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Civil and Environmental Engineering
Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
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Development Of Techniques For Assessing And Restoring Streams On Surface Mined Lands, Whitney Cole Blackburn-Lynch
Development Of Techniques For Assessing And Restoring Streams On Surface Mined Lands, Whitney Cole Blackburn-Lynch
Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Surface mining is a commonly used method for extracting coal in the Appalachian Coalfields of the U.S. This mining practice produces excess spoil or overburden, which is often placed in adjacent valleys resulting in the creation of valley fills. These valley fills bury headwater streams, which in turn can negatively impact downstream ecosystems. In 2008, the University of Kentucky designed and constructed 1,020 m of ephemeral, intermittent and headwater streams on an existing valley fill (Guy Cove) as a proof-of-concept. The goal of the project was to evaluate whether or not a stream recreation could occur on mined lands, particularly …