River bank erosion control using coir geotextiles

River bank erosion occurs due to detachment of grains from the bank, followed by fluvial entrainment and causes large amount of losses in terms of human life, property, agriculture, and other utilities. Coir geotextiles are now being used as popular solution for erosion control, slope stabilization and bio engineering. In the present work, physical model studies were conducted on an undistorted river model to determine the efficacy of coir geotextiles as a river bank protection measure. Experiments were conducted with woven geotextile mat and cocolog along with woven coir geotextile mat, placed on the river banks. Cocologs are long knotted coir nettings filled with coir fibres. Erosion patterns were observed for different discharges and the cross section changes at different sections for different discharges were plotted. Geotextile mat acted as check damsand arrested the migration of soil particles from the river banks. Placement of cocologs reduced river bank erosion by absorbing water and reducing the velocity of flow by acting as a semipervious media.