{"id":22719,"date":"2025-07-29T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/?post_type=publications&#038;p=22719"},"modified":"2026-09-08T08:51:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T13:51:40","slug":"engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching","status":"publish","type":"publications","link":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Floodplain benches are a potential solution for inland river systems where out-of-bank flooding generates unacceptable flood risk and access to riverine floodplains has become restricted over time. Benches are a naturally forming geomorphic feature between the riverbed and a higher floodplain or terrace. In addition to reducing flood risk, benches reduce erosion risk, improve aquatic ecosystems, enhance plant and wildlife diversity, expand recreational opportunities, and may be places of cultural and tribal value. This document informs engineering activities related to site investigation and design of floodplain benches. It is intended to be used by engineers and ecologists to inform the design of floodplain benches in a manner that is consistent with and augments other planning, design, and engineering guidance. A well-designed floodplain bench can improve ecological and biological functions while also reducing flood risk by creating a channel in geomorphic equilibrium with current conditions and resilience to anticipated changes in hydrology and sediment supply rates. This publication is among a series of planned technical reports providing guidance on how to identify, conceptualize, and design natural infrastructure solutions for riverine and coastal systems. It has been produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature<sub>\u00ae<\/sub> Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/engineering-practice-guides-for-natural-infrastructure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View all Engineering Practice Guides<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Floodplain benches are a potential solution for inland river systems where out-of-bank flooding generates unacceptable flood risk and access to riverine floodplains has become restricted over time. Benches are a naturally forming geomorphic feature between the riverbed and a higher floodplain or terrace. In addition to reducing flood risk, benches reduce erosion risk, improve aquatic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22114,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-22719","publications","type-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Floodplain benches are a potential solution for inland river systems where out-of-bank flooding generates unacceptable flood risk and access to riverine floodplains has become restricted over time. Benches are a naturally forming geomorphic feature between the riverbed and a higher floodplain or terrace. In addition to reducing flood risk, benches reduce erosion risk, improve aquatic [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Engineering With Nature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-08T13:51:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"646\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/\",\"name\":\"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-29T13:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-08T13:51:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":646,\"caption\":\"Cover of Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching. A red vertical bar on the left reads \\\"Engineer Research and Development Center\\\" and \\\"ERDC TR-25-15\\\" in white text. The US Army star logo and US Army Corps of Engineers red castle logo are at the upper left of the main panel. The ERDC ribbon logo is at the upper right. The title reads \\\"Engineering With Nature\u00ae\\\", \\\"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching\\\" in a larger bold font, \\\"A Natural Infrastructure Approach for Riverine Systems\\\", \\\"Joanna Crowe Curran, S. Kyle McKay, Julie R. Beagle, Edward J. Brauer, Christopher P. Haring, Jeremy Thomas, Joe Lange, Daniel Buhr, Nich VanBuecken, Clara Rose, Debra Bishop, and Sage Jensen\\\", and \\\"July 2025\\\". Below this text is a graphic of a scross section of a landscape with trees high on the left, a slope down to a revier bed labeled Guadalupe River and Gravel Augmentation. The bank rises a bit to the right of this and a lower section of lend with trees and brush. On the right of this area are 3 figures of people for scale. This level is labeled Floodplain and Bench widening, followed by Maintenance Road and Finish Grade. the landscape then steps up to the right which is labeled Existing grade. A flock of birds appears over the trees. This Graphic has a title below with the letter A in a circle and a line with the text Typical Section 777+00 and scale ?? At the bottom is the statement \\\"Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release: distribution is unlimited.\\\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Publications\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/publications\\\/archive\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/\",\"name\":\"Engineering With Nature\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Engineering With Nature\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/alternate-header-log-from-elly.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/alternate-header-log-from-elly.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":156,\"caption\":\"Engineering With Nature\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature","og_description":"Floodplain benches are a potential solution for inland river systems where out-of-bank flooding generates unacceptable flood risk and access to riverine floodplains has become restricted over time. Benches are a naturally forming geomorphic feature between the riverbed and a higher floodplain or terrace. In addition to reducing flood risk, benches reduce erosion risk, improve aquatic [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/","og_site_name":"Engineering With Nature","article_modified_time":"2026-09-08T13:51:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":646,"url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/","url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/","name":"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching - Engineering With Nature","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png","datePublished":"2025-07-29T13:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-08T13:51:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ERDC-TR-25-15_cover-outlined.png","width":500,"height":646,"caption":"Cover of Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching. A red vertical bar on the left reads \"Engineer Research and Development Center\" and \"ERDC TR-25-15\" in white text. The US Army star logo and US Army Corps of Engineers red castle logo are at the upper left of the main panel. The ERDC ribbon logo is at the upper right. The title reads \"Engineering With Nature\u00ae\", \"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching\" in a larger bold font, \"A Natural Infrastructure Approach for Riverine Systems\", \"Joanna Crowe Curran, S. Kyle McKay, Julie R. Beagle, Edward J. Brauer, Christopher P. Haring, Jeremy Thomas, Joe Lange, Daniel Buhr, Nich VanBuecken, Clara Rose, Debra Bishop, and Sage Jensen\", and \"July 2025\". Below this text is a graphic of a scross section of a landscape with trees high on the left, a slope down to a revier bed labeled Guadalupe River and Gravel Augmentation. The bank rises a bit to the right of this and a lower section of lend with trees and brush. On the right of this area are 3 figures of people for scale. This level is labeled Floodplain and Bench widening, followed by Maintenance Road and Finish Grade. the landscape then steps up to the right which is labeled Existing grade. A flock of birds appears over the trees. This Graphic has a title below with the letter A in a circle and a line with the text Typical Section 777+00 and scale ?? At the bottom is the statement \"Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release: distribution is unlimited.\""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/engineering-practice-guide-for-floodplain-benching\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Publications","item":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/publications\/archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Engineering Practice Guide for Floodplain Benching"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/","name":"Engineering With Nature","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#organization","name":"Engineering With Nature","url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/alternate-header-log-from-elly.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/alternate-header-log-from-elly.jpg","width":1200,"height":156,"caption":"Engineering With Nature"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications\/22719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publications"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewn.erdc.dren.mil\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}