r Creek Photography

 
                        Slit Fence                                                                  Rip Rap                               

During construction process, land is at great risk of being eroded away. As the land is carved away to make room for buildings, roads, and bridges, plant life whose roots absorb excess water, and stabilize the soil, get stripped away. Making room for roads by cutting away at an existing slope can produce a steeper slope. The steeper the slope, the faster water will travel down it and the greater the erosion damage will be.

More than 1.5 million acres of land are developed each year in the United States. In most communities, this development consists of many individual projects built over decades. Development alters the surface of the land, by replacing natural cover with roof tops, roads, parking lots, driveways and sidewalks. These hard surfaces are impermeable to rainfall and are collectively known as impervious cover.

Recent watershed research has shown that impervious cover can have a negative impact on the quality of our nation's aquatic resources. The influence of impervious cover on aquatic systems presents a challenge to communities interested in sustainable development, or economic growth that also protects the local environment.

Erosion Control Techniques

Silt Fence:    Temporary silt fences perform a vital function for the construction industry. Because construction activity disturbs vegetation, topsoil is vulnerable to being washed away by rain. Without geotextile silt fences, sediment often ends up in streams, rivers and lakes, killing fish and other aquatic life.   Silt fences provide economical environmental protection. Silt fence fabrics are made from either woven or non-woven polypropylene yarns which have been treated to resist degradation caused by exposure to sunlight.

Hay Bales:    Hay bales may also be used as a sediment control alternative.  When installing Straw Bale Fences, make sure the bale is trench in and the binding wire or twine is in the horizontal direction.

Rip Rap:    A permanent, erosion-resistant ground cover of large, loose, angular stone with filter fabric or granular underlining, used to protect the soil from the erosive forces of concentrated runoff, slow the velocity of concentrated runoff while enhancing the potential for infiltration; also utilized to stabilize slopes with problems and/or non-cohesive soils.

Where ever soil and water interface, the soil conditions, water turbulence and velocity, expected vegetative cover, etc., are such that the soil may erode under the design flow conditions. Rip rap may be used, as appropriate, at storm drain outlets, on channel backs and/or bottoms, roadside ditches, drop structures and at the toe of slopes.

Access Drives:    Sediment is often lost from sites because construction vehicles are not limited to designated access roads. Instead, the vehicles enter and exit at will, resulting in the tracking of sediment onto the streets.  The tracked sediment can create a serious traffic hazard when wet.  Also, the sediment often enters surface drains or storm drains inlets that ultimately discharge to lakes and streams.  Tracking can be minimized by restricting vehicular traffic to a few locations.  At all designated access areas, filter cloth should be placed on the soil surface and covered with a bed of aggregate (washed rock 1 - 3 inches in diameter).  The aggregate should be at least 50 feet in length.

Applications may also be obtained by contacting the SESC Program at

1.906.364.3662 or by e-mail firesteel@charter.net

Gogebic County SESC Program

500 N. Moore St.

Bessemer, MI 49911

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Last modified: 03/07/08