Bamboo Crib Wall: A Sustainable Soil Bioengineering Method to Stabilize Slopes in Nepal

Madhu Sudan Acharya
Additional contact information
Madhu Sudan Acharya: Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI), Lalitpur, Nepal

Journal of Development Innovations, 2020, vol. 4, issue 1, 99-118

Abstract: Stabilizing natural as well as man-made slopes in various parts of Nepal is a challenging job. Generally, conventional retaining structures (masonry, concrete or gabion walls) are constructed to stabilize such slopes. The construction and maintenance costs of such walls are increasing every year. A soil bioengineering approach to stabilize slopes using bamboos and plants is explained. The objective of this research work is also to examine the effectiveness of bamboo crib walls to retain the slopes. The performance of the bamboo crib walls were monitored for five years and the results are discussed. The paper highlights the design and construction procedure, strength and durability of bamboo crib walls reinforced with vegetation. A comparison of costs between conventional gabion retaining wall and vegetated bamboo crib wall has also been made for economic justification. The result shows that the introduction of plants inside the bamboo crib wall will not only increase the life of such wall but also increases the stability of whole slope in long-run. Experimental results and qualitative assessment of bamboo crib walls show that the technique of making vegetative crib wall using bamboo could be a sustainable alternative to conventional retaining walls and has potential to add socio-economic value to the communities.

Keywords: Bamboo; Crib Wall; Soil Bio-engineering; Vegetation; Slope Stability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://karmaquest.org/journal/index.php/ILGDI/article/view/56/41

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kqi:journl:2020-4-1-7

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Innovations is currently edited by Bamadev Paudel

More articles in Journal of Development Innovations from KarmaQuest International
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Bamadev Paudel ().