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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />CHAPTER 3 <br /> <br />Mechanisms of <br />Streambank Failure <br /> <br />3.1 Introduction. <br /> <br />The single most important component of effective streambank erosion control is the <br />identification of the cause of the problem. Whether a design engineer, planner, or <br />technician. those involved in the process of solving an erosion problem must first <br />recognize that erosion is occurring, then identify the cause. <br /> <br />This chapter discusses the ways in which a bank fails and erodes. Coupled with the <br />infmmation presented in Chapter 2 regarding river mechanics and geomorphology, it <br />presents the foundation for wll1elSlanding and evaluating the lIuvial processes <br />associated with bank erosion. <br /> <br />3.1.1 Importance of identification. <br /> <br />Most of us would he very skeptical of a doctor who prescribes medication without <br />having first detennined what ails us. Of course, the prescribed remedy might very well <br />work. Or it could have no effect, could exacertlate our condition. and might well have <br />disaslrous consequences. <br /> <br />So it is with bank erosion. We often recognize that there is a problem. and that the <br />problem is a recessing bankline. All too often, we prescrihe measures to treat the <br />erosion which are ineffective at best, and which may fail altogether leading to increased <br />rates of erosion. In reality, the bank recession is merely a symplom of processes <br />occurring within a stream. Like the doctor, we must diagnose and treat the cause, not the <br />symptom. <br /> <br />Colorado Erosion Control Manual <br /> <br />15 <br />