State of the Practice: Evaluation of Sediment Basin Design, Construction, Maintenance, and Inspection Procedures

Abstract

AbstractTo protect the nation’s surface waters from sediment-laden discharge, the proper selection, design, application, installation, and maintenance of erosion and sediment control practices on active construction sites are imperative. These practices will be required to comply with new, stricter regulations applied by the EPA to control high sediment concentrations of storm water discharge from construction sites. One mean of controlling sediment-laden discharge is through the use of sediment basins. The purpose of this paper is to report results from a survey conducted to determine the state of the practice for sediment basin design, construction, maintenance, and inspection techniques used by state highway agencies (SHAs) nationwide. The survey consisted of 68 possible questions in six categories: (1) background and experience, (2) design, (3) construction, (4) maintenance of sediment basins during construction, (5) inspection and monitoring, and (6) lessons learned. A total of 37 responses (74% resp...