APPLICATION OF A BITUMEN-COATED JUTE GEOTEXTILE IN BANK-PROTECTION-WORKS IN THE HOOGHLY ESTUARY

Synthetic geotextiles have already been widely used in bank-protection works but are too costly to be used on a larger scale in developing c ountries. That is why an indigenous jute geotextile, comparatively muc h cheaper and easily available, has been substituted in bank-protectio n works on the Hooghly estuary in the state of West Bengal, India. Thi s estuary is plagued by eroding banks of submerged sand flats and nume rous unstable islands, one of which is Nayachara Island. The western f ace of this island has been undergoing severe erosion, leading to dete rioration of the navigable channel that leads to the port of Haldia.