Geosynthetic performance against slope erosion caused by high intensity rainfall

Abstract

Soil erosion can cause serious damage to the environment and significant economic losses since uncontrolled erosion processes have detrimental consequences for agriculture and may cause damage to existing civil infrastructure. Geosynthetic products to protect soils against erosion are available, such as geomats, geoblankets and geocells. This paper investigates the performance of geomats and geoblankets for the protection of slopes against erosion caused by intense rainfall by means of laboratory tests using a rainfall simulator. The influence of the presence of vegetation on the slope was also investigated. Two geomats and three geoblankets were tested. The results obtained showed that these products can provide efficient soil protection, but due attention must be paid to some factors such as the product's physical and hydraulic characteristics, good contact with the soil surface, soil cover ratio and endurance under high rainfall intensities. The results also showed that the presence of vegetation is beneficial against soil erosion, but the level of performance improvement brought by the vegetation will depend on geomat and geoblanket characteristics and properties.