Pipeline Support & Beach Nourishment, Tabasco, Mexico

Dos Bocas PEMEX marine facilities suffered progressive beach erosion which resulted in the loss of the sand foundation under the pipelines that lay within the surf zone.

Such problem jeopardized oil conduction and infrastructure’s integrity and increased the potential risk of pipeline failures which would have catastrophic economic and environmental consequences because the oil production and conveyance in the country highly depended on these pipes.

To deal with the said situation, ACETube^® geotextile tubes were used as the main material. Filled with in-situ sand, geotextile tubes were put underneath the pipelines to support them and were installed in the sea along the coastline of 1.9km as a submerged breakwater to reduce the wave energy and, therefore, nourish the beach.

Thanks to the flexibility and adaptation of ACETube^® in the marine environment, giving the pipelines a complete support and also representing the good quality performance as a breakwater without being damaged by the wave impact. The result of beach nourishment came out to be just as expected as the beach evolution surveys indicated.