Soil bioengineering in northeastern Brazil: An Overview

Abstract This article presents an overview of the application of soil bioengineering techniques, also modeled as natural engineering, in the state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil, showing the importance of integrating living and inert elements to protect river banks from erosion. The employed techniques are different, ranging from the characterization of susceptibility to erosion to the use of biotechniques, considering knowledge in the areas of agronomic engineering, forestry engineering, civil engineering, biology, pedology, geology, geomorphology and geotechnics. It is an approach that uses techniques and methodologies in a multidisciplinary way, seeking to maximize synergies (for example, natural engineering techniques to combine inert materials in ways that help plants to develop increasingly efficient systems). This approach also considers maintenance-cost optimization in the conduction of the works, using different materials, differing from traditional engineering, which uses predominantly inert materials. The research work carried out in different locations sought the availability of local materials such as rocks, geotextiles made from fibers from the native flora or even available on the market, in addition to the use of native species to recovery of the banks or slopes, according to the ecological conditions of the northeastern Brazil. Size and technological and ecological reach were also considered, in addition to different biotechnical aesthetic objectives adapted to different situations.