Evaluation of Streambank Stabilization Work on Richland Creek

摘要

In 1988 the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in conjunction with the IllinoisRiver Soil and Water Conservation Task Force (IRSCTF) and the Woodford County Soil and Water Conservation District initiated a field trial to evaluate several methods of vegetative streambank stabilization. This project was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the 'willow-post method' for stabilizing eroding banks. The evaluation involved conducting channel surveys along transects originally laid out by the SCS (Soil Conservation Service) before the posts were installed. The channel surveys were used to quantify changes in channel profiles due to deposition and/or scour and provided data for a qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of live plantings on the stability of the streambanks. This report also outlines the basic physical and geotechnical factors that should be considered in the analysis of bank stability. The report also discusses how and why instability in the hydrodynamic components of a stream can produce instability in its banks.