TRACK 2, DAY 2
Successes and Lessons Learned from 5 Years of Monitoring Riverbank Bioengineering Projects in Calgary
ABSTRACT
Under The City of Calgary’s Riparian Action Program, The City embarked on a five-year (2018-2022) Riparian Monitoring Program (RMP) with the objective of monitoring the effectiveness of riverbank bioengineering works completed over the last decades.
Both the structural and vegetation components were assessed in detail on almost 70 bioengineering sites across the watercourses in the City, many of which were constructed after the 2013 flood. Detailed vegetation survival and growth data were collected by bioengineering technique for over 10,000 potted plants and live cuttings.
This presentation will share practical information on the effectiveness of bioengineering techniques from the learnings collected over the last five years of monitoring work.
Additionally, recommendations for design, implementation, and maintenance will be discussed to support improvement in overall bioengineering project delivery with application in Ontario, such as using beneficial practices (e.g., soil amendment and fencing), and performance targets for growth metrics, survival, canopy cover, and density of live shoots.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Mike Gallant, Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd.
Mike is a senior water resources engineer and green infrastructure specialist with over 19 years of planning, design, construction, and monitoring experience.
His career to date has focused on mitigating impacts to river systems and municipal infrastructure from erosion issues, with particular expertise on the use of vegetation for erosion control, and fish and wildlife habitat enhancement.
Mike received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of New Brunswick, where he specialized in the eco hydraulic design of fish habitat enhancement structures.
Mike’s recent work has been on soil bioengineering riverbank stabilization design, construction and monitoring for a range of municipal and private landowner clients for waterbodies ranging from small creeks to large rivers in Alberta and British Columbia.