Effect of Vetiver grass root system on river bank shear strength parameters, case study: Kor river

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Water Engineering, Shiraz University

2 Fasa University

Abstract

River bank erosion imposes sever damages to the adjacent lands annually and changes the river morphology considerably. In this study, the effectiveness of the Vetiver grass root system in enhancement of the soil shear strength and reducing the river bank erosion is examined. Several experiments were carried out to find the effect of Vetiver grass root system on soil cohesion and internal friction angle. Also, variations of morphological characteristics of Vetiver grass root system including RAR, RDR, RDDI and RLD in different depths have been investigated as well as the lateral and vertical distribution of roots. Three different spacing between Vetiver grass plants have been studied and the optimum distance has been proposed. The results showed that Vetiver grass root system increases the soil cohesion and internal friction factor upto 104% and 83%, respectively. Also, it was found that soil cohesion and internal friction factor are best correlated with RAR and RDR, respectively. Finally, an attempt was made to compare the Vetiver grass with several native trees. It was concluded that Vetiver grass is more suitable than common plants and can be considered as an alternative for river bank protection against erosion.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1]. Dang MH, Umeda S, Yuhi M. Long-term riverbed response of lower Tedori River, Japan, to sediment extraction and dam construction. Environmental Earth Sciences, 2014; 72(8): 2971-2983.‏
[2]. Balaban SI, Hudson-Edwards KA, Miller JR. A GIS-based method for evaluating sediment storage and transport in large mining-affected river systems. Environmental Earth Sciences, 2015; 74(6): 4685-4698.
 
[3]. Ahmadian-Yazdi M. Effect of vegetation on Tajan-Harirood meander bank erosion. MSc. Thesis, 2000; Gorgan University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. [Persian]
[4]. Samadi A, and Amiri-Tokaldani E. River bank mass erosion: Process and Mechanism, University of Tehran Press; 2015. p. 504.
[5]. Shirdeli A, Shafai-Bajestan M, Ciacar H. Investigation of the effects of tamarisk and tamarisk aphyllaroots on the stability of seistan river banks. 7th International River Engineering Conference, Shahid Chamran University, 2007; 13-15 Feb 2007, Ahwaz [Persian]
[6]. Lin D, Liu W, Lin S. Estimating the effect of shear strength increment due to root on the stability of makino bamboo forest slopeland, Journal of GeoEngineering, 2011; 6(2): 73-88
[7]. Dumlao MR, Ramananarivo S, Goyal V, DeJong JT, Waller J, Silk WK. The role of root development of Avena fatua in conferring soil strength. American journal of botany, 2015; 102(7): 1050-1060.
[8]. Ghestem M, Veylon G, Bernard A, Vanel Q, Stokes A. Influence of plant root system morphology and architectural traits on soil shear resistance. Plant and soil, 2014; 377(1-2), 43-61.‏
[9]. Islam MS. Application of Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) as a bio-technical slope protection measure–some success stories in Bangladesh.‏ Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Vetiver, 2015; 5-8 May, Danang City, Vietnam.
[10].            Abdullah MN, and Osman N. Soil-root Shear Strength Properties of Some Slope Plants. Sains Malaysiana, 2011; 40(10): 1065–1073
[11].            Genet M, Stokes A, Fourcoud T, Norris JE. The influence of plant diversity on slope stability in a moist evergreen deciduous forest. Ecological Engineering, 2010;36: 265-275.
[12].            Schwarz M, Preti F, Giadrossich F, Lehmann P, Or D. Quantifying the role of vegetation in slope stability: A case study in Tuscany (Italy). Ecological Engineering 2010; 36: 285-291.
[13].            Ebrahimi N, Shirdeli A, Nik-khah-Javan E, Hossein M. Effects of river bed vegetation on flow hydraulics and bed forms. Journal of Watershed Management and Engineering, 2015; 8(2): 182-192. [Persian]
[14].            Hemphill RW, Bramley ME. Protection of river and canal banks. CIRIA, Butter Worths, London; 1989.
[15].            Shafaei-Bajestan M, Salimi M. Effects of tamaricaceae and popoluse roots on in situ soil shear strength of Karoon river banks. Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources Science and Technology, 2002; 6(4): 27-40. [Persian]
[16].            Shirdeli A. Study of bioengineering methods for river bank stabilization, Journal of Watershed Science and Engineering, 2012; 7(23): 53-62. [Persian]
[17].            Dastoorani M, Rajabi-Mohammadi F. Study of mechanical and hydrological effects of river bank vegetation on bank stability, Case Study: Hana River, 3rd National Seminar on water resources management, University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Science, 2011; 10-12 September, Sari, Iran. [Persian]
[18].            Troung P, Van T, Pinners E. Vetiver system applications (Technical Reference). 2008.
[19].            Niknejad D. Biological control of river bank erosion by Vetivergrass. 11th National Seminar on Irrigation and Vapor reduction. Kerman, Shahid Bahonar University, 2010; 8-10 February, Kerman, Iran. [Persian]
[20].            Xie FX. Vetiver for highway stabilization in Jian Young country: demonstration and extension. In; proceedings of the Interventional vetiver workshop, Fuzhow, China; 1997.
[21].            Xia HP, Ao HX, Liu SZ, He DQ. Application of the Vetiver grass bioengineering technology for the prevention of highway slippage in southern China. Proc. Ground and Water Bioengineering for Erosion Control and Slope Stabilization, Manila, Philippines April 1999.
[22].            Ke C, Feng Z, Wu X, Tu F. Design Principles and Engineering Samples of Applying Vetiver Eco-engineering Technology for Steep Slope and River Bank Stabilisation. In Proceedings of the Third International Vetiver Conference (ICV3), 2003; Guangzhou, China.
[23].            Sy M. The vetiver: from nursery to the protection of infrastructures. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Vetiver and Exhibition, 2003; Guangzhou, China.
[24].            Hengchaovanich D, and Nilaweera NS. An assessment of strength properties of vetiver grass roots in relation to slope stabilization. In International Conference on Vetiver, 1996; Chain Kai, Thailand.
[25].            Sangab-Zagros consulting Engineers. Evaluation report of geology and morphology of the Kor river. Fars Regional Water Organization; 2008. [Persian]
[26].            Shirani H, Haj-Abbasi M, Afyooni M, Hemmat E. Effect of tillage and manure on maize root morphology. Soil and Water Journal, 2008; 23(1): 101-107. [Persian]
[27].            Davoudi M, Fatemi-Aqda M. Effect of Diameter and Density of Willow Roots on Shear Resistance of Soils, Geosciences, 2008; 71: 143-148. [Persian]
[28].            Shariata Jafari M, Davoudi M, Safaei M and Partoi A. Invetigating the effect of Diospyros lotus root system in soil reinforcement using RDR and RDDI indices. Journal of Watershed Engineering and Management, 2014; 6(2): 107-114. [Persian]
[29].            Davoudi M, Fatemi-Aqda M, Noroozi H, Shah-Alipoor GH. Effect of tree root diameter on soil shear strength, 4th seminar on engineering geology and environment, 2004; 24-26 February, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. [Persian]
[30].            Vannoppen, W., Poesen, J., De Baets, S., Vanmaercke, M., Peeters, P., & Vandevoorde, B. Effectiveness of plant roots in controlling rill and gully erosion: A case study on vegetation
communities on river dikes. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Soil Bio- and Eco-Engineering, 11-14 July 2016,Sydney, Australia.
[31].            Day SD, Seiler JR, Persaud N. A comparison of root growth dynamics of silver maple and flowering dogwood in compacted soil at differing soil water contents. Tree Physiology, 2000; 20(4): 257-263.
[32].            Goldsmith W. Soil strength reinforcement by plants, International Erosion Control Association (IECA); 2006. p. 5-16.
[33].            da Silva EV, Bouillet JP, de Moraes Gonçalves JL, Junior CHA, Trivelin, PCO, Hinsinger P, Jourdan C, Nouvellon Y, Stape JL, Laclau, JP.. Functional specialization of Eucalyptus fine roots: contrasting potential uptake rates for nitrogen, potassium and calcium tracers at varying soil depths. Functional Ecology, 2011; 25: 996–1006.
[34].            Maleki S, Naghdi R, Abdi E, Nikooi M. Study of Tuska root effects on soil armoring as a bioenginnering tools. Iranian Forest Journal. 2013; 6 (1): 49-58. [Persian]
Iranian journal of Ecohydrology
Volume 5, Issue 3
October 2018
Pages 727-738

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 10 June 2017
  • Revise Date: 22 January 2018
  • Accept Date: 04 January 2018

Share

How to cite

Statistics