179 



■ WOOD CRIB WALLS 



A cribwall is a rectangular 

 framework of logs in which the wood 

 members are essentially assembled in 

 a log-cabin fashion. The structure is 

 built sloping back against steep slopes 

 for situations which require a retain- 

 ing wall for stability. The rectangular 

 cells formed by the structure are filled 

 with soil and/or rocks to provide 

 strength and weight. Many crib walls 

 built by the mining industry in the 

 early 1900s are still in place today. Crib 

 walls provide the advantage of incor- 

 porating revegetation by planting 

 through the slats in the structure as 

 part of the slope stabilization. This 

 structure can be used as a stabilization 

 measure on steep banks with high 

 velocity flows. As the vegetation 

 grows, the installation achieves a 

 natural appearance. The projects can 

 be designed so that plant material can 

 take over the structural function of 

 slope stability by the time the timbers 

 begin to rot. 



WOOD CRI& WAUU 



■ LIVE FASCINES OR WATTLES 



Live fascines (sometimes called wat- 

 tles) are sausage-shaped bundles of 

 live plant cutting wired together and 

 secured into the stream bank with 

 live or dead Makes. Most often, the 

 bundles are placed on slopes parallel 

 to the contour, and they are also used 

 in combination with other vegetation 

 stabilization methods. They are used 

 to protect banks for washout and 

 seepage, particularly at the foot of a 

 stream bank, and where water levels 



fluctuate. At the water's edge, it is a 

 method that is durable even before the 

 cuttings have rooted. It is a flexible, 

 simple method requiring little soil 

 disruption, and grows into a natural 

 appearing installation. Willows make 

 ideal live fascine or wattling material. 



■ LIVE CUTTINGS, BRUSH MAT- 

 TING, BRUSH LAYERING 



In some instances, eroding banks 

 can be protected and a stream 

 meander modifed by the planting of 

 rows of live cuttings from riparian 

 species. Most frequently, cuttings are 

 made from willows and planted dur- 

 ing their dormant season in the fall 

 and winter. A technique often refer- 

 red to as the "Palmiter method" uses 

 the technique of staking dead trees or 

 limbs (brush matting) to eroding 

 banks to slow water velocities on the 

 outside bends of streams and allow for 

 volunteer plant growth to establish 

 itself on the protected site. Live cut- 

 tings can be placed in the brush mat- 

 ting. Brush matting can also use live 

 plant material stacked on the banks. 

 Brush layering techniques use live 

 branches of the shrub or tree species 

 which are inserted into the banks 

 perpendicular to the slope so that the 

 rooting occurs back into the slope 

 (rather than parallel, like brush mat- 

 ting) to resist shear failures or 

 slippage. 



BRUSH MATT1N6 - PLAN V'fcW 



LIVE ANP 



D6AD FVANT 



STAKE* 



eKut>H matting - ae^TigM viedv 



