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![]() Appendix B: Bioengineering for Streambank Erosion Control -- Guidelines 
revetments, tree butts, and deflection dikes were used to protect toes from being undercut or 
flanks at the upper and lower ends from being washed out. In these cases, water currents are 
prevented from undercutting the bank either through direct protection of the lower bank with 
some hard structure or material or through some kind of deflection structure that deflects the 
currents off of the bank. Deflection structures may be some kind of spur dike, vane, 
transverse dike, or bendway weir. Figure 3 shows two timber cribs serving as deflection 
structures on the upper Missouri River to direct current away from the bank. In the case of 
hard toes on the lower bank, plants and engineered materials to hold them in place are 
positioned above the hard toe. Rock riprap keyed into the bank at both the upper and lower 
ends of a bioengineering treatment are called refusals (Figure 4) and prevent currents getting 
behind the structure, called flanking. In the case of a deflection structure, these are usually 
placed in a series at critical points of scour and plants with engineered materials are placed 
in between them to help hold the bank. With the aid of these structures and time, the planted 
vegetation establishes roots and stems in the bank to hold it together and trap sediment. This 
sedimentation, in turn, leads to spread of the planted species and colonization by other 
opportunistic plants. 
Figure 3. Timber cribs serving as deflection structures on the upper 
Missouri River to direct current away from the bank where there 
are bioengineering treatments. 
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