The Shire: West Meadow Bank Stabilization Project
June-September, 1997
The Columbia Gorge, looking east from Crown Point ___________ West Meadow
bank condition, summer, 1997
The Shire: The John Yeon Preserve for Landscape Studies, was the site
for a series of landscape technologies workshops that focused upon the repair
of 1000 linear feet of damaged and eroding bank along the Columbia River.
The Shire, a 1995 gift received by the University and A&AA,
was formerly owned by prominent Oregon environmental designer John Yeon,
and is located on the banks of the Columbia, on the Washington state side
directly across from Multnomah Falls. Much of the area was heavily damaged
during the floods of February and November, 1996, with the area known as
the "West Meadow" suffering extensive damage to its bank. This
damage subsequently destabilized the area, and led to the loss of approximately
3 acres of land in this area alone.
The West Meadow, looking west, ca. July, 1997 _______________ An archaeological
find, a 1900's era Columbia skiff, buried in the silt deposits
In the summer of 1997, Landscape Architecture Assistant Professor Stan Jones
led a preliminary research and design workshop with an interdisciplinary
team of seven students that worked with the Dean's office, local practitioners,
hydrologists, and others to develop several different strategies for re-stabilizing
the bank, utilizing what were described as "low-tech, low-cost"
methods of bank stabilization. The goal behind this was to generate several
simple and inexpensive stabilization options for Oregon landowners, farmers,
and others that could be implemented with materials that were readily available,
and with equipment that they may already have on hand. Other issues that
confronted the summer team involved the historic landscape preservation
components inherent to The Shire, and the planning and design restrictions
placed upon projects occurring in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.
Straw bale armoring being installed ____________________ Bank grading and installation
of koir-based fabric
Ultimately, four different bio-technical bank stabilization treatments were
designed and estimated, ranging from regrading and vegetating, to the use
of geotextiles, and finally to tiered biodegradable straw bale retaining
walls. These methods also served to meet several of the goals that the
team had established for itself in the design of this project: the first
was to preserve the character of the west meadow and the experience of the
place intended by Yeon; the second was to stabilize the bank in a one to
ten year event, and the third goal was to adopt a multi-objective approach,
enhancing habitat value whenever possible.
In the week prior to fall term twenty-two students installed the treatments
on site, using equipment ranging from small bulldozers and backhoes to picks,
shovels, and sledgehammers. In total, participants in the fall workshop
installed over one thousand bales of straw, pounded over two thousand four
foot stakes, and planted over six thousand willows which were harvested
on site and installed along the bank. A temporary irrigation system (donated
by United Pipe, Inc.) was installed to provide water until the winter rains
commence, and a long term monitoring system was set up so that results can
be tracked over the next several years.
As of this writing, erosion control grasses seeded as part of the construction
have reached knee-height, and the water has risen and fallen with no perceptible
impact on the existing bank. If any of the methods appear promising, then
landowners adjacent to streams and rivers will have as a precedent an inexpensive
option to consider in the preservation of land and the creation of habitat
along Oregon's riparian corridors. Only time will tell, however. Yet,
even if the project's results are less than promising, much will have been
learned by the participants of both workshops, clearly fulfilling the ecucational
mission of both A&AA, and The Shire itself.
Site currently under significant
amount of construction, and will be for quite a while.
Copyright 1997 Stan Jones. All rights reserved.
sij@darkwing.uoregon.edu