Overflowing Tests at the Polish Dredgdikes Research Dike – Stability of the Dike Surface Against Erosion

In the project DredgDikes the different research dike embankments were tested with respect to overflowing water induced erosion. Therefore, flumes were installed on the land side embankments in which the effect of overflowing water on the vegetated surface was investigated. On the Polish DredgDikes research dike near Gdansk, Poland, two parallel flumes were installed and the surface of the dike made of different mixtures of ash, silt and sand as well as clay was tested both in vegetated and unvegetated state. The results showed that the grass sods placed on the dike embankment had a comparably low erosion stability, particularly if placed directly on the hardened ash/silt dike cover with better results if placed on a clay cover, while the ash/silt mixture showed a high erosion resistance without vegetation. This results in the recommendation to use a thicker vegetation layer on top of the ash composite dike if the vegetation shall account for the erosion resistance or else, that even if the grass cover is washed away, a very solid cover made of the ash composite can withstand an overflowing event for considerable time.