Sheet Flow Construction Erosion Control

December 10, 2020

Infiltration Berm

I call these infiltration berms. They aren’t berms like the others in this presentation but they function the same way-they contain water, divert water, or both.

The first two photos show created berms and the last is a utility trench that has not been paved yet. The first two were installed to contain the dirty runoff from muddy shoreline rip rap that we had to remove to install piling.

The berm surrounds about two acres of paved surface. The asphalt was removed to expose the subgrade to allow runoff to infiltrate. These can be designed but we didn’t have time.

To do this correctly, you should figure out how much runoff you will have, how much storage volume to create (this determines how long and how wide the trench is) and the actual infiltration rate of the subgrade.

The last photo shows how you can use your site to your advantage.

Presentation: David Jenkins-Sheetflow Erosion Control
Presentation: David Jenkins-Sheetflow Erosion Control
Presentation: David Jenkins-Sheetflow Erosion Control

December 4, 2020

Extruded Asphalt Berms

Here are a few examples of extruded asphalt berms or curbs:

Presentation: David Jenkins

This berm keeps clean water from draining off the asphalt to the right into the work area to the left. If the clean water was allowed into the work area, the contractor would have much more dirty water to deal with.

Presentation: David Jenkins

This is another example of using asphalt to keep clean runoff from entering the work area.

Presentation: David Jenkins

In this project, we are removing and replacing the asphalt surface on the left. The asphalt curb is used to keep the dirty runoff on the right from entering the work area. Candlesticks are used to delineate the project boundary and keep vehicles from driving over the berm.

December 3, 2020

Some More Asphalt Berms

Here are some more asphalt berms:

Presentation: David Jenkins

This contractor surrounded an excavation with asphalt berms to direct clean water away from the work and keep dirty water inside the work area. There is a pump behind the sand bags on the right to pump dirty water back into the project. Note the berm that directs street runoff directly to the catch basin.

Presentation: David Jenkins

This contractor has used a hot mix asphalt berm to separate the work area from the roadway to the right. All water and sediment is directed to the pump across the access road which sends the water to a stormwater treatment system.

December 2, 2020

Asphalt Berm

Presentation: David Jenkins

This is a cold patch asphalt berm used to contain high pH water from a concrete crushing operation.

Presentation: David Jenkins

Hot mix asphalt used to contain project water and direct it to a sump and pump. The water was pumped to a header pipe that was connected to a chitosan-enhanced treatment system.

December 1, 2020

Water Berm

Filed under: Power Point — Tags: , , , , , , — Sheetflow @ 2:01 am
Presentation: David Jenkins

I learned about water berms from a contractor several years ago. We hired them to reconstruct an old parking lot. The lot was all paved and most of it was hilly. I require extruded asphalt curbing be used to keep clean water out and dirty water inside the project. The contractor asked me if they could use water-filled berms instead. I wanted to see how they worked and agreed. They worked great so we have added this to our BMP toolbox. These are heavy PVC tubes that can be reused many times, if not abused. I can’t remember where they got these but similar ones are used in spill control. One of the suppliers I know of is: NEWPIG.COM.

November 30, 2020

Compost Socks

Filed under: Power Point — Tags: , , , , — Sheetflow @ 1:53 am

As I have written in previous posts, compost socks make excellent perimeter berms, especially when used on impervious surfaces. Make sure to overlap the ends and don’t drive over them. Recycle the compost when done.

Presentation: David Jenkins
Presentation: David Jenkins

November 27, 2020

Compost Berm

Filed under: Power Point — Tags: , , , , — Sheetflow @ 1:51 am
Compost berm at perimeter of airport infield work on taxiway. Photo: David Jenkins
Compost berm at edge of asphalt before taxiway demolition. Photo: David Jenkins

We used to use silt fence when we did construction on the airfield. More and more we are using compost berms. The airfield grades are very small, maybe 20:1.

Compost berms can contain bare soil areas, filtering turbid water. When complete, we spread the compost and hydroseeded.

September 29, 2020

Sod Berm Perimeter BMP

Photo: David Jenkins

This is not one of my projects but we have used this method on occasion. Why install silt fence when you can create a sod berm perimeter BMP?

In this case, the area is small and it is surrounded by vegetation so the risk of erosion and turbid runoff is low. In addition, the sod is full roots and seeds so it will regrow in place, providing additional erosion prevention.

September 25, 2020

Gravel Berm

Photo: David Jenkins

When we rebuilt this road, we had the contractor blade the gravel base course into a berm along the edge. This created a berm to project the bare area on the left from erosion caused by runoff from the roadway.

The gravel berm was bladed smooth just before installing a curb along the edge of the road. The bare soil was hydroseeded with bonded fiber matrix.

By using the gravel in this way, we avoided installing silt fence, preventing the soil disturbance that causes and keeping a bunch of plastic out of the landfill at the end of the project.

September 17, 2020

Compost Sock Catch Basin Berm

Photo: David Jenkins

This compost sock catch basin berm works well as it is heavy enough to stick to the asphalt. Note the tear and I would keep an eye on it during inspections.

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