Using compost from urban solid waste to prevent erosion in road embankments Osorio Robles, Francisco Oña López, Juan José De Sustainable development Urban waste Compost Erosion Road embankments This paper describes how compost, a by-product generated by solid waste treatment plants, can be usefully applied to road embankments to prevent erosion. Our study analyzed this process in terms of the following variables: (1) location and orientation; (2) embankment slope; (3) soil and compost characteristics; (4) compost dosage; (5) vegetation species; (6) plot dimensions; and (7) planting method. The results ob- tained focus on the vegetation survival rate, plant growth and germination; colonization of other species; cover crop for plots; and erosion estimation. It was found that when greater quantities of compost were added to embankments, soil loss was decreased. The addition of this material also produced a marked increase in plant growth, the survival rate of manually planted vegetation, the colonization of other species, as well as the cover crop. However, we observed that compost seemed to hinder the germination of hydroseeded species, whereas colonizing plants germinated more quickly. The side slope was not found to be a significant factor for manually planted species, but turned out to be crucial for hydroseeded varieties. 2013-04-08T06:33:59Z 2013-04-08T06:33:59Z 2006 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Osorio, F.; de Oña, J. Using compost from urban solid waste to prevent erosion in road embankments. Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A, 41(10): 2311–2327 (2006). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/24389] 1093-4529 1532-4117 doi: 10.1080/10934520600873134 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/24389 eng http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10934520600873134 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Taylor & Francis Gourp, LLC