Arkansas Rice Levees
Saves 53% In Earthworks Smoothing Levees!
Farmer: Andy Turman
Location: Arkansas, USA
Field Area: 57 acres or 23 hectares
Irrigation Method: flooding
Crops: rice
Video Discussion
Graeme discusses on the video different approaches in farming flooded rice in Arknsas.
Problem
The client is looking for ways to increase farming efficiency by smoothing out the existing levees.

Figure 1. Aerial photograph of the field.

Figure 2. Existing topography
Solution
Several design types were used to compare how each can be used and how the parameters can be loosened or tightened to increase or decrease earthworks. See the table below for details:


Figure 3. Design 1 Proposed Topography

Figure 4. Design 1 Cut/Fill Map

Figure 5. Design 2 Proposed Topography

Figure 6. Design 2 Cut/Fill Map

Figure 7. Design 3 Proposed Topography

Figure 8. Design 3 Cut/Fill Map

Figure 9. Design 4 Proposed Topography

Figure 10. Design 4 Cut/Fill Map
Solution
The results show it is a matter of balancing the trade-off between earthworks cost and more efficient farming from higher uniformity of grades.
Note: Ignore the jaggedness of the top red contour - it is an issue with the old version software. It should be smooth and has since been resolved in OSDv1.4 and higher.
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