The economic comparison of different methods to protect the flood control earthen dykes against erosion in Iran

Since floods are recognized as one of the most important natural hazards, their management and control seem to be particularly important. Different methods have been so far used to control river floods, among which, the use of earth dykes appears to be one of the cheapest and most reliable methods. The use of proper coating seems to be necessary to protect the soil materials of the dykes against the current erosive forces. We introduced four common methods of protection of earthen dykes in this study, including stone cover, gabion coating, concrete mattress cover, and the use of stone or rock groins (epis) and evaluated and compared them economically. The earthen dyke method associated with stone groins appears to be the most economical method for use in Iran based on the results obtained since its final cost is lower than the earthen dyke method with stone coating by 15%, the earthen dyke method with gabion coating by 21%, and the earthen dyke method with concrete mattress cover by 33%.

کلیدواژه ها:

Flood ، Earthen dyke ، Protective coating (cover) ، Economic comparison