Technical-biological bank protection for navigable waterways on trial

摘要

From an ecological perspectivewaterways are the best transport route.To stabilize thewaterways,rnprotective structures are often inevitable due to the hydraulic loads acting or the (natural) steepness of the bank.rnSafety comes first, but discussing the type of armour, it should be considered in how far technical solutionsrncan be complemented by biological elements. In many places combining natural and technical elements canrnoffer ecological and strong solutions. Sole vegetative bank protection can be considered if the geometry of, andrnloads on, the bank are favourable to such solutions. Thinking further, traditional construction methods shouldrnbe revised in an ecological perspective and options considered which are closer to nature. Certain vegetativernprotection measures have already proven helpful: fascines, live brush mattresses, vegetation mats, wattle fences,rnand others. If planned right, constructing with living material and soil bioengineering measures can meet bothrnthe technical and the ecological demands. However, it needs to be considered that, in most cases, soil bioengineeringrnmeasures need more room than technical alternatives.To learn more about possibilities and limitationsrnof technical-biological bank protection, a test section on the right bank of the River Rhine near the town ofrnLampertheim, Germany, was chosen. This selected range is subject to high traffic – about 120 ship passagesrndaily. In 2011, nine different technical-biological protection measures were installed. The goal of this field testrnis to gather experience on the load-bearing capacity of various technical-biological bank protection measures forrnhigh-traffic waterways and to assess their technical and ecological effectiveness. The test installations comprisernprefabricated elements such as reed gabions, stone mattresses and plant mats as well as willow brush mattresses.rnFirst experience has been gained and a first assessment of possibilities and limitations of such measures canrnbe made.