Greening Roadway Infrastructure with Vetiver Grass to Support Transportation Resilience

Posted on Feb. 25, 2022

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Greening Roadway Infrastructure with Vetiver Grass to Support Transportation Resilience

by Karl Kim, Ph.D., Sequoia Riley, Elizabeth Fischer, and Sadik Khan, Ph.D.

With flooding and other weather events intensifying, more cost-effective erosion and flood control systems are needed. Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty), is part of an arsenal of sustainable, low cost, and green infrastructure tools to reduce the risks of erosion, landslides, and flooding. This study investigates vetiver and its broader application to transportation planning. Based on a literature review and interviews with experts, vetiver as a green infrastructure tool is summarized. An evaluation framework was devised in which the plant’s effectiveness to stabilize hillsides and manage stormwater is investigated. This framework is applied to a recent highway flooding case where vetiver could have been used. While site-specific conditions and roadway requirements are critical to its effectiveness as a mitigation tool, additional pathways to understanding, acceptance, and use of vetiver to support transportation resilience requires convergence in engineering, design, and planning disciplines. Understanding barriers to the adoption of vetiver will also support efforts to increase other green infrastructure tools in transportation planning. Improvements in policies, standards, guidance and training and education on vetiver and green infrastructure will support the mitigation of transportation disruptions and community resilience.

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