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We conducted a study to determine whether the use of polyacrylamide (PAM) to stabilize slopes could be a "best management practice" to reduce soil erosion on forest road embankments. Experiments involving two different PAM application rates (10 and 20 kg/ha) were conducted using natural rainfall and simulated (indoor) rainfall.

The study results suggest that PAM provided no statistically significant erosion control after natural rainfall on a loam soil. In the simulated rainfall experiment, PAM applied at both 10 and 20 kg/ha significantly reduced soil erosion (by 84 and 76%) and the turbidity of runoff water (by 99%) on a silt loam soil.