Start Here: A Primer on Erosion and Sediment Control

This beginner-level session “Start Here” is recommended for conference attendees who are new to, or early in your career, in the erosion and sediment control industry. This course is also recommended for intermediate level practitioners who want to better the watershed context for erosional processes at a project site. The course is designed to be a primer for most of IECA’s other courses. You will be introduced to, or review, the principal types of erosion including mass wasting and fluvial erosion, as well as the fundamental processes of erosion, sediment transport and sedimentation. You will be taught some rules of thumb to differentiate between natural “background erosion” and excessive “anthropogenic erosion”. The heart of this primer on erosion and sediment control is the explanation of a strategic approach to applying best management practices (BMPs) chronologically through four lines of defense: 1) water flow control BMPs, 2) erosion control BMPs, 3) sediment control BMPs and 4) good housekeeping practices. There will be prompts to encourage discussion among the participants and ample time to ask questions throughout the presentation.

Full Abstract: What’s all the fuss? It seems simple enough. Erosion is the process by which the land surface is worn away by action of wind, water, ice or gravity, i.e., soil particles are detached and transported. Sediment is eroded material suspended in water and sedimentation is the deposition of eroded material. Yet the many causes and multiple types of erosion and mechanisms of sediment transport quickly lead practitioners to reaching for multiple tools and approaches that seem to go against the seeming simplicity that water runs downhill and takes soil with it. The combined natural effects of wind, rain, gravity and chemical weathering to the earth’s surface are expected but significant. Add to those processes, episodic and sometimes catastrophic events including seismic activity, tsunamis, coastal erosion, severe storms, floods, fires and landslides among others. In such scenarios, keeping all the soil in place is highly unlikely. Hence, it is important to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic triggers of erosion and what kinds of erosion land managers should seek to control.

This course provides an overview of cost-effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) employed to control pollutants, including sediment and turbidity, commonly generated by human disturbance on construction sites. The course will provide an elementary understanding of erosion, sediment transport, and siltation processes and quickly move into proactive structural and non-structural BMPs that are commonly utilized in the construction industry to prevent erosion and treat sediment and other pollutants that can mobilize from construction sites. These BMPs will presented in a logical progression following four lines of defense:
1) water flow control, 2) erosion control, 3) sediment control, and 4) good housekeeping. Multiple BMPs will be presented for each line of defense covering perimeter control, run-on control, construction entrances, staging areas, erosion control, sediment control, storm drain inlet protection, stockpile management, concrete washouts, and a variety good housekeeping BMPs that will keep your site in compliance and your inspectors satisfied. Lastly, we will discuss how these BMP’s work together often for the purpose of the establishment of permanent erosion and sediment controls like vegetation, buffer strips, and wind breaks which also provided habitat and ecosystem services.

This course is recommended for those new to the industry, those needing a refresher, and is designed to be a primer for most of IECA’s other courses. There will be prompts to encourage discussion among the participants and ample time to ask questions throughout the presentation.