Researched, interviewed staff and produced this brochure. Key audience distribution is for city and county managers, administrators and elected officials.

1. Mitigating Cole County’s Moreau Creek
A Successful Streambank
Bioengineering Project
2015
For more information:
www.FEMA.gov
http://sema.dps.mo.gov
www.ColeCounty.gov
Call 000-000-0000
Vehicles first traversed Moreau Creek using
Campbell Road via an elevated driving
surface. Beneath the gravel and concrete
roadway, a 30” culvert (seen in photo
above) handled water drainage and served
as a passage for fish.
In 1996, county officials noticed the north
bank was losing significant erosion. At the
same time, the south bank was collecting
deposits which formed a large gravel bar
that often blocked the stream flow.
Over a ten-year period, annual floods altered
the river forming a 90 degree S-curve just
before the crossing. They knew they needed
to do something to stop erosion, slow
gravel build up, and prevent repeated road
washouts. In 2006, the county began trying
to mitigate the problem.
The following photos and synopsis offer a
visual timeline that led up to building a
low-water bridge and the bioengineering of
a streambank as proven solutions that are
now successfully managing where Campbell
Road crosses the Moreau Creek in Cole
County.
Information and photos provided by:
Cole County, Missouri

2. April 2006 - Through the years, repetitive flooding
caused the crossing to wash away; north bank erosion
and a sandbar to build up on the south bank.
September 2006 - Seeking a safer and sturdier bridge
option, the county hired a contractor to design and build
a low-water bridge with the expectation it would be
under water during higher flow.
March 2012 - Flooding an average of five times a year,
the new bridge allowed fish to swim downstream and
provided limited vehicle passage during high water events.
March 2012 - After the creek flooded, the low flow
bridge held, but the north bank continued to erode and
gravel built up on the south bank restricting the flow of
the channel.
March 2012 - A contractor designed and reconstructed the
streambank. Gravel was removed from the south bank to
build up the opposite bank improving channel capacity.
April 2012 -A bioengineering method used riprap along
with planting vegetation between, in, and above the rock
to help the bank develop into a self-sustaining solution.
July 2012 - Though flooded three weeks after completion,
by mid-summer, an integration of living plants with
riprap took hold increasing the strength and structure
of the bank.
October 2015 - The Moreau flooded every year, and as of
July 1, 2015 experience five flood events in six months.
To date, the bridge and bank remained unscathed.
Bioengineering: The integration of
living woody and herbaceous materials
along with organic and inorganic materials
to increase the strength and structure of soil.
It also is called “Ecoengineering” when
projects help re-establish wildlife habitat.