Use of gabions and vegetation in erosion-control works

Abstract

Heavy winter and spring rainfall during the years 2005, -06, -07, and -08 brought about numerous torrential floods and landslides throughout the world and in Serbia. They endangered people, animals, settlements, fields, and roads. This reminded us of a readily available, cheap, and efficient material: stone in wire baskets of doubly galvanized wire of various sizes and forms - gabions - which are also long-lasting, flexible, and ecological. If made according to prescribed standards, they offer a permanent solution for many erosion-control problems. In addition, they can be used in urgent interventions to protect the lives of humans, animals, and plants and prevent of immense material losses. This paper calls attention to an unjustifiably neglected but important material, easily manipulated and with significant advantages compared to other structural materials, as well as to the possibility of its successful combination with vegetation, viz., willow (Salix sp.) cuttings and grasses.

Keywords

• erosion-control materials
• ecological materials
• gabions
• erosion
• vegetation
• metals
• wire
• stone