This one is about our own scope rather than the industry generally, because the boundary between what a supplier provides and what a project needs is a common source of surprise.
What you get back
A size recommendation for the conditions you describe, with the reasoning.
A quantity, derived from the extent and the layout method. The calculator’s approach — bag diameter setting linear coverage, protection depth setting stack count, slope deciding vertical or stairstep arrangement — is published, so the arithmetic is checkable rather than a black box. See design and sizing.
A layout approach for the geometry described.
Product pricing for the units, against that quantity.
Lead time, based on the current stock position. Direct shipment is typically under a week from multiple warehouses.
Shipping, or the information to arrange it.
Documentation for a submittal: specifications, spec sheets, and the test programme. See assembling the submittal package.
Engineering support in getting to the above. There is no charge for it, including at concept stage with no funding in place.
What is not in it
Stated plainly, because these are the gaps that matter:
Fill stone. The units ship empty and are filled on site with local material. The stone is procured by you or your contractor, and it is a separate cost. This is deliberate — it is the property that makes the economics work — but it means our number is not the installed cost. See when local stone changes the economics.
Installation. We supply product. We are not a contractor and we do not place. Plant, crew, access, and site management are on the installing party.
Design. We are a supplier, not the engineer of record. Sizing guidance is a starting point for discussion; scour depth, foundation conditions, hydraulic loading, and the governing specification belong to your engineer.
A P.E. stamp. FES provides no service requiring one.
Permitting. We can supply product documentation for a submittal. We do not prepare applications, and we cannot tell you whether your water is jurisdictional. See permitting in-water erosion work.
Measured test values. We publish which method backs which claim and which laboratory ran it. We do not publish measured values, on purpose — a plausible figure on a page a reviewer relies on is an invented figure. See test data and standards.
Certifications. We hold none and do not describe ourselves as certified.
If a specification requires something on that list, it is better to establish that at quote stage than after award. Getting a non-standard product approved covers the routes where it is a materials-list issue rather than a genuine gap.
What produces a useful quote
The more of this you have, the better the answer:
Essential:
- Site location and what is being protected
- What is eroding or scouring, and roughly how much
- Extent: length, height, depth
- Water conditions, and whether the work is wet
- Access, and what plant can reach the work
- Delivery address and offloading capability
- Timescale
Valuable:
- Photographs, which are worth more than descriptions
- Design velocity or the hydraulic data behind it
- Bed material
- Any scour evaluation, inspection report, or survey
- Drawings, existing or proposed
- The governing specification, if there is one
- Whether a local stone source exists
Useful:
- The permitting position and which agencies are engaged
- Whether this is emergency, planned, or feasibility
- Budget stage and constraints
- Who the engineer of record is
You do not need all of it. Photographs, rough dimensions, and an access description are enough to get a substantive answer.
Timing
One business day for a response to a quote request.
Concept stage is welcome. A project at feasibility with no funding is worth a conversation, and there is no charge for the engineering time.
Emergencies: call. A form is the wrong tool when the answer is needed in hours. See what to send with an emergency request and the number on the contact page.
Getting to an installed cost
Since our quote is a supply price, building an installed cost means adding:
- Fill stone, delivered
- Plant and crew for the placement
- Access construction, if needed
- Site management, traffic management, environmental controls
- Temporary works, if any
- Design, survey, and permitting costs
What drives installed cost covers each of those, and how to compare unlike armor bids covers normalising proposals that draw the line in different places.
Where to go next
- What drives installed cost
- Budgeting at concept stage
- Supply-only vs. installed pricing
- Design and sizing
- When not to use rock bags
- The cost hub for the rest
Send what you have through the quote form.