Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Environmental Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Advisor 1

Brian Barkdoll

Committee Member 1

Audrey Mayer

Committee Member 2

Robert Handler

Abstract

River erosion is a problem all over the world. The effects of river erosion are especially hard for farmers in developing countries, where the river is an important part of their farming practices and daily lives. A case study was done in the small village of Fode Binea in Senegal, West Africa to reduce this stream erosion. A new hybrid approach, Technology for Integrated Groyne-Vetiver Erosion Reduction (TIGER) method, was developed. The method includes combining groynes at the toe of the riverbank to reduce toe erosion in the channel and planting a buffer strip with vetiver grass to reduce erosion caused by over land flow. Groynes of large rocks were installed at a riverbend with particularly high erosion. Vetiver grass was installed in a buffer strip along the top of the outside bend of the river. Erosion was measured for several months. It was found that there was a reduction in stream area during moderate flow events, thereby indicating erosion reduction. The vetiver grass did not take as fast as hoped but did show promise to taking root and filling in a full buffer strip. Further study should be undertaken to fully understand how the stream preforms under normal conditions as well as monitoring the new method once it is implemented. Therefore, this method shows promise of reducing stream erosion since it works, is low-cost, and made of inexpensive local materials.

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