Soil Bioengineering: SER-NW 2018

This 2018 SER-NW webinar deck surveys living-plant treatments for steep slopes and riparian areas through dated project examples. It includes slope repair, seepage management, live structures, gravel-bar restoration, and the Johnson’s Landing landslide response.

56:00 · 307 slides · Historical presentation · No recorded narration

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Soil Bioengineering Techniques for Riparian Restoration · Living Structural Systems in Soil Bioengineering · Site Assessment & Restoration Planning

About this presentation

Source: Society for Ecological Restoration Northwest webinar slides, December 2018. Slides by David Polster; individual image and diagram credits remain in the presentation. This video includes the complete supplied deck. It is an archive slideshow, not a recording of the spoken conference session.

Dates, costs and examples reflect the original presentation. Treatment suitability depends on current site conditions and requirements.

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  1. Soil Bioengineering for the Restoration of Steep and Unstable Slopes and Riparian Areas
    David Polster, B.Sc., M.Sc., CERP

  2. Soil bioengineering is the use of living plant materials to solve some engineering problem.

  3. Point Grey Cliffs ca 1972, we will use these cliffs as an example.

  4. University of British Columbia Slopes, Winter 1988/89

  5. UBC Slopes, March 6, 1989
    70o Slope

  6. Doesn’t change slope (70 degrees)
    Changes conditions for vegetation growth
    1989

  7. UBC slopes initial test planted winter of 1987/88, May 7, 1988

  8. Wattle Fences

  9. UBC Slopes, May 28, 1990

  10. UBC Slopes, January 18, 1990

  11. UBC Slopes, 1996

  12. UBC Slopes, March 25, 1999

  13. UBC Slopes, March 25, 1999

  14. UBC Slopes, July 4, 2012

  15. UBC Slopes, July 4, 2012

  16. UBC Slopes, November 26, 2012

  17. UBC Slopes, November 26, 2012

  18. UBC Slopes, January 21, 2016

  19. UBC Slopes, January 21, 2016

  20. UBC Slopes, February 3, 2017

  21. UBC Slopes, February 3, 2017

  22. UBC Slopes, January 25, 2018

  23. UBC Slopes, March 25, 2509

  24. UBC Slopes piping failure

  25. UBC Slopes piping failure, brush mattress

  26. UBC Slopes piping failure, re-establishing slope using wattle fences

  27. UBC Slopes piping failure, brush mattress draining moisture

  28. UBC Slopes piping failure, excellent growth with ample moisture

  29. Nature’s barbed wire…

  30. Road deactivation near creek
    August 18, 1987

  31. Sept. 22, 1987
    Sept. 22, 1987
    Lunchtime

  32. July, 1988

  33. July 9, 2005

  34. August 1, 2009

  35. September 25, 2015

  36. July 26, 2018

  37. 53o till slope over 5 m rock cut
    July 4, 1986
    October 29, 1986

  38. July 20, 1987

  39. May 26, 1988

  40. July 10, 2005

  41. August 1, 2009

  42. Roger’s Cellular Silverdale slide

  43. Roger’s Cellular Silverdale slide

  44. Roger’s Cellular Silverdale slide

  45. Roger’s Cellular Silverdale slide

  46. Partially completed

  47. Nearly done…

  48. Looking down from the top

  49. Cleaning up

  50. The crew at completion

  51. May 18, 2006.

  52. June 18, 2007.

  53. June 18, 2007

  54. June 18, 2007

  55. June 24, 2008

  56. June 24, 2008

  57. June 24, 2008

  58. Vantreight Slope
    March 13, 2013

  59. Ivy Removal
    December 8, 2014
    Note tree for reference

  60. Ivy Removal
    December 8, 2014

  61. First row of wattle fences
    December 9, 2014

  62. Going up
    December 9, 2014

  63. Getting to the steep part.
    December 12, 2014

  64. December 12, 2014
    Nearing the top.

  65. December 15, 2014
    Almost done.
    Reference Tree

  66. December 15, 2014
    Top completed.
    Reference Tree

  67. December 15, 2014
    Slope completed

  68. Reference Tree
    April 19. 2015

  69. April 19, 2015

  70. May 12, 2015
    Reference Tree

  71. May 12, 2015

  72. Reference Tree
    August 13, 2015

  73. August 13, 2015

  74. Landslide Restoration
    Hudson, Quebec

  75. Genesis of slide –fill dumped over the edge

  76. Collecting cuttings

  77. Getting started
    April 18, 2011

  78. Staking the bottom of the slope

  79. Moving up the slope with wattle fences

  80. Slope surface changes shape

  81. Live pole drains installed to control seepage

  82. Nearing the top

  83. Top finishing

  84. Done – April 25, 2011

  85. May 25, 2011

  86. June 1, 2011

  87. June 1, 2011

  88. July 24, 2011

  89. July 24, 2011

  90. August 12, 2011

  91. August 12, 2011

  92. December 26, 2015

  93. Restoration of the Muskwa River bank just above the Hwy. 97 bridge in Fort Nelson.
    October 5, 2018

  94. Natural river processes on the Muskwa River in Fort Nelson, October 5, 2018

  95. October 7, 2018

  96. So what can we do with dry sites where rolling stones are preventing vegetation growth?

  97. Pulled back road fills.

  98. Modified brush layers

  99. Modified brush layer

  100. Install supports and board or log

  101. Install cuttings

  102. Backfill

  103. Looking down the slope – no path for rolling stones (so we can get satisfaction)

  104. Cuttings remain exposed even when bench is full

  105. Useful for vegetation establishment

  106. Green side up…

  107. Can cover large areas with MBLs

  108. Changes conditions for vegetation growth

  109. Starts successional processes

  110. Assists the recovery of damaged ecosystem

  111. Allows vegetation establishment under harsh conditions

  112. Three different species in this MBL.

  113. Can treat large areas

  114. Provides pockets to capture fines

  115. Open slope failure down to basal till, July 31, 1996

  116. Vegetation becoming established, August 23, 1997

  117. Smelter slope above Columbia River, Trail, B.C.

  118. Work started in spring 2006 along the toe
    Keep this view in mind

  119. Aerial tram used to haul materials
    Spring 2007

  120. Installing brush layers

  121. Brush layers can provide stabilization to steep slopes.

  122. September 4, 2007

  123. August 11, 2008

  124. August 11, 2008

  125. July 2, 2009

  126. July 2, 2009

  127. July 6, 2011

  128. A cautionary tale,
    June 20, 1997

  129. Covered with MBLs
    October 25, 1997

  130. Solved ???
    Mowhokam Creek Slide

  131. March 21, 1998 mud flows

  132. March 21, 1998 – surface soup

  133. Surface mud flows topple
    horizontal structures

  134. Wattle fences & MBLs have limited resistance to toppling – 1998
    Suskwa FSR

  135. However, even a little stability helps – 2006, Suskwa FSR

  136. Still more work to do – 2006, Suskwa FSR

  137. Typical toppling failure

  138. Live Smiles
    Uses catenary curve to “suspend” mud

  139. Suspension bridge, Juan de Fuca Trail

  140. Like a wattle fence built in a curve, Buckley Bay

  141. Good for very wet sites

  142. Abundant moisture allows good growth

  143. Initiates succession

  144. Live smiles in 2005

  145. Looking face on

  146. Red-osier Dogwood doing well

  147. January 2009

  148. January 2009
    Western Red Cedar
    naturally established

  149. Harvey Creek, near Quesnel

  150. North Vancouver

  151. Fisher Creek, near Chetwynd

  152. Live Pole Drains

  153. Intersecting the water, 1985

  154. Installing Live Pole Drains, 1985

  155. Drains moisture immediately
    1986, first spring after installation

  157. Cuttings sprout and grow, 1988

  158. July 16, 1999

  159. Business end of live pole drain,
    July 16, 1999

  160. Still draining water after 14 years,
    July 16, 1999
    Note rock shape

  161. July 9, 2005

  162. August 1, 2009

  163. Business end of live pole drain,
    August 1, 2009

  164. Water flow area in a dry year, 24 years after installation, August 1, 2009

  165. July 26, 2018, 33 years after treatment

  166. Eventually these seepage areas are colonized by Devil’s Cub and Cedar

  167. Seepage water causing a problem on this trail – Spring 2008

  168. Ice still present on part of the slope – May 17, 2008

  169. Seepage coming from the bank above was freezing and covering the trail – May 17, 2008

  170. Seepage area exposed

  171. Live pole drain installed and seepage area covered with insulating layer

  172. Drain extended down the slope and into the culvert

  173. Seepage area growing – May 31, 2009

  174. Live pole drain growing – May 31, 2009

  175. July 11, 2011

  176. Live Palisades

  177. Live Palisades Cross Section

  178. Cottonwood poles are collected and soaked

  179. Excavator used to dig trench to water table

  180. Live palisade construction and live gravel bar staking

  181. Cuttings grow forming a wall of woody vegetation
    Mimics natural cottonwood stands

  182. Cottonwood growth after 3 years

  183. What will happen in this ditch when it starts raining?

  184. So now it is raining and sediment is washing into a sensitive wetland

  185. Is this an effective erosion control system???

  186. What about this?

  187. …or this???

  188. Live silt fencing slows flows and allows sediments to drop out

  189. A high-tech solution, live silt fences, February 20, 1992

  190. February 20, 1992

  191. May 11, 1992

  192. January 30, 1993

  193. April 9, 1997

  194. April 9, 1997

  195. May 25, 2018
    Vancouver Island Gas Pipeline RoW

  196. Disturbed streambank prior to treatment, October 12, 2005

  197. Cuttings ready to go

  198. Disturbed streambank after treatment, December 18, 2005

  199. Disturbed streambank growing,
    July 14, 2006

  200. May 1, 2010

  201. Natural successional processes on gravel bars

  202. Natural establishment of vegetation on Porcupine River gravel bars builds the bars

  203. Pioneering species can change the context of the ecosystems in which
    they grow

  204. Live Gravel Bar Staking

  205. Live Gravel Bar Staking

  206. Live Gravel Bar Staking, Oktwanch River, bare gravel bar

  207. Live Gravel Bar Staking, Oktwanch River, inserting cuttings, March 27, 1998

  208. Live Gravel Bar Staking, Oktwanch River, growing

  209. Starting to collect finer sediments

  210. A tasty snack for these Roosevelt Elk

  211. Persisting despite heavy browsing, 2014

  212. Slows flows and traps sediment

  213. Installing cuttings on San Juan River bar March 12, 1998

  214. Cuttings growing
    May 19, 1998

  215. Sprouts collect small woody debris
    March 12, 1999

  216. Sediment collects in slack water behind small woody debris jams
    March 12, 1999

  217. Once twigs too small to collect debris, sediment collection stops
    March 12, 1999
    80 cm of sediment collected over the 10 ha of gravel bars staked the first year (80,000 m3)

  218. This leaves enough sticking out so that the cuttings can grow again the following summer, June 29, 1999

  219. New plants and large woody debris, October 31, 2002

  220. Continued successional development
    June 2, 2006

  221. Understory starting to diversify
    June 2, 2006

  222. Western red cedar starting to appear

  223. As the gravel bar builds, the thalwag deepens, June 2, 2006

  224. June 19, 2011

  225. A dense stand of willows and other species have developed on the bar.
    June 19, 2011

  226. The root infused sand is relatively erosion resistant (June 19, 2011)

  227. June 10, 2014

  228. May 13, 2015

  229. May 13, 2015

  230. June 10, 2014
    Sitka Spruce establishing under the canopy of pioneering species

  231. Sediment laden waters flood into the forest, depositing rich, fine-textured silts = very productive sites.

  232. Collecting cuttings at Germaine Creek, YT, Fall, 2004

  233. Soaking cuttings at Germaine Creek, Fall, 2004

  234. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, Fall, 2004

  235. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, Fall, 2004

  236. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, Fall, 2004

  237. Klondike River at Germaine Creek, Break-up, 2005

  238. Klondike River at Germaine Creek, May 19, 2005

  239. Klondike River at Germaine Creek, June 3, 2005

  240. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, June, 2005

  241. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, September 6, 2005

  242. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, September 16, 2005

  243. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, August 8, 2006

  244. Live gravel bar staking at Germaine Creek, September 14, 2006, significant sand deposition.

  245. 30 cm in this area…

  246. August 12, 2007

  247. August 6, 2007
    Additional sediment and woody debris

  248. July 14, 2008

  249. August 5, 2014

  250. August 5, 2014

  251. August 5, 2014

  252. June 19, 2018

  253. June 19, 2018

  254. Johnson’s Landing Landslide

  255. Landslide path

  256. Working with local community members, October 18, 2012

  257. Upper Landslide Area

  258. Middle Landslide Area

  259. Lower Landslide Area

  260. Balsam Poplar, the only tree left standing in the slide path

  261. Another Balsam Poplar still standing in the slide path

  262. Extended access in transport zone is hazardous.
    Aerial seeding the raw soils with Sitka Alder is recommended.

  263. The upper transport zone was seeded with alder in the fall of 2012

  264. Loose soils solutions = establish pioneering species so root systems knit the soil together
    Remember Balsam Poplar

  265. The deposition zone was staked with 2,290 Balsam Poplar cuttings, April 8, 2013

  266. 10 monitoring plots, each 1/100th ha in size, were established, April 12, 2013

  267. Over 97.6% of the cuttings were growing, August 3, 2013

  268. Fence established to keep out hungry deer and elk

  269. September 16, 2013

  270. May 16, 2014
    Balsam Poplar from live staking

  271. May 5, 2015

  272. May 15, 2014
    Sitka Alder seelings from aerial seeding

  273. Oak Fern from rafted rhizomes
    May 16, 2014

  274. May 16, 2014
    Parsley Fern from residual rhizomes

  275. May 16, 2014
    Forest duff species from rafted forest floor

  276. May 16, 2014
    Hooker’s Fairybells and Thimbleberry from rafted forest floor

  277. May 16, 2014
    Western Red Cedar seedling from wind-borne seed

  278. May 16, 2014
    Douglas-fir seedling from wind-borne seed

  279. September 12, 2014
    Alder seedling from helicopter spread seed

  280. May 5, 2015

  281. September 4, 2015 Johnson’s Landing Landslide Inspection

  282. This is the upper landslide area

  283. The live staking is doing well in some areas.

  284. Although there is growth on most stakes, the amount of growth varies

  285. Some Red-osier Dogwood are doing well, and the willow stake is great.

  286. The seeded Sitka Alder is growing well

  287. This Aspen seedling is doing very well.

  288. Balsam Poplar seedlings occur all over the slide.

  289. Balsam Poplar and Western Red Cedar will create the deciduous over conifer successional pattern that dominates in Canada

  290. May 4, 2016

  291. May 4, 2016

  292. May 4, 2016

  293. May 4, 2016

  294. May 4, 2016

  295. May 4, 2016

  296. July 22, 2017
    Pioneering species are starting to dominate the slide.

  297. July 22, 2017
    The pioneering species are providing homes for the conifers that will form the future forests.

  298. July 27, 2018
    The seeded Sitka Alder is doing well.

  299. July 27, 2018
    Balsam Poplar are becoming well established.

  300. Tools for soil bioengineering
    Cutting tools

  301. Cutting tools

  302. Tools for soil bioengineering
    Digging tools

  303. Pick / Grub hoe types

  304. Planting bars

  305. Planting bars

  306. Planting bars

  307. Questions???

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