This technology is a concrete block for revetments featuring a hexagonal concrete frame with open top and bottom, drainage slits on the sides, and an interior divided by equilateral triangular embankments filled with a porous, permeable bio-material made of plant-based polyurethane. Multiple frames are connected like a honeycomb to be installed as a cluster.
Conventional methods of installing blocks side-by-side on coastal, levee, or reservoir revetments and cut-and-fill slopes were prone to differential settlement and partial detachment due to a lack of integration between blocks. Furthermore, standard concrete hindered vegetation, damaging the landscape and ecosystem. Rainwater and seawater could not permeate, increasing runoff during the rainy season and accelerating erosion. Existing vegetated perforated blocks also suffered from weak inter-block bonding, leading to lateral displacement, settlement, and poor workability due to their heavy weight.
This technology reinforces the interior by arranging equilateral triangular embankments so that their three vertices meet at a single point in the center of the frame. The entire cluster is unified by inserting first interlocking blocks into the angular spaces created where two frames meet, and second interlocking blocks where three frames meet. These interlocking blocks are also open at the top and bottom, ensuring continuous drainage. Suitable for coastal industrial zone revetments, river levees, reservoir slopes, and road embankments behind beaches, this system allows water to pass through even in areas with frequent wave run-up and overtopping, while keeping the block cluster intact to prevent erosion and soil loss.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Education for the development of eco-friendly permeable bio-concrete blocks.
N/A
