6.

4 Stream Bank
Erosion Control
Structures
Streambank Erosion
Introduction
Causes Streambank Erosion
• Streambank erosion refers to the removal of soil and
other material, such as rock and vegetation, from the • Streambank erosion occurs when the driving forces
streambank . of water (hydraulic) and gravity (geologic) are greater
• Streambank erosion is a naturally occurring process, than the ability of the streambank to resist them, thus
but the rate at which it occurs is often increased by resulting in a failure.
anthropogenic or human activities such as • A hydraulic failure occurs when the flowing water
urbanization and agriculture. from the stream directly hits the streambank
• Changes in land use can cause streambanks to erode • A geologic failure occurs when an overhanging bank
at rates much faster than those seen in natural, collapses due to gravity .
undisturbed systems.
 Types Of Embankment
The two principal types of embankment dams are earth and rock-fill dams, depending on the predominant fill material
used.
A. Earth Dam
B. Rock-Fill Dam

Earth Dam Rock-Fill Dam

Rock-Fill Dam
• A rockfill dam is one composed largely of fragmented rock with an impervious core.
• The core is separated from the rock shells by a series of transition zones built of properly graded material.
• A membrane of concrete, asphalt, or steel plate on the upstream face should be considered in lieu of an impervious
earth core only when sufficient impervious material is not available.

Earth Dam
• An earth dam is composed of suitable soils obtained from borrow areas or required excavation and compacted in
layers by mechanical means.
• One advantage of an earth dam is that it can be adapted to a weak foundation, provided proper consideration is
given to thorough foundation exploration, testing, and design.

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Design Of Embankment

Factors involved in Design

1. Foundation condition

▪ Stable support to dam & resist passage of water through dam section
▪ Impervious
▪ Stability
▪ Good foundation material
▪ Higher height of embankment means increase in base width

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2. Core Wall
▪ Seepage control
▪ Impervious Material
▪ Located at center of embankment
▪ 50-60 cm more above highest water level
▪ Good result if good proportion of sand , silt & clay

3. Cross Section
▪ Depend upon nature of foundation & fill material nearby

4. Side Slope
▪ Depend upon dam height ,nature of foundation & fill material
▪ 3:1 upstream & 2:1 downstream are used for average quality fill materials for dam height 15cm
▪ For coarse material 3:1 & 4:1 towards u/s & d/s are used
▪ For well graded soil ,side slope of 2:1 on both side

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Reason For Embankment Failure

• Over topping of embankment during failure

• Seepage & piping at or below the foundation
• Sliding of embankment because of insufficient shear strength of foundation

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Spurs

• The requirements of a spur are:

• Optimum alignment and angle
consistent with the objective.
• Availability of a high river bank to anchor
(or tie) the spur back, by extending it
into the bank a sufficient distance to
avoid it being outflanked.
• Sufficient freeboard provision (in case of
non-submerged spurs).
• Adequate protection to nose/head
against anticipated scour.
TYPES OF SPUR
A. Masonry Spur
B. Wooden spur
C. Vegetative Spur

A. Masonry Spur
● These are used in these places where immediate erosion control is needed.
● Permanent structure & very efficient
● Due to availability of stones ,easy to use
● It is packing of stones in trapezoidal form
● Extends from starting towards center of the stream

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B. Wooden Pole Spurs

● Used along eroded portion of stream bank

● For construction, two rows of wooden poles are used (vertical & horizontal)
● Rows of vertical poles are embedded into the stream and tied with horizontal pole at least at two points
● Top portion of two rows is covered by diagonal poles & inside portion is filled with the bushes of dry mass

B. Vegetative spurs

● Same as wooden spur

● In vegetative spur construction,live branches of trees are used
● Live branches develop huge vegetative growth
● Constructed in 2 rows

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Design of Spurs and Groyens
Design of Spurs:
Parameter that is to be considered during design of spurs are:
• Permeability
• Extent of channel bank protection
• Spur length
• Spur spacing
• Spur angle/orientation
• Spur system geometry
• spur height
• Spur crest profile
• Channel bed and channel bank contact
• Spur head form
Permeability
• Where it is necessary to provide a significant reduction in flow velocity, a high level of flow control, or where the structure is being used
on a sharp bend, the spur's permeability should not exceed 35 percent.

• Where it is necessary to provide a moderate reduction in flow velocity , a moderate level of flow control, or where the structure is being
used on a mild to moderate channelbed, the spurs with permeabilities up to 50 percent can be used.

• In environments where only a mild reduction in velocity is required, where bank stabilization without a significant amount of flow control
is necessary, or on mildly curving to straight channel reaches, spurs having effective permeabilities up to 80 percent can be used.
However, these high degrees of permeability are not recommended unless experience has shown them to be effective in a particular
environment.

• It is recommended that jack and tetrahedron retardance spurs be used only where it can be reasonably assumed that the structures will
trap a sufficient volume of floating debris to produce an effective permeability of 60 percent or less.

• It is recommended that Henson-type spurs be designed to have an effective permeability of approximately 50 percent.

• The greater the spur permeability, the less severe the scour pattern downstream of the spur tip. As spur permeability increases, the
magnitude of scour downstream of the spur decreases slightly in size, but more significantly in depth.
● The vertical structural members of permeable spurs should be round or streamlined to minimize local
scour effects.

● The greater the spur permeability, the lower the magnitude of flow concentration at the spur tip.

● If minimizing the magnitude of flow deflection and flow concentration at the spur tip is important to a
particular spur design, a spur with a permeability greater than 35 percent should be used.

● The more permeable the spur, the shorter the length of channelbank protected downstream of the spur’s
riverward tip.

● Spurs with permeabilities up to approximately 35 percent protect almost the same length of channel bank
as do impermeable spurs; spurs having permeabilities greater than approximately 35 percent protect
shorter lengths of channel bank, and this length decreases with increasing spur permeability.

● Because of the increased potential for erosion of the channel bank in the vicinity of the spur root and
immediately downstream when the flow stage exceeds the crest of impermeable spurs, it is recommended
that impermeable spurs not be used along channel banks composed of highly erodible material unless
measures are taken to protect the channel bank in this area.

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Extent of channel bank protection:
• A common mistake in streambank protection is to provide protection too far upstream and not far enough
downstream.
• The extent of bank protection should be evaluated using a variety of techniques, including:
- empirical methods,
- field reconnaissance,
- evaluation of flow traces for various flow stage conditions,
- review of flow and erosion forces for various flow stage conditions.
• Information from these approaches should then be combined with personal judgement and a knowledge of the flow
processes occurring at the local site to establish the appropriate limits of protection.
Spur length:
• As the spur length is increased,
-the scour depth at the spur tip increases,
-the magnitude of flow concentration at the spur tip increases,
-the severity of flow deflection increases,
-the length of channel bank protected increases.

• The projected length of impermeable spurs should be held to less than 15 percent of the channel width at bankfull
stage.

• The projected length of permeable spurs should be held to less than 25 percent of the channel width. However, this
criterion depends on the magnitude of the spur’s permeability. Spurs having permeabilities less than 35 percent
should be limited to projected lengths not to exceed 15 percent of the channel’s flow width. Spurs having
permeabilities of 80 percent can have pro jetted lengths up to 25 percent of the channel’s bank-full flow width.
Between these two limits, a linear relationship between the spur permeability and spur length should be used.
Spur Spacing:
• The spacing of spurs in a bank-protection scheme is a function of the spur’s length, angle, and permeability, as well
as the channel bend’s degree of curvature.

• The direction and orientation of the channel’s flow thalweg plays a major role in determining an acceptable spacing
between individual spurs in a bank-stabilization scheme.

• Reducing the spacing between individual spurs below the minimum required to prevent bank erosion between the
spurs results in a reduction of the magnitude of flow concentration and local scour at the spur tip.

• Reducing the spacing between spurs in a bank-stabilization scheme causes the flow thalweg to stabilize further
away from the concave bank towards the center of the channel.

• A spacing criteria based on the projection of a tangent to the flow thalweg, projected off the spur tip, as presented in
the above discussions, should be used.
Spur angle/orientation
• The primary criterion for establishing an appropriate spur orientation for the spurs within a given spur scheme is to
provide a scheme that efficiently and economically guides the flow through the channel bed, while protecting the
channel bank and minimizing the adverse impacts to the channel system.

• Spurs angled downstream produce a less severe constriction of flows than those angled upstream or normal to flow.

• The greater an individual spur’s angle in the downstream direction, the smaller the magnitude of flow concentration and
local scour at the spur tip. Also, the greater the angle, the less severe the magnitude of flow deflection towards the
opposite channelbank.

• Impermeable spurs create a greater change in local scour depth and flow concentration over a given range of spur
angles than do permeable spurs. This indicates that impermeable spurs are much more sensitive to these parameters
than are permeable spurs.

• Spur orientation does not in itself result in a change in the length of channelbank protected for a spur of given projected
length. It is the greater spur length parallel to the channelbank associated with spurs oriented at steeper angles that
results in the greater length of channelbank protected.
● Retardance spurs should be designed perpendicular to the primary flow direction.

● Retardance/diverter and diverter spurs should be designed to provide a gradual flow training around the
bend. This is accomplished by maximizing the flow efficiency within the bend while minimizing any
negative impacts on the channel geometry.

● The smaller the spur angle, the greater the magnitude of flow control as represented by a greater shift of
the flow thalweg away from the concave (outside) channel bank.

● is recommended that spurs within a retardance/diverter or diverter spur scheme be set with the upstream-
most spur at approximately 150 degrees to the main flow current at the spur tip, and with subsequent
spurs having incrementally smaller angles approaching a minimum angle of 90 degrees at the
downstream end of the scheme.

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Spur System Geometry
• step-by-step approach to setting out the geometry of a retardance/diverter or diverter spur scheme was presented
above. The use of this approach will yield an optimal geometric spur system design.
Spur Height
• The spur height should be sufficient to protect the regions of the channelbank impacted by the erosion processes
active at the particular site.

• If the design flow stage is lower than the channelbank height, spurs should be designed to a height no more than
three feet lower than the design flow stage.

• If the design flow stage is higher than the channelbank height, spurs should be designed to bank height.

• Permeable spurs should be designed to a height that will permit the passage of heavy debris over the spur crest and
not cause structural damage.

• When possible, impermeable spurs should be designed to be submerged by approximately three feet under their
worst design flow condition, thus minimizing the impacts of local scour and flow concentration at the spur tip and the
magnitude of flow deflection.
Spur Crest Profile
• Permeable spurs should be designed with level crests unless bank height or other special conditions dictate the use of
a sloping crest design.

• Impermeable spurs should be designed with a slight fall towards the spur head, thus allowing different amounts of flow
constriction with stage (particularly important in narrow-width channels), and the accommodation of changes in
meander trace with stage.
Channel Bed And Channel Bank Contact
• Careful consideration must be given to designing a spur that will maintain contact with the channel bed and channel
bank so that it will not be undermined or outflanked. Methods and examples presented herein can be used to ensure
adequate bend and bank contact.
Spur Head Form
• A simple straight spur head form is recommended.

• The spur head or tip should be as smooth and rounded as possible. Smooth, well-rounded spur tips help minimize local
scour, flow concentration, and flow deflection.
Design Of Groynes
The following have evolved as principles for the planning of erosion control works.
• Strive to achieve a situation where it is no longer necessary to bulldoze rivers (or in other ways to interfere with
natural river processes) to keep floods from damaging agricultural land and infrastructure. This must be achieved by
providing a reasonable width for a river system, removing alien vegetation and re-establishing indigenous
vegetation, and where necessary provide mechanical erosion protection structures.
• When rehabilitating a river, to provide a multi-stage river section to facilitate the re-establishment of a range of
appropriate riverine vegetation corresponding to various river flow regimes.
• When planning groynes (as with other erosion protection structure types), the structures must have a minimum
impact on the river.
• When planning groynes, not to allow them to encroach further into the river as where a riverbank can be proven to
have been recently (the pre-existing bank position). In protecting one bank one does not want to be accused of
creating a problem on the opposite bank. Historical bank positions can be digitized off aerial photography with
reasonable accuracy for this purpose
• When planning goynes (as for any other erosion control structure), the process must be preceded by a detailed
topographical survey and hydrological study, so that flood heights and average flow velocities may be determined for
the river prior and post the intervention.
6.5 Roadside Erosion Control Structures
Erosion occuring in roadside makes the movement of goods , people and even
animals across forest

difficult. It is necessary to control roadside erosion . It can be done applying various

methods and

techniques appropriate according the situation of the road .

Some of the common methods or control structures to prevent roadside erosion are:

A. MSE Walls

Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls have replaced many traditional concrete
retaining walls in

recent decades. MSE walls offer several advantages over conventional reinforced
concrete walls,

including ease and speed of installation.

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B. Geotextiles

Geotextiles are commonly used to control erosion and improve soils over roads.
Depending on the
application, geotextiles may have an open mesh weave, a warp-knitted structure, or
a closed fabric or
nonwoven surface. The specific type of geotextile used is based on several criteria,
including drainage,
reinforcement, sealing, and protection.

C. Gabion walls

Gabion walls are executed mainly in the purpose of soil stabilization behind the wall,
but it can also be
executed as a cover wall. The wall is made from gabion baskets that are stacked in
one or more rows,
depending on the height of the wall. Baskets have a cage shape and are closed on
all sides.

Some of the functions of gabions walls are:

a) It creates a barrier that prevents soil erosion and helps in embankment
stabilization.
b) It prevents sliding and washouts of soils.
c) It helps in water speed reduction in prevention of soil erosion in waterways.

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 6.6 Soil
Conservation
in Hilly Areas
 Introduction
The objective of soil conservation on hilly areas can be fulfilled by various method in which the agronomical
measures, soil management, and mechanical measures are the main. Soil management refers to the practices for
preparing to generate various vegetative growth and improve the soil structures so that there will be good resistant
against particle detachment or soil erosion.

Methods of soil conservation on hilly areas:

A. Contour ploughing
B. Afforestation
C. Terrace farming
D. Mulching
E. Mixed Cropping
F. Bunding
G. Control of shifting cultivation
H. Stone Terracing
20XX SAMPLE TEXT 28
Contour ploughing

• Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour • Tillage erosion is the soil movement and erosion
ploughing is the farming practice of plowing and/or by tilling a given plot of land.
planting across a slope following its elevation contour
lines. These contour lines create a water break which
• A similar practice is contour bunding where
reduces the formation of rills and gullies during times of stones are placed around the contours of slopes.
heavy precipitation, allowing more time for the water to Contour ploughing helps to reduce soil erosion.
settle into the soil.
• In contour plowing, the ruyts made by the plow run
perpendicular rather than parallel to the slopes,
generally furrows that curve around the land and are
level.
• This method is also known for preventing tillage
erosion.

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Afforestation

• The forest canopy intercepts the erosive force of • Efforts should be made to introduce rotational grazing
raindrops and the forest litter protects the soul and and its benefits should be explained and demonstrated
helps in absorbing more rain water, thus reducing the to the villagers.
runoff.
• Grazing must not be allowed in regeneration areas and
• Afforestation of economic plants should be done on young plantations.
contour benches to the specific needs of the area.

• The uncontrolled grazing by cattle, especially sheep

and goat including nomadic herds are major causes for
soil erosion in hilly areas. It is therefore necessary that
the pasture and grasslands in hilly regions should be
properly managed for maximum fodder production and
effective erosion control by improving the fertility.

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 Terrace farming

• A Terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut

into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or
platforms, which resemble steps. This type of
landscaping is therefore called terracing.

• The terracing technology is a combination of vegetative

and structural measures that address the soil, nutrient,
and moisture loss problems associated with traditional
outward-sloping land, which is reshaped into a series of
level or gently sloping platforms across the slope to
form terraces.

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Mulching

• It is the covering of soil with crop residues such as

straws, maize stalks etc to protect the soil from the rain
drop impact and reduces the velocity of runoff and
wind.

• It is also useful as alternative to cover crop in dry areas

where cover crops should compete for moisture with
main crops.

Advantages

• Conserve the soil moisture.

• Reduce amount of control and soil erosion.

• Improve soil temperature.

• Modify the micro-environment of soil.

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Mixed cropping

• In this system two or more crops are raised at the same

land and same time.

• It is also known as inter-cropping or co-cropping

• The harvest period of different crops are different and

field is occupied for most of the time, so it helps to
reduce soil erosion,

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Bunding

• Bunds are the embankment like structures constructed

across the land slopes.

• In bunding practice entire area is divided into several

small parts thereby the effective slope length of the
area is reduced.

• The reduction in slope length causes not only to reduce

the soil erosion but also retain the runoff water.

• Most suitable land for bunding are with slope of 2 to

10%

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Control of Shifting Cultivation

Shifting Cultivation is described as below: To control the shifting cultivation, approaches should be
made to improve the standard of living of the tribes. they
The best area, judged by organic matter is selected and
should be educated in adoption of improved agricultural
followed by cutting of jungles on it. When the cut material
practices.
becomes sufficiently dry for burning, villagers set fire to it
and seeds are sown after the pre-monsoon showers Some of the suitable areas already cleared under shifting
(rainfall). The particular selected site is cultivated for 3 to 4 cultivation should be improved with necessary erosion
years after which the area is abandoned and new area is control measures like terracing contouring etc. for
selected again and put under cultivation. In this way the permanent stabilization.
cultivation area go on shifting year after year.

The shift cultivation is in practice due to socio-economic

problems and poor living standard of local tribes and due
to lack of planning and policies.

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Stone Terracing

Steep slope when put under cultivation are subjected to The cross-section may be 0.5 m2 depending on the depth
severe erosion, with every rain the topsoil is washed away of foundation with increasing of slope beyond 10%. It is
at an accelerated rate. In such areas construction of stone advisable to give a foundation of 30 cm instead of 15 cm .
walls across the slope will help in conserving soil.
The terrace should be given a longitudinal grade of 0.2 to
These stone walls, known as stone terraces are small 0.3 m per 100 m towards the outlet or the storm water
embankments constructed with stones across the hill drain.
slope and these can be adopted on any slope where
stones are available in plenty at the spot.

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 Thank you

Sankalpa Adhikari
PUR075BAG048
075bag048@ioepc.edu.
np

20XX SAMPLE TEXT 37