State of the Practice: Evaluation of Sediment Basin Design, Construction, Maintenance, and Inspection Procedures: Fid-Bau Portal

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

Zech, W. C. / Logan, C. P. / Fang, X.

Abstract

To 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% response rate) out of 50 SHAs were received and analyzed. The summary of the survey, including lessons learned, allows knowledge and experience to be transferred to practitioners that may have little or no experience with using sediment basins on construction projects. The survey shows that the typical design life of a sediment basin is between 6 months and 2 years; the generally accepted minimum storage volumes among most agencies is $252 m^{3} /ha$ ( $3,600 cu ft/acre$ ) of disturbed area draining to the basin, and 13 agencies use flocculant additives to enhance the efficiency of sediment basins.