Home ›› 19 Feb 2023 ›› Corporate
A research project conducted by the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of BUET recommended regular monitoring and maintenance of the river training works (RTWs) to increase the effective life of the embankments in the country.
The research project “An Investigation on the Causes of Embankment Failure and Recommendations for Sustainable Solutions (CEF)” was funded by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), said a press statement.
The project's final workshop was held at the Council Building of BUET on February 15 with an introductory speech by Dr Shamal Chandra Das, Project Director and Additional Chief Engineer (Planning), BWDB, who welcomed the guests and provided an overview of the research project.
The keynote address was delivered by Prof Dr AKM Saiful Islam, director of IWFM at BUET and team leader of the CEF Project.
The designer should anticipate the excessive scours due to several hydro-morphological conditions and need to address them in design, the survey suggested.
Dredging as a means of bank protection measures needs a proper investigation to determine locations and volume of dredging and the ongoing dredging operation should be conducted as per the recommendations of the hydro-morphological study, it said.
Along with the strengthening of existing bank protection structures, the effectiveness of different types of channel guiding structures can be investigated, either in a single or combined way, the study said.
Besides, nature-based sediment trapping options can be explored in the future and feedback from the community should be taken into consideration in the design, it added.
The research was carried out to investigate the causes of the failure of embankments across different regions of the country and find out a long-term sustainable solution against failures. The approach followed in this study considered that embankment is part of the floodplain system; it has multipurpose use; it will face vagaries of climate change in the future; it should be designed following co-production with stakeholders' approach.
The study investigated the causes of failure in 8 study sites by revisiting the existing design, one-two-three-dimensional (1D/2D/3D) hydro-morphological modelling, coastal and estuarine modelling, geotechnical investigation, and community perspectives on the failure and sustainable design of riverine and coastal embankments.
State Minister for Water Resources Ministry Zaheed Farooque as the chief guest of the day-long event, said that researchers and practitioner engineers should collaborate to achieve the long-term goals of the Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP 2100).
“Climate change will not only raise the water level but will also cause longer duration, higher velocity, and stronger wave effect during floods, affecting the embankment's stability”, he stated, highlighting the government's commitment to reducing disaster risks and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Special guest Nazmul Ahsan, secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), stressed that the embankment's design methodology must account for the effects of climate change to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
The abrupt change in hydrological processes should be modelled numerically, and the results incorporated into the embankment design process, he said. He hopes the study's findings will improve the current design process and ensure the long-term viability of embankment systems.
In Bangladesh, embankments are constructed to reduce flood risk. Since time immemorial, the construction, maintenance, and management of embankments have been an integral part of the country's existence. The failure of embankments is common in Bangladesh.