Methods of Bank Repair

• Hazel Faggots

These are spliced together between chestnut stakes to form a protective barrier between water and bank. Either set at summer water levels to create a two stage channel trapping silt from rising water levels, providing dead water areas behind, allowing emergent vegetation to gain a foothold. Thus creating a living mattress of root mass which helps to buffer and stabilise the new bank and habitat/cover. This also allows flood prevention, as the carrying capacity of the original channel hasn’t been altered, due to the low lying nature of the revettment. Faggots can also be set at above winter water levels, planted with emergent vegetation and backfilled with local materials creating an instant, stable riverbank.

• Willow Faggots

          Similar techniques to hazel faggots except the willow is living. Creating a living wall will enable fast regeneration, using it’s root mass to help shore up the toe and upper bank against erosive forces.

• Willow Spiling

          This involves driving live willow stakes along the riverbank and then weaving withies (willow shoots) between the stakes. As with the willow faggots, this creates a living wall, helping to protect against erosive forces. These willow techniques are not suited to all projects, due to need of low shade to help the willow establish. It is a seasonal technique carried out between November and March, and involves maintenance of structure to control excessive growth.

• Methods of Infilling for behind bankwork

This depends on whether access to the newly repaired bank is needed. If access is a priority a mixture of wood, chalk and soil can be used which creates a solid platform behind bankwork but enables watervoles burrowing access and is planted with mixture of wetland plants. If access isn't an issue then the bankwork can be left at summer water levels which means that when water is up at winter levels it deposits its sediment behind the bankwork. To speed up this process a brushwood mattress can be laid behind the bankwork slowing flow down further and trapping more silt whilst providing wetland plants rooting substrate.

An example of brushwood infill behind hazel faggots