Sheet Flow Construction Erosion Control

August 25, 2010

Grass and Dirt Berm

Let’s talk about grass and dirt berms.  Most erosion plans show silt fence installed around the project perimeter. This makes sense when a project has some risk of eroded sediment leaving the project.

When the risk is low, the area is small, the soil is loose with high infiltration, silt fence is overkill, wasted expense, and creates landfill waste. When possible, alternative methods of perimeter protection should be considered: berms, straw wattles, vegetation, buffers.

We pushed existing grass and vegetation to the edge of the project and covered it with straw.  The project involved tilling compost 12″ into the native soil with a 12″ bark cover.

The seed and root mass in the soil will grow fairly quickly and become part of the overall native plant mitigation area.

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