Sustainable answer to excavation damage and biodiversity loss endorsed with certificate of life expectancy of 50+ years on excavation-resistant INOGRID®

Gilze, September 2024

In a groundbreaking development, TEFAB, AD Chemicals, LOA-Deege and EUROLACKE have jointly received the prestigious ^INOGRID® certificate of life expectancy 50+ years. This certificate confirms the durability and reliability of ^INOGRID®, an excavation-resistant grid that effectively repels beavers and other burrowing species, thereby protecting the integrity of levees and embankments.

The need for solutions that minimize leaching has become urgent for water boards. Through the media, all of the Netherlands knows the challenges surrounding diggers such as beavers and badgers, and their love of digging. Damage to railroad tracks and weakened dikes: the images spoke for themselves. These issues, long known to TEFAB from Gilze: suppliers and innovators for the GWW. It prompted TEFAB to develop an innovative, sustainable solution: ^INOGRID®. The results of this "excavation-resistant mesh" are promising.

A tour of the fields at Water Boards, Rijkswaterstaat and Prorail makes it clear how urgent the need for a solution is. Indeed, the message is the same everywhere: "If we don't act very quickly, we will no longer be able to meet safety standards and risks to people, animals and equipment will increase by the day. Not to mention exploding repair costs." Quick action, then, but sustainable action: with respect for the beaver population and soil diversity, among other things. TEFAB and its partners used exactly these challenges as a starting point for the development of ^INOGRID®.

Signals from the market
Esther IJzer of TEFAB: "As the literal founder of the Soil, Road and Hydraulic Engineering sector, we know our customers' challenges. Years ago we learned about the concerns regarding 'digging damage' by beavers, but also, for example, by badgers, muskrats and rabbits. A broad threat to the safety of the Dutch infrastructure. Water defenses, roads and railroads; the risks existed everywhere. We felt compelled to develop a good, sustainable geo-solution.

Animal-friendly base grid
The starting point for the protection against excavation damage was an existing basic grid of galvanized steel, to be placed horizontally or tilted on dikes. TEFAB was the first in the Netherlands to have this grid with a mesh size of 40×40 mm. Deliberately, because studies showed that at this size, incisors would not get stuck in the mesh.

Potential leaching of metals stepping stone to ecological coating
Because the intended grid was developed as a long-term preventive application, the company also studied the risks of leaching from the steel. What followed was a further development of the product, which included an ecologically sound anti-erosion coating. This product was given the final name of INOGRID®. To effectively prevent undercutting, the^INOGRID® had to be installed both horizontally and vertically in the soil. Vertical placement could be carried out using several methods.

Chain optimization and cooperation
The development and certification of^INOGRID® are the result of a unique cooperation and chain optimization between TEFAB, AD Chemicals, LOA-Deege and EUROLACKE. These partners have jointly streamlined processes and leveraged each other's expertise to achieve an innovative and sustainable solution. This chain optimization resulted not only in a product with exceptional life expectancy and environmental benefits, but also in a more efficient and effective production and implementation chain.

Good results
That it is not just "nice talk" is proven by practice. The grid has been applied in several places in the Netherlands with excellent results. For example at the Deurnese Peel canals for Waterschap Aa en Maas, and Waterschap Limburg. There, over a length of 4.5 kilometers,^INOGRID® ensures that beavers can no longer cause digging damage. This prevents water from leaking into surrounding properties and keeps embankments strong and safe. So it seems that water boards, Rijkswaterstaat and Prorail have a sustainable and animal-friendly answer to digging damage.