Connect with an expertShearForce™
Simulated InstaTurf Shearforce for immediate aesthetics and erosion control.
InstaTurf ShearForce is a hybrid-turf instant armor mat. It features a green simulated turf layer that provides protection and an attractive appearance from the moment of installation. The simulated grass blades of the turf deflect rainfall impact and flow-induced shear stresses. In addition, they substantially reduce erosive forces acting on the underlying soil. The lightweight geotextile backing layer protects the seed and fertilizer until emergence for a lush, natural look long-term.
Often, civil engineers, landscape architects, and construction professionals use ShearForce in place of rip-rap or other traditional turf reinforcement mats because it protects vegetation and combats erosion in high-flow applications. For example, use it in channels, canals, swales, basins, and roadside ditches. Furthermore, it offers more than 3x the immediate erosion protection in comparison to conventional TRMs.
What are the primary applications for ShearForce?
- Outfall Protection
- Channel Lining
- Slope Protection
- Downspout Splash Pads
- Anywhere initial performance and appearance are paramount
What are the benefits of ShearForce?
- More user-friendly and cost-efficient than rock riprap
- Unvegetated performance is much higher than conventional TRMs
- Maintenance-free and mowable
- Easy to install – simply lay and anchor it
- Appropriate for tight quarters where machinery won’t fit
- Provides immediate protection against erosion
- Environmentally friendly (facilitates water filtration/infiltration)
- Aesthetically pleasing – both before and after vegetation
- Highly UV stable (25-year design life) and weather-resistant
- ShearForce10 comes in lightweight rolls for easy installation
- ShearForce12 comes in lightweight mats for more robust protection
InstaTurf™ ShearForce 10 and ShearForce 12 products offer the economic and environmental benefits of soft armor in addition to the immediate high flow erosion control of large rock rip-rap. Furthermore, these “hybrid-turf” products utilize simulated turf to effectively protect, grow, and reinforce natural vegetation in high-flow areas. Proven in ASTM D6460 Large Scale Channel Testing without vegetation to exceed the permissible shear stress ratings of 30-inch diameter rock, these instant armoring products are ideal for protecting critical areas subject to substantial erosive forces before vegetation establishment.
Your local Ferguson Waterworks supplies ShearForce 10 in lightweight roll sizes: 3ft x 45ft and 6ft x 45ft. Discuss your high-flow erosion project with one of our product specialists. Based on application specifics, we will help determine the optimum Turf Reinforcement Mat or Transition Mat (such as ShoreMax transition mats) solution to accomplish the project’s objectives.
What are the benefits of InstaTurf?
Conventional turf reinforcement mats (TRMs) have long been used to increase the erosion resistance of vegetation up to that of rock riprap and other hard armor linings. However, unlike rock, conventional TRM systems do not provide a high level of erosion protection until vegetation maturity. As a result, they are vulnerable to water damage and failure before they’re fully established. Consequently, placing your entire project at risk. The molded-in green color and grass-like texture of InstaTurf® Soft Armor products present a pleasing landscape while protecting new plantings. These products not only provide rock-like erosion protection from day one but also mimic the look of grass before the real grass grows. As a result, you can install InstaTurf Soft Armor products any time of the year and have an immediate finished look.
Where should InstaTurf ShearForce be installed?
InstaTurf products have proven in ASTM D6460 Large Scale Channel Testing without vegetation to exceed the permissible shear stress of 36-inch diameter rock. These products are ideal for protecting high-flow channels, culvert outfalls, down chutes, spillways, shorelines, and other critical areas, where vegetation is slow to establish.
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