiles at Candolim, Goa suffered serious damage due to vandalism and toe scour. Geosynthetic systems along with gabions and rock armours improve the stability, wave dissipation and reflection characteristics as seen in Pentha, Odisha and Uppada, Andhra Pradesh. Lack of proper design criteria and deliberate destruction by vandals remains as the major threat. Countering these challenges, geosynthetic containment systems offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional coastal protection methods in India.