HydroTurf® Advanced Revetment Technology, submitted by Watershed Geosynthetics, Chattanooga, Tenn., received honorable mention in the End Product category. A unique, fiber-reinforced concrete armoring technology, HydroTurf is used to prevent erosion under severe hydraulic conditions.
It consists of a high-friction, structured geomembrane with an integrated drainage layer overlain by an engineered synthetic turf, which is infilled with high-strength concrete. The product provides benefits over traditional revetment solutions (i.e., rock riprap, concrete paving, articulated concrete block), including superior hydraulic performance; lower construction and maintenance costs; rapid, low impact and scalable installation; reduction in carbon footprint; and the aesthetics of natural turf.
Economical and eco-friendly, it offers erosion protection in applications that include levee overtopping, dam spillways, flood control and drainage channels, basins, shorelines and slopes. HydroTurf performance has been well documented through testing in laboratories and project applications.
By resisting severe, five-foot continuous overtopping flows, simulated 500 year (Category 5) hurricanes and 120 mph winds, it has established a new standard for the erosion-control industry. Currently, there are approximately 10 project installations in United States and Europe; 20 projects that will bid to install this year in the U.S. and Canada, and another 60 projects that are under consideration and design in North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East.
The U.S. Congress recently passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, a $12.3 billion bill that provides funding for levees and dams, both of which require revetment armoring, so it is conceivable that in three to five years HydroTurf will have a 5 percent market share and a 20 percent market share or better in the longer-term future.