Introduction
Do you live in an area that has a reputation for frequently occurring erosion and overflowing construction sites? Have you been toying with the idea of erosion control but haven’t really been able to decode it yet?
Don’t worry. You have come to the right place. Many people in coastal areas face this issue every year. This article will explain what erosion control is, what a construction site erosion really does, and what exactly makes erosion control critical for your construction site.
Natural Erosion Vs. Construction Site Erosion
Naturally occurring land erosion is a very common phenomenon around coastal cities. As a coastal state, Washington gets the brunt of the annual water and soil erosions. Almost 90% of Seattle’s marine coasts are walled off to protect the people and property from the potential damage of such frequently happening erosions.
Soil erosion occurs when the air and the water do significant damage to the soil of an area and make the top layer shift. Erosion control is the method of controlling the natural occurrence of water, wind, and soil erosions in order to save land and property. Sea walls are a workable solution to fight off the waves, but they still pose a threat to the ecosystem. They reduce the habitat of wild birds and animals around the coastal areas.
However, it is still essential to put in effort and resources in erosion control to avoid greater damage in the long run. On the other hand, construction site erosions are a tad bit different than naturally occurring erosions. Erosions can be of different types, namely, wind erosion, water erosion, and soil erosion.
When builders dig up a site to work on for construction, it can create movement in the soil, and the soil starts getting misplaced. When the trees are cleared off of the land for construction, the soil becomes weak and more prone to erosion. Construction site erosions can shake up both the site itself and other areas around it. These are very harmful occurrences in the early stages of development.
Here are some vital steps to take after a construction site accident.
A land erosion in the beginning stages of your construction can set you back by months. It can create both technical and financial damage to your plans. The thing is, there are several ways to deal with this issue. Using sandbags, fences, and CE plates is one of the many ways.
However, it’s wise not to go full DIY on these things because these methods come with many technicalities, and even the slightest mistakes can cause havoc. For that reason, many people in Seattle opt for erosion control companies Puyallup, to resolve this problem.
How Does Erosion Control Affect Us?
Erosion has affected land and property in almost all coastal cities like Seattle. Every year, the risk of erosion damage threatens thousands of construction projects, farmlands, etc.
Construction site erosion removes important minerals from the soil. It sometimes washes off the top layer of lands altogether and exposes the subsoil. The subsoil has comparatively lower rates of minerals and nutrients, and it also loses strength. Weaker soil is not ideal for construction. A construction site’s erosion can be very damaging to the development plans and the budget of any certain project. Having proper erosion control methods would give us better control of the situation. It would enable us to minimize the damages and recover without needing much damage control.
Why Is Erosion Control Important for Your Construction Site?
To understand the significance of erosion control in construction sites, we must understand the damages that are caused by a construction site’s erosion. As we have mentioned before, construction site erosions aren’t as dangerous as naturally occurring river erosions as they do not affect a huge locality. Construction site erosions only affect the site and nearby areas. Even then, these erosions wash off sediments from the construction sites and deposit them in the nearby water bodies. Construction site erosions are one of the biggest reasons for water pollution.
It reduces the quality of the soil, interrupting the construction process. A construction site erosion is mostly an unforeseen occurrence. So, it naturally sets back the schedule in development and results in significant financial damages.
Having proper erosion control methods put in place before starting with the construction work will help in improving the soil strength and the quality of water used around your construction site. It will also help in reducing any unforeseen costs.
Construction site erosion can also create more lasting damages to your project. As it washes off the top layer of soil and sediments and pollutes water, this harms the vegetation around your construction site. If the trees around your construction site die out, the root strength will go down significantly.
That will automatically make the soil weaker and unsuitable to work with. Weak soil will move and shift when you try to continue with your construction work, and it will, in turn, create more risks of future soil erosions.
It will also make it very hard to grow crops in that area later on. New crops will die out easily, and older crops will not be as useful anymore. Trying to grow plants and trees in weak soil with polluted water will lead you nowhere. To prevent such lasting damages, it is best to look into proper erosion control and erosion control companies that can help you.
As daunting as it sounds, with proper planning and enough preparations, all of these problems can be avoided.
Conclusion
Construction site erosion and erosion control are essential things to learn about. It is also very crucial information to know if you are looking to start a construction project in coastal cities of erosion-prone states, such as Vancouver and Seattle. In case you are worried, here are some processes to start your house construction.
We have tried to explain everything in the simplest way possible. If you do your research and plan accordingly, nothing can get in your way!