Planning ahead requires a different mindset to prevent problems rather than react when they happen.
On this project we are using the neighboring property for staging; all of the runoff drains into their constructed stormwater treatment swale.
Their stormwater discharges are regulated and any non-compliance issues could be attributed to the contractor’s use of this area.
We prevented trackout by placing grizzlies from the road back into the site. Truck drivers backed up to the steel plate near the excavator and dumped their loads. The excavator operator moved the material into the proper piles. The truck tires came in clean, stayed clean on the grizzlies and left clean. With thought and planning, we didn’t need to install a tire wash.
This trackout was preventable. Asphalt was removed by the contractor to work on the new building foundation; the driveway asphalt was left in place, which is good. Gravel base course was delivered to be placed under the concrete slab.
Instead of backing all of the way into the site, over wet dirt, the trucks could have stayed on the asphalt driveway to unload. Site equipment could have been used to move the gravel.
The contractor could also have dumped gravel next to the asphalt, then graded it back into the site to provide a construction access into the site. In this way, the delivery truck could have stayed on gravel rather than driving on dirt.
While this is not a lot of dirt on the road, it does add up and is a magnet for inspectors and regulators to visit the site.
We are upgrading the dock to handle larger container ships so, the old cranes, and rails that they travel on must be removed. This is at the end of the “water-side” crane rail. This trench, or slot, is several hundred feet long. When it rains, it will fill with rainwater and overflow into the bay.
The trench is filled with dirt and concrete debris left over from the demolition and removal of the old rail, so the water will be turbid and have elevated pH. I told the contractor to block the end of the trench before it rains again, using cold patch asphalt or some other method of their choosing.
Because construction erosion and sediment control is about managing rainwater, I always look for ways water can discharge from a project. This is not something that would have been caught in the planning stage of the project.
Whenever I see something like this, it makes me think that the site owner/contractor either didn’t know what they were doing or bit off more project than they could chew, or both. These guys cleared, grubbed and graded something over 80 acres starting in late summer, failed to phase the work, failed to use soil cover practices, failed to listen to the experts and got nailed by the fall rains.
Erosion control is really about water control: reducing volume, preventing it from becoming turbid, and controlling where it goes. By the time the rains hit this project, there was too much water, it was too dirty, and there were too few options for controlling where it went.
In addition, they refused to set up a chitosan-enhanced sand filtration system to treat and discharge water; this left them no options and too much turbid water that had nowhere to go. As a result, they hammered a wetland, were fined heavily, and were shut down for months.
Silt fences are not meant to control water, convey water, filter water; they are designed to control eroded sediment. Ditches, berms (rock, gravel, triangular silt dikes, etc.) would have been better choices at this location. Not opening up so much area so late in the season would have been the best option. Their means and methods did not save them time or money.
In this sand bag berm part 2 video I show the amount of rain runoff diverted away from a project compared to the water falling on the bare dirt of the project.
In this sand bag berm part 1 video I show the amount of rain runoff diverted away from a project.
Prevention is the cheapest way to keep tires clean. Keep your truck on asphalt.
If I’ve said it once, I must have said it 3 or 4 times: “Keep your tires clean!”. Who wants to use a tire wash and have to get rid of a whole lot of dirty water (process water) that can’t go down the storm drain? Save yourself some hassle and money. Give your employees a raise with the money you save. Make sure your trucks are loaded when on asphalt.
Construction Erosion Inspection Hog Fuel Mulch Prevents Fugitive Dust – You are hauling dirt on a dry day and the dust is flying.
The water truck driver’s head is about to explode trying to keep up with the dust control.
Save yourself a Labor and Industries claim!
Use ground up vegetation (hog fuel)! Don’t haul it to the landfill.
Download: Guide to Handling Fugitive Dust from Construction Projects.PDF
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