Concrete Canvas Ltd products are the only GCCMs to be CE-marked for Surface Erosion Control applications.
Concrete Canvas Ltd (CC) products have been successfully CE marked for Surface Erosion Control applications to the European Assessment Document for GCCMs and GCCBs*. This means that CC products are the first and only GCCMs and GCCBs to be covered under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) for use in Surface Erosion Control applications such as channel lining, slope protection, bund lining and culvert lining.
GCCM used for surface erosion control of a drainage channel.
GCCMs and GCCBs marketed and sold using other CE marks such as EN 13253, 13254, 13255, 13256 and 13257 are not suitable for surface erosion control applications since these standards are intended to be used for geosynthetics which are buried after installation. For example, under the scope of EN13253 it states: “This European Standard does not cover surface erosion, where the geotextile or geotextile-related product is located at the surface”.
It is the duty of the manufacturer, the importer and the suppliers of geosynthetic products to ensure compliance and the CPR provides an enforcement and penalty regime to ensure that construction products placed on the market adhere to these standards.
It is vital that the users of GCCMs and GCCBs check which functions, applications, and intended uses are covered under the hEN or EAD for which a product has been CE-marked and marketed.
The EAD for GCCM and GCCBs specifies that testing of the cured cementitious material is required. Testing of the cementitious material is not covered in hENs.
Flexural strength testing of a GCCM to understand cementitious material performance.
It is very rare for GCCMs or GCCBs to have an intended use covered by a hEN. Geosynthetic functions such as protection, separation, filtration, and reinforcement require the geosynthetic to be buried in use. For example, hEN EN 13253, which covers the use of geotextile products in erosion control works (for filtration, separation, or reinforcement functions), specifically states that the European Standard does not cover surface erosion, where the geotextile or geotextile-related product is located at the surface.
EN 13253 and other related hENs such as EN 13254, 13255, 13256 and 13257 which cover the use of geotextile products for other intended uses/applications, stress the importance of reporting relevant properties if products are not going to be covered immediately.
For example, Section B.2 on Weathering (in all of the above standards) states that all products shall pass the accelerated weathering test unless they are going to be covered on the day of installation. The hENs go on to specify a maximum exposure time in Table B.1 based on their retained tensile strength, up to a maximum of one month.
Therefore, in the rare event that a GCCM/GCCB is to be used for an intended use/function covered by a hEN, the material must be CE marked to the relevant hEN. A product not tested for resistance to weathering must be covered on the day of installation. If weathering resistance is included in the DoP, the GCCM/GCCB must still be covered within 1 month of installation.
