Monitoring Methodology of Interventions for Riverbanks Stabilization: Assessment of Technical Solutions Performance

Abstract

The success of the river rehabilitation process depends not only on the intervention project but also on the attention given to the monitoring and evaluation of the implemented measures. In spite of the recent efforts on the quantification and sharing of interventions’ results, there are still very few written records documenting that information. The present work proposes a monitoring methodology for riverbanks’ stabilization interventions by comparing the results obtained by monitoring the implemented technical solutions with the corresponding theoretical time-expected performance. For this purpose, two case studies located in the south of Portugal were analysed. For each of those case studies, the dominant factors that influenced the temporal evolution of the observed outcomes were assessed. It was possible to verify that, depending on the implemented technical solution type and on the specific characteristics of the intervention site, monitoring actions can be fundamental to achieve the expected technical and ecological efficiency, namely when bioengineering technical solutions are involved. This work led to the development of a database structure that will gather information on the application of the proposed methodology over time and that shall be improved with the analysis of the behaviour of other riverbanks’ stabilization interventions. The development of this database will surely contribute to enable choosing and applying the most adequate riverbank protection solutions.