Comparative of material properties between natural fibers and geo-bag synthetic fibers as sustainable material of temporary structure in natural coastal protection systems

Abstract

The natural coastal protection system is a proposed solution to the coastal erosion problem, including in Indonesia’s coastal areas, which combines primary natural protection (vegetation such as mangroves) and temporary artificial structures as sustainable coastal development practices. The geo-bag-dike was chosen as a possible temporary structure to protect the growth of mangrove seedlings from sea waves for about two to five years before they are strong enough to prevent erosion. In today’s practice, the geo-bag-dike is made of polymeric synthetic fibers (nonwoven geo-bag), which take a relatively long time to degrade naturally. Thus, this study focused on finding sustainable alternative materials from natural fibers, such as lyocell (Tencel), kenaf, cotton, and rayon, that can be applied as the primary material of geo-bag-dikes by comparing their material properties to nonwoven geo-bag. The results of the laboratory testing method show that kenaf textile has the highest values of tensile and tearing strength, but not higher than nonwoven geo-bags (768 N, 1080 N, and 2140 N for the tensile strength of kenaf, local nonwoven geo-bag, and imported nonwoven geo-bag, respectively). Therefore, kenaf textiles have the potential as a sustainable alternative material. By extrapolating, it is necessary to increase the layer number of kenaf textiles to at least three layers of fabric to resemble the tensile strength of nonwoven geo-bags.