Soil Reinforcement and Plants: A Case Study of Utilizing Natural Vegetation for Soil Strength Improvement

Abstract

Abstract
Landslide is the most hazardous disaster which highly affects our nation; in the recent decades, the situation is aggravated due to the uncontrolled growth and urbanization which leads to severe degradation of natural environment. Landslides are not easy to monitor or control, the only way to avoid them is proactive prevention by adopting standard practices. Reinforcing soil using various techniques is in practice to increase the slope stability of the natural slopes but most of the techniques prove to be a costly affair. Bountiful research work is already done to optimize the cost of soil reinforcement and strength improvement and many alternative methods have been found. One such promising technique is soil bioengineering which not only optimizes the cost of reinforcing soil but also provides more ecological functions and use locally available facilities and plants for construction. In this work, authors have made at attempt to elucidate the potential use of plants that prevail in the Nilgris district that can be used effectively for soil bioengineering.

Keywords: Vettiver, Bamboo, Soil Reinforcement, Soil Bioengineering