The Innovative Eco Green Filter Unit Rockbag

Ridgeway have been distributing the innovative and bespoke Rockbags to the UK and Irish Civil Engineering Market since 2009. In 2022 Ridgeway have acquired the European rights to distribute Rockbags for use in offshore, marine and civil engineering works.

Ridgeway Rockbags have a proven track record for marine and civil engineering works. Made from 100% recycled material Rockbags are a unique system that has proven to be more environmentally friendly and cost effective compared to traditional scour protection methods. In 2009 Rockbags where established as an eco-green product designed for protecting bridge foundations and river embankments. Constructed from the unique form of knitting known as Raschel the product has proven to last a minimum of 30 years against UV and 50 years in saline water. Available in 3 sizes (2T, 4T & 8T) the system has dual membrane for advanced durability and strength to deal with the challenging nature of the marine environment.

Rockbags have many unique features, preparation of the product is a short process that requires reduced labour and machinery. Furthermore, in relation to installation the one-point lifting ring allows fast and accurate placement meaning overall the system significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to traditional waterway engineering methods. It is a highly flexible solution making Rockbags very adaptable to complex marine projects. Its flexibility allows the product to work with the undulating topography and bathymetry of the river bed this means that preparation prior installation is not required which reduces the levels of silt and sediment released into the river and the overall project cost. Due to their porous nature Rockbags are designed to withstand high velocities of flow making them an ideal solution for protecting river embankments during flooding events and repairing damaged embankments post flooding events. Its works by absorbing the energy and not deflecting or amplifying flows which would result in scouring being pushed further downstream. Their porous nature also offers a great boost to the benthic and aquatic life within the rivers. Floral and Fauna and small marine insects build up on the surface of the Rockbags and in between the stone crevices encouraging growth in the marine habitat. The application on the images shows the 2T Rockbags being applied to a scoured river embankment exposed to destructive flood waters during high rainfall events. The river embankment was adjacent to a major highway and over time flooding events would have eroded and weakened the riverbank further. A total of 260 x 2T Rockbags were installed over a period of 5 nights and the bags were installed using the hi ab of a container lorry with additional support from a water safety team. Ridgeway used a local quarry to prefill the bags and transport them to site which offered our client a more carbon friendly solution.