Effectiveness of coir-based rolled erosion control systems in reducing sediment transport from hillslopes

Abstract

Accelerated soil erosion is ubiquitous on human-modified hillslopes. A variety of erosion control products have been developed to reduce on-site soil resource degradation, and off-site transport of sediment and sediment-associated contaminants to receiving water bodies. However, limited quantitative data are available to assess erosion reduction effectiveness, and to establish the salient properties of the erosion control products. A replicated field-based rainfall simulation study was conducted to compare the runoff and erosion effectiveness of three coir (coconut) fiber rolled erosion control systems (RECSs) with a bare (control) treatment. Detailed temporal measurements of runoff and sediment transport were made during two phases of each experiment: (1) a 110-min application of rainfall via a rainfall simulator at 35 mm h −1 after runoff initiation and (2) a 30-min period, at 3 times the flow rate of phase 1, applied via an overland flow generator. All coir treatments enhanced infiltration, delayed time to runoff generation, reduced intensity of rill incision, and reduced sediment output compared to bare treatments. More importantly, statistically significant differences were observed between coir RECSs of different architecture. For the two open weave coir systems tested, the most effective design had a higher mass per area, and less open space between the regularly aligned grid of fibers. The random fiber coir architecture was the most effective, having significantly lower runoff sediment concentrations, lower sediment yields, and a lower frequency of rill initiation. The differences in system architecture are examined in light of fundamental controls on runoff and erosion processes.