Slope Stabilization and Erosion Control: A Bioengineering Approach

This book is an up-to-date review of research and practice on the use of vegetation for slope stabilization and control of surface erosion caused by water and wind. The engineering use of vegetation (bioengineering), sometimes in combination with engineering structures (biotechnical engineering), is an increasingly important part of civil engineering and construction industry practice.

Bioengineering techniques provide "greener", lower cost, sustainable solutions to slope instability and erosion problems. From their development in Austria and Switzerland, they have spread to the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and increasingly to the UK, other European countries and throughout the world. Slope Stabilization and Erosion Control: A Bioengineering Approach bridges the gap between the civil engineer, vegetation specialist and landscape designer.

From a basic understanding of the principles and practices of vegetation growth and establishment, it describes how vegetation can be treated as an engineering material and used to solve erosion and slope stability problems. The book ranges from a theoretical and research approach for analysing the effects of vegetation to the design of vegetation-based control systems.

Examples of the successful use of vegetation are presented from many countries in the developed and developing world, as well as instances where vegetation has had no effect or has even aggravated erosion and slope failure rates.