It’s no secret that human activity has a tremendous impact on the environment. Even a small construction project can harm the ecosystem in significant ways. One of the most damaging of these is the effect of soil erosion caused by earth-moving machinery and the movement of heavy equipment.
Soil erosion can have significant environmental impacts on a construction site. A few potential causes of erosion are water runoff, changes to the elevation of the site, and the movement of construction equipment. Soil particles that are forced out of their natural arrangement can contaminate water supplies, interfere with wildlife habitats and kill vegetation. This is a major concern for sustainability advocates because, in the past, these effects weren’t widely understood. Fortunately, the construction industry has taken notice and now employs a number of techniques to control erosion on their jobsites.
A wide range of erosion control methods are used today to prevent soil erosion caused by construction activity, varying from hardwood access mats that keep tires off the sensitive terrain to geotextiles that can hold slopes in place as work goes on in the area. Any of these erosion control methods employed on job sites have been proven effective in keeping mud from running off into nearby water bodies and protecting plant and animal life.
- Geotextiles are woven or unwoven fabrics that are used to hold soil in place. Different types of geotextiles are utilized for different levels of drainage, filtration or reinforcement.
- Articulated concrete blocks that are fitted with interlocking joints are used along waterways and drainage channels to hold soil in place.
- Access mats are frequently used on sites with wet, soft ground, to serve as portable work platforms that allow heavy equipment to access the site without the need for aggregate to build pads.
- The riprap method uses large stone aggregate dumped over geotextile membranes to prevent erosion in water-logged areas where there is a high degree of concentrated runoff.
Human activity has the potential to reshape the world in some unintended and unwanted ways, however, it also can include some proactive steps to prevent that from happening. To learn more about these methods and how they work, take a look at the accompanying resource.
Courtesy – Yak Mat, a crane mats company
Author bio – A guest blogger has contributed this advertorial