Special Geotechnical Issues relating to Stream Stabilization
Credits: 3 PDH
PDH Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to describe special geotechnical problems related to stream stabilization projects.Soil bioengineering measures increase stream roughness and slow the water velocity near the slope face. They also armor and reinforce the surface soils. However, some problems with instability and excessive erosion of streambanks are not readily solved by soil bioengineering techniques alone.
Problems involving rotational failures of streambanks, piping (sapping) of bank soils, and shallow slides in highly plastic soils are difficult to solve using only soil bioengineering techniques. Erosion on streambanks in highly dispersive clay soils also cannot be solved with soil bioengineering measures alone. If appropriate remedial solutions are to be designed, engineers and planners must recognize and understand special instability problems that have underlying geotechnical causes. Analyzing bank slopes for geotechnical stability requires an understanding of a complex system of forces.
Topics:
- parameters used for classifying soils into engineering behavior groups
- recognizing streambank instability and erosion problems that have geotechnical root causes
- piping/sapping of streambanks
- surficial failures in blocky structured, highly plastic clays
- severe erosion in dispersive clays
- remedial methods for stabilizing slopes where oversteepening is a result of erosion of the toe of the slope
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Intended Audience: This course is intended for Geotechnical, Civil, Environmental, Water Resources, and other engineers whose job description requires a comprehensive knowledge of geotextile applications and design procedures.
Publication Source: US NRCS
Donald Parnell, PE