EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL

HydroCycle provides a full range of erosion and sediment control evaluation, planning and design services, including holistic site evaluation, erosion and sediment control plans (ESCPs) for construction projects, stabilization plans for existing erosion problems, as well as evaluations for property owners impacted by offsite sediment releases.  Example projects include:

Shelton Farms Sediment Control Project, Hamblen County, TN

Background: Portions of the Nolichucky River in Hamblen County are currently on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 2010 303(d) list as impaired waters for the loss of biological integrity due to siltation, with the source being “irrigated crop production.”  Shelton and Sons Farm, located adjacent to the Nolichucky River, comprises over 200 acres, most of which is engaged in conventional tomato farming activities.  The farming practices involve the planting of row crops with plastic sheeting used for weed suppression.  A series of ditches and channels allow drainage from the farmland into the Nolichucky River.  As a result of the farming activities, there can be large areas of bare soil and a substantial amount of sediment which is transported from the fields along the drainage channels and into the Nolichucky River.

Project Description: A sediment reduction demonstration project was implemented to capture runoff from approximately 24 acres of tomato fields closest to the Nolichucky River, where the most severe erosion was occurring.  HydroCycle Engineering performed the hydrologic and hydraulic evaluation, engineering and design for the project.  The project components include a 600-ft by 50-ft sediment collection basin with maintenance access for removing captured sediment, an adjustable flashboard riser as the primary basin outlet and a reinforced vegetated spillway as the secondary outlet.  The flashboard riser includes a connection for a future skimmer to be used for basin dewatering at the water surface.  Reinforced waterways with a total length of 430 feet and additional grass-lined waterways convey stormwater runoff into the sediment basin.  The project sponsors were the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance and Tennessee Department of Agriculture and funding was provided through EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Grant Program and In-Kind Donations.

Pearson Falls Sediment Removal Evaluation, Saluda, NC

HydroCycle Engineering provided consulting engineering services to the Tryon Garden Club to evaluate removal of sediment which had accumulated behind an existing concrete dam and water intake facility.  HydroCycle conducted a site investigation, regulatory review and provided technical guidance on sediment removal procedures and turbidity monitoring to minimize risk to the ecological health and integrity of the Pearson Falls Glen area.  HydroCycle also provided coordination with regulatory agencies and the various stakeholders involved in the project to develop the sediment removal process.