Large-Scale Investigations of Geotextile Sandcontainers Used for Scour Protection of Offshore Monopiles Supporting Wind Energy Turbines

An innovative scour protection for monopile structures was proposed by using geotextile sand containers in a research programme started recently. Large-scale model tests on the stability of such alternative scour protection are being performed in the Large Wave Channel (GWK) of the Coastal Research Centre (FZK). First results are reported from basic test series performed with single geotextile sand containers and container groups with different container weights, varied in sizes and percentages of filling. Further an empirical approach on the stability of sand containers is estimated as a first approximation from the results.