(Newswire.net — August 16, 2017) — Erosion refers to the top layer of soil being swept away, either due to natural factors or by man-made forces.
Erosion is more prevalent than you would think, creating havoc all around the world. Erosion needs to be controlled before it gets out of hand and fortunately, developments have been profound and effective.
Let’s take a look at 4 ways erosion can be controlled.
1. Turbidity Barriers
Turbidity barriers are temporary barriers made of fabric that have low permeability. They are designed to confine the flow of sediment transport via a waterbody from construction sites to a limited area. This allows the deposit to settle down before being carried into the nearby watercourses. Turbidity barriers are installed parallel to the flow and do not work when fitted perpendicular to a moving water channel.
Turbidity barriers help control erosion during construction activities near a waterbody or underway directly across its path. This includes riverbank restoration, boat launches and the construction of bridges. These turbidity barriers work best in the presence of fine soil and where the velocity does not exceed 5 feet per second. After that point, other reinforcements have to be installed to ensure the prevention of erosion.
2. Geotextiles
Geotextiles are permeable textile materials that increase the stability of soil and aid in erosion control, and drainage. Geotextiles are fabrics made and buried underground. They have been used in the form of natural fibers and vegetation combined with soil since the era of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
Geotextiles can be knitted, woven or non-woven, depending on why they are being used. Non-woven geotextiles are the most common and MacTex® (found here: http://www.maccaferri.com/my/products/geotextile-mactex/) have numerous non-woven products for different purposes.
Their common uses, however, are for improvement of the soil where pipelines, embankments, roads and other soil retentive structures will stand.
However, mixtures of different polymers can result in a diverse variety of geotextiles that are suitable for numerous applications in the world of civil constructions.
Civil construction areas where geotextiles are helpful include the paved and unpaved airport runway, landfill sites and stone-based courses that underline sidewalks, car park waysides and parking lots. They are also applied beneath retaining wall erections to improve the recreational facilities and green areas.
3. Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls
Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls consist of grainy soil that is used as backfill or in molded concrete blocks that are assembled in a pile to form a gravity earth retaining wall. MSE walls are also helpful in reinforcing strips or mesh and to create shaped walls.
The outdated concrete walls have the perfect replacement in the form of MSE walls. The MSE walls have numerous benefits as compared to the traditional concrete walls, including the fact that they are easy to install.
MSE walls are helpful in preventing erosion in certain areas, can act as transitory constructions for highway schemes and be used as containment structures that surround the oil and gas storage tanks. MSE Walls assists the most at construction sites where there are poor soil conditions, helping with soil retention
Builders and contractors prefer this method of avoiding the chaos erosion causes due to the significant constructive and economic benefits involved. These benefits include the ease of construction, saving the amount of heavy equipment required and the absence of a need for skilled labor or wall finishing.
Another advantage of using MSE walls as an erosion method is that the walls can be built on confined spaces and areas where construction is almost impossible. MSE walls stand strong even in areas where the soil quality is considerably poor, making it the perfect creation for areas that are susceptible to soil erosion.
4. Ditches and Sediment Traps
The water that runs off from construction sites can easily be directed to areas where sediment traps and other constructions can be installed to trap the sediment filled water. Diversion ditches are extremely helpful in controlling and diverting the flow of water and are of most help when they are located in the up-slope areas of construction sites.
If not dealt with properly, erosion can end up causing a significant amount of damage to areas and construction sites where damage can end up being fatal. These four popular methods of preventing erosion are tried and tested, and will keep the sites free from the calamities erosion can result in.