Invited Lecture: Application Geosynthetics in the Construction of Sea Dike and Shore Protection

Geotextile tube technology has changed from being an alternative construction technique and, in fact, has advanced to become the most effective solution of choice. Erosion problems in coastal zones become increasingly serious due to the development of artificial activities related to the expansion of city functions, industrial complexes and harbour facilities. In addition, the environmental and economical importance of the coastal beach zones is increased. However, coastal beach zones are constantly eroded by waves accompanied with the rising water level due to storm surges, hurricanes, winter storm impact, and high tide. This erosion motion accelerates the regression of the coastal cliff due to the regression of the dunes or the shoreline. In addition, the regression leads to loss of real estate in the hinterland and ruins the shock-absorbing zone between land and sea. Therefore, the destruction of the dunes may lead to a loss of the habitat or egglaying grounds of living creatures. In addition, the erosion motion of coastal beach zones destroys the living sites of inhabitants who live in coastal beach zones, and the erosion problem harms the local economy by decreasing the number of visitors. The sea dikes can be easily damaged by the attack of seismic sea wave (Tsunami) due to massive earthquake like the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. For these reasons, concern is increasing for the protection of coastal line. When implementing such construction works in South Korea, it’s not easy to find the ground that has quality soil condition. So, it’s required to develop construction method that can use the territory in poor soil condition efficiently and the projects on maximization of territory use by using geotextile and efficient improvement and protection of river bank through a variety of studies. Among them, geosynthetics improvement method is widely used as revetment and surface slope protection improvement method.