Abstract
A decision support system (DSS) has been developed to assist expert and non-expert users in the evaluation and selection of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection. This DSS combines a qualitative hazard assessment of erosion and mass movements with a detailed catalogue of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection of which the suitability is evaluated in relation to the data entered. The slope decision support system is a knowledgebased DSS in which knowledge is stored in frames containing rules that can evaluate the available information for a project, stored as project specific information in a data file. The advantages of such a system are that it accepts incomplete information and that the qualitative nature of the information does not instil the user with a sense of unjustified exactitude. By its multidisciplinary and progressive nature, the DSS will be of value during the initial stages of an eco-engineering project when data collection and the potential of difierent eco-engineering strategies are considered. The accent of the output of the DSS is on the application of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection as an environmentally friendly solution aiding sustainable development. For its acceptance within the engineering community, the DSS needs to prove its predictive capacity. Therefore, its performance has been benchmarked against successful and unsuccessful cases of slope stabilisation using eco-engineering. The target audience and the areas of application of this DSS are reviewed and the strategies for further development in this area suggested.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abernethy B and Rutherford I D 2000 Do Riparian Trees Destabilize Riverbanks? Regulated Rivers: Research and Management 16, pp. 565–576, Wiley, New York.
Borenstein D 1998 Towards a practical method to validate decision support systems. Decis. Support Syst., 23, 227–239.
Carlsson C and Turban E 2001 DSS: Directions for the next decade. Decis. Support Syst., 33, 105–110.
Cooke R U and Doornkamp J C 1990 Geomorphology in Environmental Management—A New Introduction. 2nd edition. Oxford Univ. Press, London.
Coppin N J and Richards I G 1990 Use of Vegetation in Civil Engineering, CIRIA, Butterworths, London.
Crozier M J 1984 Field assessment of slope instability. In D Brunsden and D B Prior (eds), Slope Instability, pp. 103–143, Wiley, New York.
Cruden D M and Varnes D J 1996 Landslide types and processes. In A K Turner and R L Schuster (eds), Landslides–Investigation and Mitigation, National Academy Press, Transportation Research Board Special Report 247, Washington D.C. pp. 36–75.
Dikau R, Brunsden D, Schrott L, and Ibsen M L (eds) 1996 Landslide Recognition, Identification, Movement and Causes. 251 pp. Wiley, Chichester.
Guzetti F 2000 Landslide fatalities and the evaluation of landslide risk in Italy. Eng. Geol., 58, 89–107.
Hutchinson J N 1988 Morphological and geotechnical parameters of landslides in relation to geology and hydrogeology. In Proceedings 5th International Symposium on Landslides, Lausanne, Vol. 1, pp. 3–35.
Kilburn C R J and Pasuto A 2003 Major risk from rapid, large-volume landslides in Europe (EU Project RUNOUT). Geomorphology, 54, 3–9.
Kumar K, Pant D, Panda Y S and Satyal G S 2000 Runofi and soil loss from steep slopes treated with low cost bioengineering measures. The Environmentalist, 22, 133–141.
Lewis L, Hagen S L and Salisbury S L 2001 Soil Bioengineering for Upland Slope Stablization. WSDOT Research Project WA-RD 491.1 WSDOT, Washington, USA.
Quah T-S, Tan C-L, Raman K S and Srinivasan B 1996 Towards integrating rule-based expert systems and neural networks, Decis. Support Syst., 17, 99–118.
Rib H T and Liang T 1978 Recognition and identification: Landslides analysis and control, R L Schuster and R J Krizek (eds), Special Report 176, pp. 34–80.
Schiechtl H 1980 Bioengineering for Land Reclamation and Conservation. The University of Alberta Press, Canada.
Shim J P, Warkentin M, Courtney J F, Power D J, Sharda R and Carlsson C 2002 Past, present and future of decision support technology. Decision Support Syst., 33, 111–126.
Sidle R C 1985 Factors affecting the stability of slopes. In Proc. of a Workshop on Slope Stability: Problems and Solutions in Forest Management, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, PNW Research Station, Portland, Oregon.
Sidle, R C, Pearce A J and O’Laughlin C L 1985 Hillslope stability and land use. Water Resources Monograph No. 11, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Sotir R B, Difini J T and McKown A F 1997 Soil Bioengineering/biotechnical Stablization of a Slope Failure. Robbin B. Sotir & Associates Inc., Marietta, Georgia, USA. (Available: http://www.sotir.com/pubs/publist/slope_failure.html, assessed July 2004.)
Toll D G and Barr R J 2001 A decision support system for geotechnical applications. Comput. Geotech., 28, 575–590.
United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). (2002) Global Environmental Outlook 3: Past, Present and Future Perspectives.
Varnes D J 1978 Landslide types and processes. In R L Schuster and R J Krizek (eds), Landslides Analysis and Control, pp. 11–33. Special Report 176.
Wieczorek G F 1996 Landslide triggering mechanisms. In A K Turner and R L Schuster (eds), Landslides: Investigation and Mitigation. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., Special Report 247, pp. 76–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mickovski, S., Van Beek, L. (2007). A decision support system for the evaluation of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection. In: STOKES, A., SPANOS, I., NORRIS, J.E., CAMMERAAT, E. (eds) Eco-and Ground Bio-Engineering: The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 103. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5593-5_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5593-5_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5592-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5593-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)