Easily Installed, Durable Armoring System Protects Berm and Reduces Long-Term Maintenance Costs

Easily Installed, Durable Armoring System Protects Berm and Reduces Long-Term Maintenance Costs


Refineries, manufacturers and other industrial facilities face a wealth of ever-changing local, state, and federal regulations. Routinely, these facilities are pressured to update their stormwater, erosion control and soil stabilisation infrastructure to increase the quality of storm water discharged and to minimise any potential interruptions they may cause to the daily operations of the facility. Of course, updating these systems means taking on installation costs and potential operations interruptions, among other ancillary issues. 

Determining the most cost-effective solution for updating these systems can become tricky when also facing considerations such as installation time, overall product performance, impact to the surrounding facility, maintenance requirements, future expansion possibilities and functional longevity. Environmental, health and safety concerns, both during and after installation, can impact overall costs and therefore must be factored into considerations.

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The earthen berm construction between the construction laydown and additional company facilities.

One such example of a facility working through similar infrastructure improvements is the BP Cherry Point Refinery in Ferndale, Washington. One of the recent requirements during construction was to build a long-term laydown area for construction activities. 

The dimensional requirements of the berm structure required it to be approximately 25 feet tall with 1.5:1 slopes. 

Install Detail copy

A crew member applies an adhesive to the Concrete Cloth during installation.

The steep slope soils were susceptible to potentially aggressive surface erosion, which meant the berm would require protection of its own. Any armoring solution would not only need to offer an economical value but also need to be low-maintenance and able to resist high water flow.

When considering solutions, several options were evaluated including rip-rap, shotcrete and other hard armor systems.  To select the best solution, the evaluation included overall cost, performance, long term maintenance, time of installation, minimum disturbance to surrounding areas and ability to adapt/modify to field conditions during construction. 

Eventually BP, along with its design consultant Anvil Corporation, chose Concrete Cloth™ GCCM, a product manufactured by Milliken Infrastructure Solutions (MIS). Concrete Cloth™ material is a three-dimensional flexible cement-impregnated fabric that hardens after hydration to form a durable concrete layer.  Some specific performance characteristics of Concrete Cloth™ are: flame resistance, permissible shear < 25 lbs/ft2, compressive strength over 4,000 psi and an initial set time of 2 hours after applying water for hydration.

MIS and its local distributor, ACF West, supported the designers and provided details regarding seaming, installing percussion earth anchors and anchor trenching to ensure the product would meet and exceed its anticipated performance requirements. These details were key to the installation process to minimise long term erosion caused by the harsh, wet climate of Washington State.

Western Refinery Services Inc. (WRS) of Ferndale, Washington, was chosen as the contractor to construct and armor the slope. The newly constructed berm consisted of placing, compacting and shaping imported soils. WRS then armored the slope using 27,300 square feet of Concrete Cloth material, held in place with 1,850 percussion anchors. The structure was a permanently stabilised slope face and swale upon completion that fulfilled the previously stated considerations of updating any similarly large facility. The erosion control solution applied to the berm will not require mowing, periodic resealing or any other maintenance and will protect against surface erosion and rodent/pest intrusion, which means little to no operational interruptions in the future.

Finding solutions for facility improvements can be tough when fighting against ever-changing regulations and tight budgetary constraints. However, it’s comforting to know that solutions do exist and can be integrated without causing havoc to daily or future operations of the facility.

Post Install 2 copy

The berm with the completed Concrete Cloth armoring.

Post Install copy

The Concrete Cloth material enabled overall armor protection for erosion control and allowed for the construction for a v-ditch at the base of the slope for increased drainage abilities.

For more information, visit: www.infrastructure.milliken.com/oil-gas/

14th Mar 2018

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