Río Sabana Streambank Erosion Control and Restoration at Urb. Alamar, Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Abstract

The construction of new developments on floodplain areas has become a common practice in Puerto Rico. This practice entails the placement of fill inside the river floodplain causing the relocation of the river channel in order to maximize construction area. With the pass of years the meander that has been moved tries to return to their original condition and proof of this is the erosion problem in the streambank of Río Sabana at Urb. Alamar in Luquillo, PR. Actually, the river is moving into the area of the Alamar community causing erosion on the leftbank and portion of 6 houses has already fallen into the river. The main objectives of this project are to present a sustainable, stable and economical solution and will introduce the use of rock vanes for the streambank erosion of Río Sabana at Alamar Community. Key Terms ⎯ Streambank erosion, sustainable erosion control methods, rock vanes, river geomorphology.