Applicability of reinforced concrete spurs in river bank protection : a case study in Bangladesh

River bank erosion is a major problem in Bangladesh, which is known as the 'land of rivers', and suffers from major floods frequently. Due to braided river and alluvial soil type, river bank erosion is quite common in Bangladesh. The country spends millions of dollars every year to control river bank erosion, which appears to be inadequate. This paper reviews river bank erosion problem in Bangladesh in general and in particular, evaluates the performance of a new technique and identifies avenues for further improvement of this technique. This new technique utilizes Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) spur to achieve bank protection at a reasonable cost. In the last decade, some 38 RCC spurs were constructed along the Ganges, Jamuna, Teesta and Dudkumar Rivers in Bangladesh. The spurs in the Teesta and Dudkumar Rivers have been functioning well, but in the Ganges and Jamuna Rivers, some spurs have been damaged in recent years. This paper identifies the causes of these failures, and reviews the design, implementation and maintenance issues of these spurs. It has been found that some modifications in design, care during construction and maintenance would enhance the performance of this new lost-cost river bank protection technique.