Erosion Control June 2012 : Page 35
A Cliff hanger It’s been said that good fences make good neighbors. In some neighbor-hoods, a large helping of erosion control BMPs is what’s needed to keep a block from falling apart—sometimes, literally. “We were trying to help one of our maintenance clients with an erosion is-sue. The property is an apartment com-munity located near the coast,” reports Mick Farris, operations manager for San Diego, CA’s LandGraphics. “The adjacent property is a sandstone cliff, which erodes during rain events and washes sand and silt onto our client’s property. In this instance, there’s a big chute that collects water from the cliff face and dumps it at the rear of our client’s property. In California, the regu-lations prohibit silt, debris, or other pollutants from entering storm drains and waterways, and violators can receive large fines. In the past, we have installed sandbags, which deteriorated within a couple of years—leaving sand and de-teriorated bags. We then had to remove the sand buildup by trucking it out to soil depositories, which ran into consid-erable cost. In recent years, the erosion has been getting worse so we decided to look for a better solution.” For this project, Farris relied on his supplier, Summit Erosion Control. Summit suggested using compost socks from Grafton, OH’s Filtrexx International LLC. “We’ve used Filtrexx FilterSoxx primarily for erosion control, at the edge of slopes and in drainage swales. Last year, we put out a series of socks on this property, which did a pretty good job, but heavy rains and the volume of sand overwhelmed them. Advanced Soil Erosion Control International Erosion Control Systems produces one of the most advanced engineering technologies available for soil erosion control: CABLE CONCRETE ® . CABLE CONCRETE ® insures ultimate flexibility and strength with a cable-interlocking block system that forms securely to the terrain. Available in four thicknesses to most economically meet your needs. International Erosion Control Systems: doing your job better. “In the past, we have installed sandbags, which deteriorated in a couple of years—leaving sand and dete-riorated bags.” Celebrating Our 27th Anniversary in Business #ALLUSORVISITUSONTHE7EBTOlNDOUTMORE�e;�d;�d; sWWW�e;IECSUSA�e;COM JUNE 2012 EROSION CONTROL 35