Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical Conference

December 22-24,2013, Roorkee

USE OF JUTE GEOTEXTILES IN ROAD, RIVER AND SLOPE STABILIZATION

P. Kumar Choudhury, Project Coordinator, National Jute Board Kolkata, jutegeotech@gmail.com
Tapobrata Sanyal, Chief Consultant, National Jute Board Kolkata, jutegeotech@gmail.com
ABSTRACT: Depleting petroleum reserves and deteriorating environment have prompted consultants and endusers to look for environment-friendly alternatives for use in civil engineering constructions in general where
feasible. It is for these reasons Jute Geotextiles (JGT), a natural variant of geotextiles, are finding greater
acceptability because of price-competitiveness as well as conformity to precise technical requirements. JGT has
been used for strengthening roads, controlling erosion of river banks and stabilizing slopes of embankments and in
hills. In fact open weave JGT, popularly known as soil saver, is the most sought-after fabric for surficial soil
erosion control in the developed countries.
The paper highlights the special features of jute that make it distinctive in soil-related applicability with special
reference to India. Comparison of properties and performance evaluation of JGT vis--vis other geotextiles have
also been highlighted.

INTRODUCTION
Jute, a natural, eco-friendly biodegradable and
annually renewable bast fibre grows abundantly in
India particularly in eastern and north eastern part
of the country . Two varieties of jute fibres like
white and tossa are available in the country. In
India average annual production of jute is of the
order of 1.8 million MT with sacking bag being the
potent product. Jute industry in India is one of the
oldest agro-industries in the world. More than 0.7
million people are dependent on jute production, its
manufacture and marketing for their livelihood.
Ingress of man-made polymers is posing threats to
the jute industry which is why diversification of
jute products has become an imperative necessity.
Indian Jute Industries Research Association
(IJIRA), a premier R & D organization in India has
developed a number of jute diversified products
including Jute Geotextile (JGT) through extensive
research and development work utilizing the
intrinsic properties of jute fibres such as, high
initial tensile strength, low extensibility, high water
absorbency, excellent drapability and spinnability (
Table -1). Different types of JGT namely, woven,
non-woven, open weave, pre-fabricated vertical
jute drain (PVJD) etc. have been developed by
IJIRA with the support of NJB. Laboratory study
followed by successful field applications in road

construction, river bank erosion control, slope

stabilization, control of railway track settlement
etc. has established the efficacy of JGTs. It is
relevant to mention that all geotextiles act as
change agents to soil for improvement of its
engineering performance and for that matter its
long term durability is not a technical necessity.
Bio-degradability is therefore both a technical and
environmental advantage. It is quite unfortunate
that there is still a misconcept among the engineers
that JGT is effective only for a short duration for
road or any infrastructural work. In fact JGT last
for a short period of time but its effect on
enhancing performance of soil property continues
for longer time. Thus the objective of using JGT is
fulfilled which has been proved through number
successful
field
applications.
Man-made
geotextiles are environmentally questionable
despite their longer durability. The stress all over
the world is now on adopting bio-engineering
measures to address soil-related problems in civil
engineering. Depletion of petroleum reserves and
deteriorating environment in the planet should
make JGT more attractive to the end-users. This
article indicates the salient properties of jute fibre
and JGT along with references to a few case
studies undertaken mainly in the north eastern
states of the country substantiating efficacy of the
products.
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P. Kumar Choudhury & Tapobrata Sanyal

JUTE, THE GOLDEN FIBRE

Jute, known as a golden fibre for its gold-like
texture, is a unique textile grade lingo-cellulosic
fibre. Its main chemical constituents are alfa
cellulose ( 62 %) , hemicelluloses (24 %) , lignin
(12%) and others ( 2 %). Its high tenacity (3 5
g/d), low elongation at break (1.4%) and high
moisture content (13%) at 65% RH hold an edge
over other fibres used for manufacturing
geotextiles (Table-1,2A & 2B mentioned in
Appendix I)
Table 2A in Appendix I shows that tenacity (
strength ) of jute fibre which is well comparable
with that of man made fibres like, polyester and
polypropylene etc.while elongation at break of
jute is much less than that of man made fibres
which are advantageous features for jute. Thermal
property of jute is also an advantageous feature as
compared to the man made fibres.
Further, Table 2B in Appendix I shows the
advantageous features of jute like, tensile strength,
elongation%, modulus etc. as compared to other
natural fibres.
JUTE GEOTEXTILE (JGT)
JGT is a permeable textile fabric available in
woven, non-woven and open weave forms used in
or on soil to improve its engineering performance.
Woven JGT perfoms the functions of separation,
filtration, initial re-enforcement and drainage when
used in the interface of road sub-grade and subbase, thereby helps soil consolidation and increases
the CBR%. Woven JGT overlain with non woven
JGT when applied on the surface of weak
formation arrest scope of infringement of ballasts
into the soil bellow and also allow passage of
precipitation along the plane of the fabric thereby
keeps the soil dry and tight and ultimately check
the possibility of settlement of railway tracks.
Properly designed woven JGT with appropriate
porometry ( O95) treated with suitable additives is
used as filter material in river bank protection. Non
woven JGT is an ideal material for drainage and
filtration hence it is suitable as trench drain or
cross drain particularly in hilly roads. Prefabricated
Vertical Jute Drain has been found to be highly
effective in accelerated consolidation of soft soil.

TYPES
OF
JGTs
AND
THEIR
SPECIFICATIONS
JGT is a tailor-made product. Site- specific
products can be manufactured depending upon
end-use requirements. Stronger (40kN/m) and
wider (up to 5 m) fabric with finer porometry (100
micron) can easily be produced utilizing the
existing machinery capacity of the jute industry in
the country. In the recent past two new varieties of
DW Plain weave JGT like, 627gsm of 20 kN/m
and 724 gsm of 25 kN/m have been developed for
use in river bank protection work and road
construction work respectively which are cost
effective and technically suitable for their specific
uses. However, specifications of some of the JGTs
developed by IJIRA and used in the fields under
the technical guidance of NJB /IJIRA are given as
reference in the Tables 3,4,5,6,7,8 in Appendix II.
APPLICATIONS OF JGT:
Demand of above specified JGTs are increasing
very fast for their various applications within the
country. As of now total number of applications in
different sectors as per record available is road
construction 40 + , river bank protection- 47+,
slope stabilization 48 + , railways 9+ etc.
Among the above number of field applications
carried out with JGT general findings based on
some of the cases in India are discussed below.
Road Construction
In all the field applications in roads, it has been
observed that sub-grades, despite being expansive,
experienced increase in CBR in the range of 1.5 to
3.0 times the control value. As soil consolidation
is a time-dependant process, with the passage of
time CBR shows a sustained rise even after a
period of 8/9 years. For example a PMGSY road,
Andulia to Bairatala at 24 Parganas ( N ) was
constructed with JGT . BESUS evaluated the
performance of the study. The Subgrade CBR was
increased from 2.22 to 12 % within a span of 18
months. Void ratio and compression index of It
was observed that the sub-grade soil registered a
downward trend while its dry density increased. In
most of these road applications, woven JGT having
tensile strength of 20 kN/m to 25 kN/m were used.
In busy and heavy roads use of woven JGT of
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Use of jute geotextiles in road, river and slope stabilization

higher tensile strength (30 kN/m) and above may

be called for.
Slope Stabilization
Open weave JGT was used for stabilization of
slopes in hills and embankments followed by
creation of vegetative cover that protects the slopes
from destabilization on bio-degradation of JGT. In
almost all case studies, the yield of vegetation
improved by around 5 times the usual yield (Kg
per ha.) after 3 years of plantation. For example,
destabilized slope of Shashradhara at Uttarakhand,
Sonapur land slide at Meghalaya etc. Moisture
conservation, reduction of the velocity of surface
run-off and quality improvement of soil were in
evidence in all the applications The extent of
improvement of soil character depends on selection
of the vegetation, soil type and climatic features.
The choice of open weave JGT (500 gsm or above)
depends on the amount and intensity of
precipitation, and gradient of slope.
River Bank Protection
Woven JGT treated with additive was used in all
application related to erosion control in river and
waterways. This was done with a view to
protecting JGT yarns from direct exposure to
water. Moreover, time of bank soil consolidation
in river depend on the nature of flow (two way or
one way), existence of vortices at the toe of the
bank slope and other hydraulic factors. In the tidal
reach of a river (e.g., the Hugli in West Bengal,
India), mangrove implant was tried to add to the
strength of the bank soil through its roots. In non
tidal reaches (one way flow), usual boulder rip rap
was used. Some of the works worth mention are
river Hugli, river Fulahar, Mazuli island etc. The
bank protection work at river Fulahar was done as
followsThe outfall of river Fulahar in the Ganga is situated
in the Malda District, West Bengal near
Mathurapur (35 km from Malda Town). River
Fulahar takes a bend at a distance of 1.50
kilometers from the outfall. The concave left
bank was subjected to heavy erosion during the
monsoon due to flood. On the opposite side of
river Fulahar there is a big land-form (Bhutni Char)
that has emerged within the Ganga and is strongly

covered with protective measures. The excess

flood water at the mouth of narrower Fulahar in its
outfall in the Ganga caused severe bank erosion
engulfing chunks of land planted with valuable
mango orchard. In the vulnerable stretch of 750
meters on the concave bend of the river Fulahar
construction of a flood embankment with the use of
Jute Geotextile was undertaken in the year 2004
after the monsoon. Irrigation & Waterways
Department, Govt. of West Bengal took up the
work. A toe wall with stone boulders filled in
sausage wire net gabion was laid to control erosion
at the toe of the embankment. The bank soil was
made up of fine sand (d50-0.175 mm). Co-efficient
of soil permeability was 10-4 per second. The bank
slope above toe wall was prepared to 2:1 slope and
bitumen-treated Jute Geotextile was laid over it.
Armour of 450 mm thickness with granite stone
boulders in two layers was placed over the fabric.
Stone boulders in sausage wire netting crate 600
mm thick was laid abutting toe wall for a length of
21.50 meters on the river bed. The treated stretch
of the affected bank is in a fine shape and order
after five years of remedial measures undertaken
with JGT. Vegetation has come up on the voids of
stone boulder armour indicating signs of
stabilization of bank soil.
Use of JGT in river bank protection proved to be
an effective alternative to conventional method of
granular overlay on the eroded bank in respect of
capital investment and recurring maintenance cost.
Normally, 1 to 2 years is observed to be adequate
for optimizing bank soil consolidation in
unidirectional rivers and 2 to 3 years for tidal
rivers.
FURTHER R & D WORK
IJIRA & NJB are jointly continuing extensive
R&D activities to develop newer varieties of such
products with improved physical, mechanical and
hydraulic properties like strong, durable and costeffective fabrics for various applications which are
technically suitable and manufacture friendly.
About two years back two new varieties of light
weight JGT i.e., 627 gsm ( 20 kn/m )and 724 gsm
( 25 kN/m) DW Plain weave without impairing the
basic properties of the products have been
developed by IJIRA . Application of the said
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P. Kumar Choudhury & Tapobrata Sanyal

products has taken off recently in river bank

protection work and road construction works.. NJB
has also entrusted IJIRA and IIT kharagpur to
develop the durable JGT treated with natural
additive. Initial results are found to be encourasing
and cost effective.
INFERENCE
In the case studies presented above, Jute Geotextile
was found to have performed as expected, having
executed the basic functions in three different
applications in civil engineering. The case studies
confirmed that Jute Geotextile principally acted as
catalyst or as change agent in improving the
engineering performance of soil. Improvement was
achieved basically as a result of ridding of the soil
of the entrapped water usually in plastic soils, on
the one hand and retention of fines on the other
(filtration function). JGT also acted as a drain
within its own thickness. Its inherent capacity of
water absorption helped in lateral dispersion of
water. Design of porometry assumes significance
in this respect. Retention of fines and permittivity
act under contrasting porometric parameters.
Experience plays a big role in deciding the right
porometry on the basis of the appropriate
established empirical relations. The installation
stresses were absorbed by high initial strength of
JGT.
Durability of JGT beyond two season cycles was
found not a technical necessity, as soil on reaching
the maximum dry density becomes self-reliant and
independent of the functions of any Geotextile. In
fine JGT can, to a large extent, reduce concerns
for polluting environment in their respective

applications. Techno-economically the products

have been found to be highly effective, the cost of
the
products
are
available
in
sitewww.jutegeotech.com .These jute diversified
products-more aptly technical textiles-fit in with
the emerging global trend in adopting eco-friendly
as well as bio-engineering measures and deserve
bigger support from sensible end-users.
REFERENCE :
1. Choudhury, P. K. Chatterjee, P. K. and Dutta,
U. 1999 A Low Tech. Approach for Forests.
1st Asia Pasific Conference on Water &
Bioengineering for erosion control & slope
stabilization.
2. Juyal, G. P. and Dadhwal, K.S.. 1996. Geojute
for erosion control with special reference to
mine-spoil rehabilitation. Indian Journal of Soil
Conservation, Vol.24,
3. Ramaswamy, S.D. and Aziz, M.A. 1989. Jute
Geostextile
for Roads. International
Workshops on Geotextiles,
4. Rao, P. J Bindumadhava & Venisiri, N. 1998
Construction of Highway Embankment on Soft
Marine Soil using Jute Geotextile. 6th
International Conference on Geo-synthetics.
5. Sanyal,T. 1992 Control of Bank Erosion
Naturally A Pilot Project in Nayachara Island
in the River Hugli. National Workshop on Role
of Geosynthetics in Water Resources Projects.
6. Sanyal, T. & Choudhury, P.K. 2003.
Prevention of Railway Track Subsidence with
Jute Geotextile A Case study under Eastern
Railway. Workshop on Applications of
Geosynthetics in Infrastructure Projects.

APPENDIX I
Table- 1: Chemical Composition of White and Tossa Jute Fibres
Constituent
Cellulose
Lignin
Hemicellulose

White jute
60.0 63.0
12.0 - 13.0
21.0 - 24.0

Tossa jute
58.0 59.0
13.0 14.0
22.0 - 25.0

Fats and waxes

Proteins or nitrogenous matter etc. (%
nitrogen 6.25)

0.4 - 1.0
0.8 - 1.87

0.4 - 0.9
0.8 - 1.56

Pectins
Mineral matter (Ash)

0.2 0.5
0.7 1.2

0.2 - 0.5
0.5 1.2

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Use of jute geotextiles in road, river and slope stabilization

Table- 2A: Comparative properties of jute and man-made fibres

Sl.
Properties
Jute
Polyester
No.
01. Specific gravity
1.48
1.38

0.91

02.

Tenacity, g/d

03.

Breaking
0.8 to 2
7 to 37
Elongation, %
Elastic recovery,
75 to 85
57 to 99
%
Moisture content,
12.5 to 13.8
0.4
at 65% R.H. and
270C.
Effect of heat
It does not melt. Up to 1800C Sticks at 1800C
there is no major wt. loss and and Melts at 2300
tenacity loss. However hemi 2400C
cellulose degrades around 2930C
and other constituents at higher
temperature.

04.
05.

06.

3 to 5

Polypropylene

2 to 9.2

2.5 to 5.5
17
75 to 95
0.01
Softens at 1430
1540C, melts
1600C
decomposes
2880C

Table- 2B: Comparison of properties of jute fibre with other natural fibres
Fibre
Density
Tensile
Youngs
Elongation
Specific
(g/cm3)
Strength
Modulus
At break
Tensile
(MPa)
(GPa)
(%)
Strength
(MPa/ g.cm-3)
Jute
1.3 1.45
393 773
13 26.5
1.16 1.5
286 562
Flax
1.5
345 1100
27.6
2.7 3.2
230 773
Ramie
1.5
400 938
61.4 128
1.2 3.8
267 625
Sisal
1.45
468 640
9.4 22.0
37
323 441
Coir
1.15
131 175
4-6
15 40
114 152

at
&
at

Specific
Youngs
Modulus
(GPa / g.cm-3)
9 19
18
41 85
6 15
3-5

APPENDIX II
TABLE - 3 : Woven Jute Geotextile 15, 20 kN/m
Sl.
No

Nomenclature

Woven
15 kN/m

Woven
20 kN/m

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Construction
Corrected mass ( gsm) at 20% MR
Recommended roll length(m)
Width min(cm)
Ends / dm(indicative)
Picks/dm (indicative)
Thickness, (mm) at 2 kPa
Tensile Strength (KN/m) min. MD x CD
Elongation at break (%) min
MD x CD
Puncture Resistance (kN) min
Burst Strength (Kpa) min
Permittivity at 50mm constant head ( per sec )
A O S ( micron ) O95

DW Twill Weave
643 (+7%,-5%
100
200,+3%
76 +4,- 2
31+2,-1
1.7+10%
15 x 15
6x6
0.400
3100
350 x 10-3
200

Twill Weave
760 (+7%,-5%)
100
200,+3%
102 +4,- 2
39+2,-1
1.85+10%
20 x 20
8x8
0.500
3500
350 x 10-3
180

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P. Kumar Choudhury & Tapobrata Sanyal

TABLE 4: Newly Designed And Developed Dw Plain Weave Jgt

Nomenclature
Construction
Weight (gsm)
Width (cm)
Ends x Picks / dm
Thickness, (mm at 2 kPa)
Tensile Strength (kN/m)
MD x CD
Elongation at break (%)
MDx CD
Puncture Resistance(kN)
Burst Strength (KPa)
Permittivity at 50mm constant head (
/second)
A O S ( micron ) O95

Woven JGT 20 kN/m

DW Plain Weave
627
100
85 x 32
1.7
20 x 20
8x8
0.400
3100

Woven JGT 25 kN/m

DW Plain Weave
724
100
94 x 39
1.85
25 x 25
10 x 10
0.500
3500

350 x 10-3

350 x 10-3

150 - 400

150 - 400

TABLE 5 : Stronger (40 Kn/M) And Wider Jgt

Type of weave
Width of fabric (cm)
Weight of fabric ( gsm)
Ends x Picks/dm
Tensile Strength of fabric-MD x CD ( kN/m)
Porometry (095)
TABLE 6 : Open Weave Jgt
Properties
Weight (gm/sq.metre)
Threads/dm (MD X CD)
Thickness (mm)
Width (cm)
Open Area (%)
Strength (kN/metre) (MD X CD)
Water holding capacity on dry weight
(%)
TABLE 7 : Nonwoven Jute Geotextiles
Properties
Weight (gm/sq.m)
Thickness (mm)
Width (cm)
Strength (kN/metre) MD x CD
Elongation at break (%) MD x CD
Porometry (O90) (micron)
PermittivityCo-efficient (metre/sec)

Plain
200
900
49 x 49
41 x 46.2
120

Type 1

Type 2

Type 3

292
12 x 12
3
122
60
10 x 10
400

500
6.5 x 4.5
5
122
50
10 x 7.5
500

730
7x7
7
122
40
12 x 12
500

Type 1

Type 2

500
4
150
4x5
8 x 10
500
3.4 x 10 -3

1000
8
150
6x7
8 x 10
300
3.4 x 10 4

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Use of jute geotextiles in road, river and slope stabilization

TABLE 8 : Prefabricated Vertical Jute Drain (Pvjd)

Properties

Width ( mm )
Thickness (mm )
Strength ( kN / 100 mm )
Porometry of sheath ( O 90) (micron )
Discharge capacity at 50 kPa ( litre / sec )

Type
(Jute sheath with Coir wick)
100 / 85
5
45
300
13

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