BGA Early Careers Group South West Event: Innovation in Geotechnical Engineering Series: Landslide Mitigation for Highways England Assets: Willow Poles as a Sustainable Solution

Synopsis

Highways England proposes several sustainable geotechnical repair techniques for slopes, of which planting live willow poles is considered the most sustainable. This method also effectively provides both short-term reinforcement and long-term stabilisation as root systems become established over time.

However, this practice is confined to a small number of locations where site-specific studies have been carried out. Cora identified that the principal reason this practice has not been more widely adopted is that the development of a generalised model of application is difficult, due to the variable engineering properties of natural materials. She aimed through her research to address this issue by undertaking a parametric study, simulating the interaction of dynamic hydrology and stability models. This was done to examine the potential of planting live willow poles on slopes as a long-term solution across the UK road network.