Course Description:
Erosion control at a construction site is a continuing issue for contractors, design engineers and regulators. Contractors must typically submit an erosion control plan (SWPPP – Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan) and regulators are often required to review these plans for approval. Regulators are also often required to inspect construction sites during the construction process to ensure the approved plan is being followed. Locations where erosion control is necessary include along slopes, in drainage channels and adjacent to drainage channels, and around the overall construction site. There are a variety of Best Management Practices (BMPs) available to limit the erosion potential. This course will discuss a number of different BMPs, including slope roughening, erosion control mats (or blankets), silt fence, straw logs, straw bales, mulch, vegetated buffers, check dams, gravel berms, inlet inserts, sediment traps and gravel entrances. The appropriate selection of a BMP for a particular location requires and understanding of how each of these features functions and where they work effectively. Proper design of an erosion control plan includes much more than constructing silt fence all around the site.
Course Outline:
• General overview
• BMPs for slopes
• BMPs for channels and drainages
• BMPs around inlets
• BMPs for general site conditions
• BMP failures
Learning Objective:
:At the conclusion of this course, the user will:
• Understand the purpose of erosion control on a site
• Understand the best choices for BMPs to use on a slope
• Understand why some BMPs are inappropriate for use on a slope
• Understand the best choices for BMPs to use in a drainage channel and why some BMPs are guaranteed to fail if used in a drainage channel
• Understand the options available for BMPs around storm water inlets and some of the common mistakes made around inlets
• Understand the purpose of BMPs around a construction site
Intended Audience:
This course is intended as an introduction to selection of Best Management Practices for erosion control on a construction site and therefore the intended audience includes engineers and contractors preparing erosion control plans and regulators and enforcement officials reviewing the design plans and the site implementation of the SWPPP.
Course Summary:
This course will cover Best Management Practices (BMPs) for slopes, channels and drainages. It will also cover BMPs around inlets and for general site conditions. Finally it will include a look at a few failures because there's sometimes way more to be learned from an installation that has failed than there is from a successful installation.
Purpose of BMPs
BMPs are often required to meet regulations. While many of the tasks we complete as engineers are dictated by regulations, that doesn't mean there aren't other good reasons to include BMPs. Oftentimes the impetus for BMPs is the regulation but their real purpose is to protect water quality. Even if the rules don't require protecting water quality, part of the duty of engineers is to protect public health, safety and welfare. Protecting water quality certainly falls in that category.
The most common pollutant of concern on a construction site is sediment because during construction of any facility there's going to be some excavation, some fill and some earth movement and all of that activity is going to dislodge soil from its natural condition and make it much more susceptible to erosion. It is desirable to keep as much of that sediment on site as possible. Other pollutants of concern in a typical construction site include oil and grease primarily from the equipment itself. If the sediment is contained the chances are at least very high much of the oil and grease will also be contained. Obviously if there is a major leak of some kind the BMPs for sediment aren't going to contain that but they should contain at least most of the oil and grease deposited on the site.
