Study on the Effectiveness of Temporary Vegetation Measures on the Regulation of Runoff, Sediment Yield and Hydraulic Characteristics on the Spoil Heaps

Temporary vegetation measures are the most common methods for reducing soil erosion of spoil heaps during construction; however, their regulatory mechanisms on soil and water loss have not been sufficiently studied. This study compared the impacts of five temporary vegetation measures (turfing 300 cm (TF-300 cm), turfing 75 cm (TF-75 cm), grass seeding 300 cm (GS-300 cm), grass seeding 75 cm (GS-75 cm), and synthetic turf (ST)) on the dynamic processes of runoff and sediment yield as well as hydraulic parameters under simulated rainfall experiments. A 30° bare slope (BS) was set up as the control. The results indicated that (1) all measures delayed the onset of runoff by 57–233%, effectively decreasing the runoff rate and the average erosion rate by 45–49% and 91–99%, respectively; (2) these measures reduced the average Reynolds number by 45–52% and diminished both the average runoff shear force and runoff power by 44–60%; and (3) the effectiveness in reducing runoff and sediment loss ranked as follows: turfing > synthetic turf > grass seeding, When these measures are applied locally to the bottom 25% of the slope, the efficiency of runoff and sediment reduction can exceed 89% for the entire slope. Our findings provide valuable insights for designing temporary vegetation measures in construction.