Resumo:
Soil erosion is a natural factor that has been accelerated by human behavior over the
environment. Caused by a range of agents, erosion is responsible for the loss of tons of soil
material every year, silting water bodies, raising flooding chances, and reducing soil fertility.
Erodibility can be described as the tendency of soil particles to detach and be carried away by
erosive agents. Among existing methodologies that assess erodibility, one can highlight the
Inderbitzen ramp methodology. Soils modified by addition of materials are characterized by the
insertion of elements that better distribute the tensions amongst the soil massif and beyond the
slip interface. In this context, this study evaluates the capacity of a modified Inderbitzen
methodology with the addition of a rain simulator to assess the erodibility of pure soil and soil
modified with sugarcane fibers and sewage treatment sludge. Both materials were chosen based
on their ability to change soil properties. This study also proposes a new test methodology based
on the modifications applied on the original Inderbitzen ramp, presenting the new test procedures
at the end of the document. This study concluded that the methodology could reproduce surface
runoff up to a point, with limitations about the ramp inclination. The modified soil with natural
fibers was not capable to improve soil resistance to erosion, consequently increasing the quantity
of soil carried by the water flux.