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Title:	Vegetated reinforced soil slope streambank erosion control
Authors:	Sotir, Robbin B. Fischenich, J. Craig, 1962-
Keywords:	Banks (Waterways) Erosion Reinforcing materials Vegetation Bioengineering
Publisher:	Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.:	Technical Note (Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program (U.S.)) ; no. ERDC TN-EMRRP-SR-30
Abstract:	The vegetated reinforced soil slope (VRSS) soil bioengineering system is an earthen structure made from living, rootable, livecut, woody plant material branches, bare root, tubling or container plant stock in conjunction with rock, geosynthetics, geogrids, and/or geocomposites (Figure 1). The VRSS system is useful for the immediate repair or prevention of deeper failures providing a structurally sound system with soil reinforcement, drainage and erosion control typically on steepened slope sites where space is limited. In the VRSS system, the living cut branches and plants are expected to grow (performing additional soil reinforcement functions via the roots and surface protection via the top growth). Live vegetation in the VRSS is typically installed from just above the baseflow elevation and up the face of the reconstructed streambank, acting principally to protect the bank through immediate mechanical soil reinforcement and confinement, drainage, and, in the toe area, with rock. The VRSS system extends below the depth of scour, typically with rock. Rock is useful in improving infiltration and supporting the riparian zone. The internal systems such as rock, live cut branches, geosynthetics, geogrids, and geocomposites can also be configured to act as drains that redirect and/or collect internal bank seepage and transport the water to the stream via a rock toe. (Figures 2-7). The VRSS structure benefits fisheries habitat by providing food and overhanging cover, offering protection from predators, and lowering water temperatures at the edge of the stream. Stone used at the base of the VRSS structure produces substrates suited for an array of aquatic organisms. Some of these organisms adapt to living on and within the rocks and some attach to the leaves and stems. The leaves and stems may also become food for shredding varieties of macroinvertebrates. The VRSS structure can improve water quality, avian, herptile, and mammalian habitat, and aesthetics. Plants within the VRSS structure may be selected to provide color, texture, and other attributes that add a pleasant, natural landscape appearance. Such plants for the VRSS structure include buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis.), dogwood (Cornus spp.), willow (Salix spp.), hybiscus, and Viburnum spp. If a compound channel cross section is desirable near or just below the baseflow elevation, a step-back terrace may be incorporated to offer an enhanced riparian zone, where emergent aquatic plants, such as bulrush (Scirpus spp.) and sedges (Carex spp.) may invade over time. These will assimilate contaminants within the water column, though the total mass uptake may be small. Aquatic wetland plants that may be installed in the VRSS adjacent to the stream include blueflag (Iris versicolor, a wetland wild iris with a blue flower), pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), and monkey flower (Mimulus ringens). The VRSS systems can be constructed on slopes ranging from 1V on 2H (1:2) to 1:0.5. When constructed in step or terrace fashion, they can also improve non-point pollution control by intercepting sediment and attached pollutants during overbank flows.
Description:	Technical Note
Gov't Doc #:	ERDC TN-EMRRP-SR-30
Rights:	Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11681/3946
Appears in Collections:	Technical Note