Technical-biological
Bank Protection
on Inland Waterways

Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde
Technisch-biologische Ufersicherungen an Binnenwasserstraßen

Colloquium 2013

The Colloquium "Technical-Biological Bank Protection Measures Applied on Large Navigable Waterways – Potentials and Opportunities" was jointly organized by the German Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW), the German Federal Institute for Hydrology (BfG), the German Association for Bioengineering (Gesellschaft für Ingenieurbiologie) and the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA). It took place on the 21st and 22nd of November 2013 at the BAW in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Since the EU Water Framework Directive came into effect new concepts for bank protection measures along navigable waterways, which do not only meet technical requirements but also ecological aspects, became more and more important. However, so far only little experience has been gained on the use of technical-biological bank protections along federal waterways with regard to ensuring the stability of banks that are exposed to ship-induced hydraulic load. Only little experience is available, too, concerning the ecological effectiveness and the required maintenance measures.

Based on the current knowledge the Code of Practice M 519 was issued as draft proposal by the DWA work group WW-1.5/ 2.5. Various experience gained from smaller unnavigable rivers and results from the ongoing R&D project “Technical-Biological Bank Protection Measures Applied on Inland Waterways” of BAW and BfG were incorporated in this Code of Practice.

It covers methods how under certain boundary conditions bank protection with plants can already now be designed and installed on navigable rivers. This approach is based on current technical standards and is taking into account experiences from bioengineering. At the joint colloquium of BAW, BfG, the Association for Bioengineering and DWA recent developments and the Code of Practice were presented. Worked examples of ecological bank design on the river Neckar could be visited on the occasion of an excursion.

Presentations

The documents are available in German language only.