Permanent and nature-friendly erosion protection of banks

The Netherlands is a water country with many thousands of kilometers of banks. To protect these banks from erosion, all kinds of measures are taken. Gert Meijers of the company Meizon from Middelburg swears by the permanent erosion protection mat Enkamat^® A20 as nature-friendly erosion protection. A product that is very easy to install, grows rapidly and has a seemingly endless life span.

Meizon is a supplier of materials for civil engineering and has many decades of experience with the product Enkamat^® A20. "It is an economically very interesting product because of its extremely long lifespan," Gert knows. "Banks that were fitted with this permanent erosion protection mat in 1985 still look beautiful. The material is extremely resistant to fluctuating water levels and is therefore widely used here in Zeeland. Enkamat^® A20 always retains its function, no other material can compete with that."

High durability

Maarten Broens of Enka Solutions also sees that Enkamat^® A20 is still used for the same application in a changing market. "There are different demands on products today, but because of its unique properties, Enkamat has^® A20 has an incredibly high level of durability. Especially when you consider both the long lifespan and the effective character. Enkamat prevents immediate and permanent erosion damage, grows through quickly and completely and ensures that you do not have to repair the waterline with heavy equipment every time. Once installed, replacement is no longer necessary. It also provides additional protection during maintenance work. If an embankment is mowed too short, damage can occur that can turn into erosion. With Enkamat^® A20 excluded. In multi-year maintenance of watercourses, Enkamat^® A20 so many sustainability gains to be made. Enkamat^® A20 is an open 3D polyamide mat, pre-filled with granules bound with a small fraction of bitumen. Research has shown that the product does not leach."

Reusable

Today, there are many alternatives on the market based on biodegradable raw materials, but none comes even close to the performance of Enkamat, according to Gert^® A20. "The changing water levels in particular are disastrous for any other product. The natural vegetation simply can't take over then, because it doesn't survive. Then you are back to square one with a biodegradable product after a few years." It is true that Enkamat^® A20 a seemingly infinite life, yet as part of circularity, Enka Solutions conducted a trial in 2021 to investigate potential reuse. "A piece of bank was excavated containing the erosion protection mat. It turned out to be completely overgrown with organic material," Maarten knows. "We then separated the mat, the split with bitumen fraction, the organic material and the soil and performed analyses on this. It was determined that the residual material can be perfectly reused again."

"We are convinced of the advantages that our product offers with regard to sustainability," says Maarten. "But within the changing spirit of the times, we are of course exploring new components for future Enkamat^® product variants. The unique long-term functionality of Enkamat^® remains the starting point."

Enka Solutions

Enkamat^® is part of the Enka Solutions portfolio of geosynthetics for civil engineering and construction. In addition to solutions for erosion protection of water courses, Enka Solutions also offers products for horizontal and vertical drainage applications,
vibration damping, soil stabilization, soil consolidation and erosion protection of dry embankments. Enka Solutions experts guide projects as required from feasibility study to installation.

Enka Solutions is a brand of Freudenberg.