Project

Gully erosion is a major problem affecting many farms all over the World. Check-dams made up by different materials and techniques are among the most effective gully control alternatives. Often, there is not accessible information to farmers on the different options and their associated cost for gully control with check-dams. “The Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and the University of Cordoba” have developed a decision support system to provide farmers and landowners a tool to explore the cost of different check-dams options for gully control and reclamation. OptCheck optimizes the number, location and heights of the check-dams to minimize the cost related to the control of a gully defined by its length and cross sections. This tool enables the farmers to find the most suitable option for their requirements among the different kind of check-dams.

OptCheck implements fixed and variable costs for different check dam types commonly used in gully control. The farmer needs to input the check dam type chosen, the desired overlapping space between check dams, the initial check dams’ height and the dimensions of the gully. The different types of check dam included in the tool are: one single piece precast concrete check dam; modular concrete blocks; standard gabions; single barrier of steel poles, gabion mesh and rock; double barrier of steel poles, gabion mesh and rock; rolled gabion mesh and rock; and one piece of concrete casted in site spillway without stilling basin (Figure 1).

Check Dams Types
Figure 1. Check dams types.

The overlapping space between check dams refers to desired compensation gradient, which depends on the effective height of the dams, and affects to the space between check dams (Figure 2). The initial check dam height is the distance from the streambed to the top of the check dam. OptCheck requires that the initial check dam’s height range between 0.4 and 1.8 meters. The gully dimensions required are: the longitudinal steepness of the channel expressed in degrees; the projected length of the channel in meters; and the cross section defined by the width at the bottom of the channel (meters), the depth at the change section profile (meters), and the side steepness of the lower and top sub-section.

Overlapping scheme and equation
Figure 2. Overlapping scheme and equation

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