Abstract A matting, anchored to the ground surface of an enbankment adjacent a body of water for preventing erosion of said ground surface due to action of said water thereon, is so constructed that it provides less resistance to the flow of water therethrough in the direction from the ground surface toward the body of water than it does in the opposite direction from the body of water toward the ground surface. The preferential flow characteristic can be accomplished by providing the uppermost layer of the matting, facing the body of water, with a plurality of holes that are selectively covered by pressure responsive flaps. In the alternative, the preferential flow characteristic can be accomplished by providing the matting with plural layers of different fiber thickness and different pore spaces, with the uppermost layer of the matting having fibers of finest thickness and least pore spaces, and with the fiber thickness and pore spaces in the matting each increasing toward the base or ground side of the matting.
A protective matting laid on a ground surface adjacent a body of water for inhibiting hydraulic erosion of said ground surface, said matting comprising at least two superposed fibrous layers, the fibers employed in the one of said layers closest to said ground surface being thicker than those in the other of said two layers more remote from said ground surface, and the spacing between the thicker fibers in the one of said layers closest to said ground surface being greater than the spacing between the thinner fibers in the other of said layers more remote from said ground surface, and said matting including a third layer disposed outwardly of said two fibrous layers relative to the ground surface and constructed to provide a preferential direction of water flow through said matting with the resistance to water flow through said matting in a direction from the ground surface side of said matting toward the water surface side of said matting being less than the resistance to water flow through said matting in a direction from the water surface side of said matting toward said ground surface side of said matting wherein said third layer is positioned adjacent the uppermost surface of said matting facing said body of water and comprises a flexible layer having a plurality of perforations therein, said third layer further comprising means providing a plurality of flexible closure elements extending outwardly from said uppermost surface toward said body of water and adapted to selectively cover underlying associated ones of said perforations respectively in response to flow of water through said matting from said body of water toward said ground surface, and adapted to uncover said associated perforations respectively in response to flow of water through said matting from said ground surface toward said body of water.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
299 words
A protective matting laid on a ground surface adjacent a body of water for inhibiting hydraulic erosion of said ground surface, said matting comprising at least two superposed fibrous layers, the fibers employed in the one of said layers closest to said ground surface being thicker than those in the other of said two layers more remote from said ground surface, and the spacing between the thicker fibers in the one of said layers closest to said ground surface being greater than the spacing between the thinner fibers in the other of said layers more remote from said ground surface, and said matting including a third layer disposed outwardly of said two fibrous layers relative to the ground surface and constructed to provide a preferential direction of water flow through said matting with the resistance to water flow through said matting in a direction from the ground surface side of said matting toward the water surface side of said matting being less than the resistance to water flow through said matting in a direction from the water surface side of said matting toward said ground surface side of said matting wherein said third layer is positioned adjacent the uppermost surface of said matting facing said body of water and comprises a flexible layer having a plurality of perforations therein, said third layer further comprising means providing a plurality of flexible closure elements extending outwardly from said uppermost surface toward said body of water and adapted to selectively cover underlying associated ones of said perforations respectively in response to flow of water through said matting from said body of water toward said ground surface, and adapted to uncover said associated perforations respectively in response to flow of water through said matting from said ground surface toward said body of water.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
60 words
The matting of claim 1 wherein said third layer comprises a pair of superposed sheets of flexible material, the outer one of said sheets defining a plurality of spaced hinged flaps acting as said closure elements, and the inner one of said sheets defining a plurality of perforations spaced from one another in accordance with the spacing of said flaps.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
56 words
The matting of claim 1 wherein said third layer comprises a mass of comparatively fine fibers arranged in a felted configuration having a pore volume less than that of either of the other two layers in said matting, said closure elements comprising a plurality of long-fibered tufts outstanding from the outermost surface of said flexible layer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
52 words
The matting of claim 3 wherein the comparatively fine fibers in said third layer are variably spaced from one another to exhibit a variable pore volume, the pore volume in said third layer gradually increasing from the water side of said matting in a direction toward the ground side of said matting.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
83 words
The matting of claim 4 wherein the pore volume has a substantially constant value in each of the two additional fibrous layers in said matting, the value of the pore volume in the fibrous layer closest to said ground surface being greater than the value of the pore volume in the other of said two fibrous layers, and the value of the pore volume in the other of said two fibrous layers being greater than the maximum pore volume in said third layer.