New Partnership Will Develop and Test Promising River Restoration Tools

Promising new stream bank stabilization methods will be developed, tested and demonstrated by two Montana environmental restoration companies in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. THI Riverworks, Inc. (THIR) of Livingston, Bitterroot Restoration, Inc. (BRI) of Corvallis, and the Environmental Lab of the Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) will jointly evaluate several innovative, environmentally beneficial, and low cost bank stabilization methods.

Biotechnical stabilization techniques, which include using plant materials alone or with other materials, have shown environmental, technical, and economic promise for stabilizing stream banks. However, there is a lack of data on the performance and stability of these techniques and materials that limits the acceptability of this approach, particularly for large or complex projects involving high risks. Recognizing this problem, the Montana State University TechLink Center partnered the companies with the Corps of Engineers and created a project that would generate useful data.

The research agreement between THIR, BRI, and ERDC is designed to establish and verify engineering data through the testing of both BRI’s pre-vegetated coir products and THIR’s stream restoration modeling software at the ERDC’s Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Miss., and in various field projects.

The two Montana-based small-business partners will attempt to provide ERDC with reliable data and demonstrate their eco-friendly tools for stream bank stabilization and restoration. The tools promote improved water quality and increased habitat values for fish and wildlife by controlling erosion and establishing a healthy riparian corridor.

“This research will create a win-win situation for everyone. The research will result in a real-world application of products that benefit the environment and the public,” said Tim Meikle, Director of Research and Development for BRI.
Bitterroot Restoration, Inc. will provide pre-vegetated geotextile products for the project. The products are coir (coconut husk fiber) that has been woven into blanket- and log-like shapes.

These materials are placed in large hydroponic ponds, planted with sedges, willows and other wetland plants and allowed to develop substantial root mass. The resulting products are then shipped to the project site where they are unrolled and placed like a large, living green carpet on the eroding stream bank. The plants root quickly and provide rapid control of erosion and instant fish and wildlife habitat without the use of traditional rock armoring.

THI Riverworks, an innovative new software company, was created to develop and market advanced engineering software that will lend predictability to the use of natural, vegetative approaches to river restoration and bank stabilization. THIR is developing BioArmTM in response to the need its sister company, Trout Headwaters Inc. (THI), has for better predictability and analytical precision to support natural stream restoration methods.

"For decades, engineers, hydrologists, wetland specialists and others have used the same hard armor techniques to stabilize stream banks, despite growing evidence hard armor can cause more problems than it solves,” said THIR CEO Michael Sprague. “In order to use and promote these environmentally sustainable approaches to stabilization and restoration effectively at THI, we needed a way to generate predictability using soft materials in complex systems. This software under development will provide an unbiased, engineering-driven basis for evaluating a range of different approaches to stream bank restoration, lending predictability to these new, low-cost approaches,” he said.

Widespread and successful implementation of biotechnical methods is contingent upon the development of suitable design criteria. Engineering data generated through this cooperative research agreement will provide the needed data to generate predictable results for emerging biotechnical products and strategies.

About THI Riverworks

THI Riverworks is a software design firm, based in Montana, specializing in stream bank stabilization and river restoration technologies for government and private industry. Riverworks’ comprehensive range of solutions – from design software and consulting to logistical and implementation support – provides customers with cost-effective and environmentally sound stabilization and restoration. With Riverworks software, engineers and other professionals will have, for the first time, the data and modeling capabilities they need to assess and implement a wide range of alternative technologies, including "soft-armor" approaches that utilize low-cost, natural materials.

About Bitterroot Restoration, Inc.

Bitterroot Restoration, Inc. (BRI) has been a provider of comprehensive ecological restoration services since 1986. BRI has a vast wealth of experience with restoration design and planning, propagation of native plants, implementation of complex restoration projects, and site monitoring and maintenance throughout the western United States and Canada. BRI maintains offices in San Diego and Lincoln, California; Corvallis, Montana; and Bellevue, Washington. For more information, visit: http://www.bitterrootrestoration.com.

About MSU TechLink

TechLink is funded by the Department of Defense and NASA to create partnerships between those agencies and private industry to develop and move technology to market. It was recently named one of ten exemplary models nationwide of technology transfer by the US Department of Commerce. TechLink is Montana State University’s main outreach arm to the technology sector in the state and region and is located in the Advanced Technology Park near the MSU campus in Bozeman. Visit the website for more information: http://www.montana.edu/techlink