Coastal Dune Protection, Las Coloradas, Mexico

This project is located in Las Coloradas, which is a natural protected area and environmentally important due to its biodiversity in Mexico. In 2005, there was a hurricane, Wilma, seriously affected the coastal dunes and beaches, and caused destructions to local economy and ecosystem especially in Las Coloradas.

Due to the destroyed coastal dunes, the lagoons which are used to produce salt and are major income source for that region were vanishing. Since the lagoons have an important economical benefit, protecting the region while offering an environmental and economical solution is vita.

To protect the region from further damages caused by hurricanes, ACE Geosynthetics has done an ACETube^® geotextile tubes application in cooperation with Axis Ingenieria and ML Ingenieria for Industria Salinera de Yucatan in Mexico. ACETube^® geotextile tubes, made of high tenacitypolypropylene yarns, are filled from a hopper to the filling ports with the pumping seawater and dumping sand from an excavator producing slurry as filling materials. Once ACETube^® are filled, they would be covered with sand to reach design height. Right after the construction is completed, dunes started natural vegetation’s growth.

Periodically the conditions of the tubes are checked and after the 2006 storm season from October through December, some parts are needed attention but don’t influence the safety of whole structure. In conclusion, the whole structure provided the well performance in the salt production lagoons protection without affecting coastal process and natural evolution of surrounding beaches. In terms of environmental impact which is a priority concern in every coastal project, the flexibility of ACETube^® geotextile tubes represents a great alternative after individual designed.