The U of M puts down its foot on the loss of riverbanks
Evelyn Kayaga
Two professors and a graduate student from the University of Manitoba are heading a research project aimed at stabilizing the riverbanks in Winnipeg more effectively.
The history of the city’s riverbanks has shown that its clay soils, precipitation and water movement have resulted in unstable sections, which in turn has led to loss of private
and public property.
The research project is headed by Marolo Alfaro and James Blatz, associate professors in the department of civil engineering. Blatz is also the associate head of the department. The two are working with Kendall Thiessen, a graduate student
in civil engineering.
“We are excited to do research in which all parties are involved. We have policy-makers, city consulting engineers, designers, contractors, site and academics
researchers,” said Alfaro.
In the current stage of the project, rock-fill columns attached with instrumentation have been installed on a section of riverbank on city property with the aim of monitoring how rock-fill columns perform under loading in real time.
Initial research for the project was done a couple years ago. Laboratory testing and numerical modeling were performed on different types of material for rock-fill and clay samples to study their strength, according to Alfaro.
Because of the combination of laboratory and field tests “engineers will be able to predict more accurately the performance of rock-fill columns in future design of riverbanks,”
said Alfaro.
In addition, loss of habitats will be more effectively controlled, and the safety of persons and property will be upheld.
Don Kingerski, a city engineer and riverbank manager, said, “Monitoring of a full-scale test on rock-fill columns to stabilize riverbanks may possibly be one of the first in Canada and the rest of the world.”
The technology of using rock-filled columns to stabilize riverbanks has been in use for a number of years, but it has not always been effective in stabilizing the city’s riverbanks. Kingerski noted that the current cost of stabilizing city property is estimated at about $150 million.
The projects findings are expected to produce more cost-effective methods of stabilizing riverbanks.
The total amount of funding for this research project is $225,000, with the city contributing $80,000 and three consultants providing the rest, according to Kingerski.
Kingerski said the city is “looking forward to the results of the research” as previous partnerships have derived “a lot of public benefits.”
He added, “The City of Winnipeg has partnered with the University of Manitoba on a number of research projects dating back to the mid-’80s and have been very happy
with the partnership.”
The U of M researchers hope that their findings will be implemented in the province, Canada and the world, not just for riverbank stabilization, but also other applications like highway slope construction.
