Compaction Effects on Erosion of Mine Spoil and Reconstructed Topsoil ext

Abstract

ABSTRACT STANDARD erosion plots were constructed from shale spoil, topsoil and subsoil material in Western Kentucky to evaluate the effects of stockpiling and placement density on erosion characteristics of reconstructed soil. We measured erosion with a rainfall simulator one year after plot construction and evaluated the effects of soil density on the USLE cover factor. Tests conducted immediately after the soils were removed from the stockpile and again one year later were used to evaluate the effects of timing after reconstruction on the cover factor. The cover factor was between 3.0 to 4.0 for freshly compacted plots constructed from stockpiled materials. One year later, the cover factor had fallen to near 1.5 for compacted materials. The cover factor was near 1.5 for both freshly constructed and one year old compacted shale plots. Subfactors for time after construction and for density are proposed.