Van Oord successfully applies Atlantis tubes

Contracted by the Dutch Province of Friesland, Van Oord has successfully installed five Atlantis tubes in Lake IJsselmeer near Kornwerderzand.

The 340 metre long dam is part of the construction work for the Fish Migration River project.

Atlantis tubes are elongated bags made of specially developed plastic fabric which are filled with sand by dredging equipment.

They are derived from Geotube® technology and are made of extra strong plastic fabric that combines a high sand density with a high water permeability.

The storage capacity is up to 2,000 cubic metres of dredged material.

Thanks to this unique combination, it is now possible to use dredging equipment such as trailing suction hopper dredgers and cutter suction dredgers for the filling process.

During this process, the water flows through the textile and specially designed overflow valves to the exterior.

As a result the sand and sludge are compacted into a solid sand body.

The Atlantis tubes have a maximum length of 150 metres and a diameter of almost 5 metres.

Van Oord and Ten Cate Geosynthetics jointly developed the Atlantis tubes for use in hydraulic engineering projects worldwide.