What is Erosion?
Erosion is when the earth is worn away because of water, wind or other natural causes. At construction sites when there is an increased amount of loose soil and disturbed terrain, the rate of erosion increases significantly. Rain can cause runoff and take heavy sediment deposits into nearby water sources which can negatively effect the water and animals within that habitat. Heavy erosion can also jeopardize drinking water, clog drains, cause road washouts and landslides. Proper erosion control reduces the risk of these side effects.
How to Control Erosion
When you are dealing with a lot of loose soil and sediment it is important to be aware and take all the necessary steps to prevent erosion. There are four basic steps to erosion control. The first thing you want to do is prevent erosion in the first place, the best that you can, and there are several ways to do this. Planting vegetation helps erosion because the plants will create a root system that will stabilize the soil and helps prevent erosion. But in the case of development sites removing as little vegetation as possible will also help prevent further erosion. Using geosynthetic products is obviously very helpful because that is what they are made for.
Your secondary defense to erosion if your first preventative methods don’t work, is sediment control. There is only so much you can do to prevent erosion and sometimes it is unavoidable. Using products like straw wattles and silt fences will help prevent the soil from getting washed away and getting into nearby water sources. Protecting drains is also important because if too much sediment goes into the drains it can cause them to become clogged up.
The biggest enemy of erosion is water. Rainfall can cause mass amounts of erosion creating a lot of runoff. At this point trying to control it is a little more complicated. Diverting the runoff is going to be an easier option. When you have a lot of runoff and you are trying to divert it, it is best to have multiple diversions and drainage options instead of one main one. This divides the amount of the the runoff so it will cause less erosion on the way down and won’t block up the drains.
Keeping an eye on all of your erosion control methods is essential. Some preventative measures can fail especially during heavy rain fall. And clearing away built up silt and sediment is very helpful. Checking all of your control methods periodically will help prevent untimely incidents.
GeoTK Erosion Control
Here at GeoTK we provide our customers with all of the geosynthetic products they need. When you’ve got a long spec sheet of materials you need for your job site and don’t know where to start. Come to GeoTK and let us load you up with everything that you need. There are a lot of different regulations and requirements for job sites involving erosion control. And depending on what state and what city your job site location is in there can be many different requirements. So leave it to us to get your the appropriate equipment for your next job. Preventing erosion at job sites and anywhere else for that matter is extremely important. We strive to provide our clients with the best products with the least amount of hassle.