RIDGE HEIGHT INCREASE DETERMINATION IN TERRACE-ROAD INTEGRATION

Abstract

Hydric erosion is one of the major causes of agricul-tural land degradation, resulting in economic, social, and environmental losses. Conservation practices are important tools to reduce erosion risks and their correct design is fundamental to success. Models for designing both rural roads and terraces systems are currently used, however, their integration is not available. The integration of terracing systems and runoff coming from roads, although recommended and utilized, can increase erosion risk and terraces disruption, without a proper dimensioning practice. So, this study aimed to develop a terrace-road integration model and a calculation routine that allows this integration. The routine was used for sizing an integrated conservation system. The results show that although in some terraces the increase in height is small, dimensioning is necessary, because it allows to identify the critical points of integration, and, without it, the terrace would go through storage problems. It was concluded that the methodology presented made possible to calculate the increase in the recommended height for terraces, as a viable alternative, with a small increase in the terrace height. The calculation routine application was simple, but the development of computational tools would facilitate its use and reduce miscalculation risks.