Patent ID: 8007202

Claim:
A system to protect structures in a marine environment from the effects of an impact force, said system comprising: (a) a plurality of spaced apart and floatable panels, said panels being adapted to be located at a distance from said structure to be protected; and (b) a plurality of fibrous networks, said fibrous networks comprising high tenacity fibers extending in at least a generally horizontal direction, said plurality of fibrous networks being in communication with said plurality of floatable devices and interconnecting said plurality of floating devices, said plurality of fibrous networks being disposed in a generally parallel arrangement with respect to each other along said generally horizontal direction in a generally vertical plane, said plurality of fibrous networks being vertically spaced apart by a distance not exceeding about 12 inches (30.5 cm), wherein said fibrous networks comprise fibers selected from the group consisting of polyolefin fibers, aramid fibers, polybenzazole fibers, and mixtures and blends thereof, and wherein said fibers have a tenacity of at least about 7 g/d, an initial tensile modulus of at least about 50 g/d, and an energy-to-break of at least about 8 J/g as measured by ASTM D2256.