Alabama Soil and Water Blog Spot

In order to control erosion on a construction site, you must first understand the erosion process. Rainfall and the surface runoff of rainfall produces four main types of erosion on a construction site: Splash Erosion occurs when the raindrop impacts the bare soil surface and dislodges soil particles. Sheet Erosion occurs either after the surface of the soil is saturated or the rainfall exceeds the infiltration rate of the soil. Then the soil detached by splash erosion and the additional soil particles detached by runoff/overland flow move downslope. (Note: Splash and Sheet are sometimes referred to as Interrill Erosion ) Rill Erosion occurs when the sheet flow concentrates and causes small rills (about 1 inch deep) further eroding the soil surface. Gully Erosion occurs when runoff water in a rill detaches more soil and deepens and/or widens the channel to a significant size.  (Note: There is no universally recognized dep...

Communication  is the First Pillar of ALDOT’s 5-Pillars of Construction Stormwater Management, and it is applicable to all construction projects.    Barry Fagan, VP for Green Infrastructure with Volkert, developed the 5-Pillars when he worked for the Alabama DOT. When a Planner and Designer develop the site specific Construction Best Management Practices Plan to protect Alabama’s environment from negative construction runoff, it is imperative that everyone associated with the project understand the priorities and expectations for the project at hand. Potential  bidders for the upcoming work must fully understand the environmental expectations for the project and be provided an opportunity to include any perceived extra costs in the bid package. Once the project is awarded, contractors, owners, and consultant staff should engage in scheduled and ad-hoc communication and collaboration to ensure that the scope of work is fully delivered. Weekly coordination meetings a...