Salix’s AquaRockBag is an ecologically sensitive method of erosion control. Working with natural processes to provide erosion control & habitat biodiversity
AquaRockBag launch

Salix’s AquaRockBag is an ecologically sensitive method of erosion control. Working with natural processes to provide erosion control & habitat biodiversity
Rock Rolls and VMax C350 provide ecological erosion control at Yeovil Junction, protecting the railway from undercutting by the River Yoe
In 2009 Team Van Oord installed 9000m2 of Salix’s VMax Shear Stress Turf as part of the Conwy Flood Alleviation Scheme, seven years and many major overtopping events on and it has stood the test well.
Salix worked with Natural Resources Wales at Cwmparc in the Rhondda Valley to renaturalise the water courses in order to reduce flood risk and increase biodiversity.
Soft engineered ‘Green Swale Grass Channel’ attenuates road run-off water, filters suspended solids, and traps hydro carbons and heavy metals, significantly improving water quality.
Rock Rolls offer flexibility and the fact they arrive on site pre-filled with stone greatly reduces installation time and therefore cost, compared to in-situ filled gabions. Rock rolls and mattresses can also be installed during live flow situations, which is not possible with standard gabions.
Erosion control using Tensar VMax P550 on Loch Garry spillway and embankments
Tensar VMax P550 is designed for use as erosion control on steep slopes, high-flow channels, spillways, and shorelines.
With funding from the Welsh Government’s Nature Fund, we supported Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in taking steps to naturalise one of the concrete channels which brings water down from the mountains at Cwmparc,
The £21.7 million flood defence scheme involved works on 16 individual reaches of the river and it reduced the risk of tidal flooding to 488 homes and 94 commercial properties in Sandwich. Client – Jackson Civil Engineering working on behalf of the Environment Agency.
Following the 2005 £2million Lhanbryde Flood Alleviation Scheme, near Elgin in Moray, in Summer 2014, Salix worked with Royal HaskoningDHV engineers to improve erosion control on the dam’s spillway.
Salix has installed a revolutionary green drainage channel along an 18km stretch of the A11 in Norfolk, between Fiveways and Thetford.
Salix is sponsoring CIWEM’s one-day Winter Conference, to be held at the Brunei Gallery in Russell Square, London on 29 January 2015.
Salix reviewed the options for improving water control and biodiversity at Nant Llwynog stream – an old reclaimed tip site close to the village of Bedlinog in the Taff Bargoed Valley.
As part of a series of measures to protect the freshwater habitats at Titchwell Marsh Nature Reserve on the north Norfolk coast,
Working directly with ethical, organic and sustainable suppliers in Sri Lanka, each year Salix imports hundreds of tonnes of compressed coir fibres and turns them into Coir Rolls and Pallets at its Thetford nursery in Norfolk.
Salix were awarded the contract and began works to carry out 300 metres of riverbank protection to protect this existing exposed high pressure gas pipe in March 2013.
Salix produce a wide range of pre-established coir pallets planted with high quality native plant species. Coir pallets are composed from coir fibre which is a sustainable waste product from the husk of the coconut shell.
Coir Rolls are an organic living revetment that provide erosion control and rapid vegetation establishment. Salix have developed a range of specific species mixes for use in all types of water bodies.
Salix have the facilities to contract grow turf using the VMax range of Turf Reinforcement Mats (TRMs). VMax C350 or P550 is used as the reinforcement element within the turf giving unprecedented scour protection performance.
The continued partnership between Salix and Tensar® is strengthened with the re-introduction into the UK of the Triton Marine Mattress System and the Triton Gabions and Gabion Mats.
Medmerry is one of the stretches of coastline most at risk of flooding in southern England. The overall scheme involves building major new sea defences inland and allowing a new intertidal area to form between Selsey and Bracklesham in West Sussex.
Wetlands are an incredibly valuable environment, both to nature and wider society; BioHaven can offer all of the ecosystem services of a healthy functioning wetland but can be placed in an area where it would be impossible to put a constructed or conventional wetland.
Rock Rolls are a robust, flexible and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges,
Salix are pleased to announce that We have been appointed as the sole distributors of the VMax® range of soil erosion control products formerly known as North American Green.
The Environment Agency are responsible for the river bank stability at Railway Lane, Lewes and recognising the integrity of the existing blockwork facing was deteriorating began to look into solutions to this challenge.
Salix have extensive experience of spillway protection offering advice to engineers involved in this area of expertise.
Our VMax range of Composite Turf Reinforcement Mats (CTRMs) including VMax C350,
Working for Bournemouth & West Hants Water, Salix were appointed as Main Contractor to undertake 2km of bioengineering works to stabilise the shoreline of a new reservoir.
A rise in pleasure boating on the Foss resulted in severe boat wash. Monitoring revealed that the rate of bank erosion was up to 2.5 metres in a year over a 2km stretch.
1 km of new and existing channel was enhanced using bioengineering techniques as part of a flood protection project in the centre of historic Pembroke in West Wales.
Salix supplied 9000m2 of VMax3 Shear stress turf in September 2009. Just 2 months later the area experienced the worst flooding in 25 years of recording with floods exceeding the 1:30 year events of 2004/2005.
Salix worked with consulting geotechnical engineers to provide design and build proposals to stabilise over 800 metres of steep riverbank composed of highly erodible colliery shale.
A private developer had back gardens adjacent to a river that when in flood created severe scour issues. Initial river modelling indicated flow velocities in excess of 3.5m/sec.
Salix were invited to submit a bioengineering solution to solve an erosion issue at a pipeline crossing in West Wales. The solution used a combination of locally harvested willow and Rock Rolls to provide a stable revetment in this cobble bed river.
The finished slope was 36 degrees, 40 metres in height and 60m wide. 250mm depth of topsoil was required, rather than the nominal 50-75mm, as cover for marginally contaminated on site fill material.
Colliery shale and sandy soils have one thing in common; both are highly susceptible to erosion by flowing water. Both soil types were present on site.
A large drainage channel designed to take flows of up to 3m/sec was created to take runoff water from a 741 acre site at Waverley, one of Europe’s biggest collieries.
Rock Rolls are a robust and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges, streams and river banks. They are cost-effective revetments that are suitable alternatives to rock rip rap and gabions in many scour applications.
Rock Mattresses are a robust and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges, streams and river banks. They are cost-effective revetments that are suitable alternatives to rock rip rap and gabions…
Salix were employed by main contractor Casey to undertake the restoration work to Beacon Pool for Lichfield Council on this Heritage lottery funded project.
A new development had slope stability issues due to an adjacent cobble bed watercourse badly eroding the soils and downcutting the bed within the channel.
Medmerry is one of the stretches of coastline most at risk of flooding in southern England. The overall scheme involves building major new sea defences inland and allowing a new intertidal area to form…
Salix were awarded a design and build contract to prevent further erosion of a section of the riverbank and reinstate a scour hole threatening a high pressure gas pipeline on the River Tywi.
Following works within Worden Park to remove a culverted section of Cricket Field Brook that was the cause of flooding to neighbouring residential properties, a long term solution was required…
The integrity of the existing blockwork facing was deteriorating as a result of the tidal inundation and draw-down cycles together with areas of groundwater seepages emanating from the slope profile.