ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Soil bioengineering is a construction technique that uses biological components for hydraulic and civil engineering solutions. In Europe the origin has historical roots from when the society started protecting their infrastructure against natural disasters. Nowadays, these techniques are used as “soft” engineering solutions considering not only technical aspects but also ecological and aesthetic values. The procedures of designing and implementation are similar compared to conventional civil engineering structures. The most distinctive difference to conventional civil engineering structures is the use of different construction materials. Soil bioengineering solutions are based on the application of living plants and other local available additives. These different construction materials are most relevant to benefit in the context of ecosystem services.
Another soil bioengineering key factor is the fact that the services of such “living” engineering structures correlate with the dynamic development and capacity of the plants and properties of the auxiliary materials. Furthermore, it is depending on the field of application and the specific required soil bioengineering function. A state of the art soil bioengineering application takes environmental as well as engineering framework conditions into account, considering beside the process planning, design and construction also monitoring and maintenance of soil bioengineering systems.
The paper gives an overview of the most relevant requirements of soil bioengineering systems in different fields of applications. The functional capability of materials will be analysed and discussed by the means of several soil bioengineering examples.
