Sheet Flow Construction Erosion Control

October 20, 2020

Steel Plates Trackout

Video: David Jenkins-Sheetflow Erosion Control

Trackout happens when you back trucks off of the steel plates onto dirt to unload materials. The plan was for trucks to stay on plates, back to the end and dump. The excavator was to move the materials around the site. There is no tire wash on this project as there isn’t room, so staying on the plates is required and necessary. The trackout is onto the neighbors parking lot, our only site access, and they don’t appreciate dirt ending up in their stormwater swale when the rains come.

October 15, 2020

Sediment Trackout Happens

Sediment trackout happens when you back trucks off of the steel plates onto dirt to unload materials. The plan was for trucks to stay on plates, back to the end and dump.

The excavator was to move the materials around the site. There is no tire wash on this project as there isn’t room, so staying on the plates is required and necessary. The trackout is onto the neighbors parking lot, our only site access, and they don’t appreciate dirt ending up in their stormwater swale when the rains come.

Video: David Jenkins-Sheetflow Erosion Control

August 10, 2020

Muddy Tracks

Photo: David Jenkins

And they wonder why we keep on them about muddy tracks leaving the project onto the roadway…

June 24, 2020

Silt Fence and Trackout Fail Part 2

This is a follow up to Silt Fence and Trackout Fail post from April 6, 2020. Same old !@#$, different month.

Photo: David Jenkins
Photo: David Jenkins

May 28, 2020

Prevented Trackout

Photo: David Jenkins

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.

May 27, 2020

Preventable Trackout

Photo: David Jenkins

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.

April 6, 2020

Silt Fence and Trackout Fail

Photo: David Jenkins

I was just minding my own business last Friday, driving from Fred Meyer to the UPS store and passed this project. I told my wife I have to get a photo; she says okay since she knows me and my habit of stopping to take TESC photos.

I made a u -turn at the Wal Mart, drove back a block and stopped in the middle of the street to get this shot.

There is so much wrong here, where do I start? Clearly, dirt is tracked off of the project in the background, as you can see the sediment build up in the curb line. Someone told someone to put something in the swale to keep dirt out, then someone else installed this silt fence.

First off, silt fence needs to be trenched in and this just has a few rocks placed on the flap.

Second, they probably couldn’t trench this in anyway without tearing up the drainage swale.

Third, only two of the three curb cuts are backed by the silt fence.

Fourth, silt fence is a barrier, not a filter, and with the volume of water draining off the asphalt during a rain event, dirty water would just blow around and under the silt fence.

Conclusion, silt fence is never used in a water flow situation; it is only to contain eroded sediment from a sloped area. A better BMP here is a compost berm or something similar that would allow some water to pass but filter some sediment. Sand bags would work to keep everything out of the swale but then the dirty water would bypass to the next catch basin, which probably has a catch basin insert, which would collect sand and such but would not do anything for turbidity. So, what is the best BMP? Stop the !@#$ ing trackout in the first place!

February 21, 2020

Sediment Track out-I’ve had Enough

Another day, another random drive by construction erosion inspection. This sediment track out is an ongoing issue and remains unresolved and i’ve had enough.  I issued a Non-Conformance Report stating that the construction entrance/exit will remain closed permanently unless a solution is found and implemented.

Photo: David Jenkins
video: David Jenkins

February 20, 2020

Just a Little Trackout

Video: David Jenkins

Just a little trackout over time becomes a water quality non-compliance issue.

December 10, 2019

Creative Contractor Makes Slope Tracking Excavator Bucket

Leave it to the creative contractor to come up with creative solutions. Confronted with a small, steep slope and wet soil, the contractor didn’t want to risk walking a small caterpiller up and down to roughen it before hydroseeding. Using some angle iron and an excavator bucket, they welded up a slope tracker. The operator tamps the slope with the bucket just like they are compacting the slope. This is the result.

 

Video: David Jenkins
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