Protecting Soil stockpiles
It's become second nature for Kevin Stumpff and his crew.
Once or twice a week they drive their hydroseeding equipment to the work sites of local contractors and homebuilders. Their job? Protect the large stockpiles of soil on these sites from wind and water erosion.
On a recent project, a homebuilder called Stumpff and his crew to a 50-acre site in Gilbert, AZ, a town located near Phoenix. The developer was building a subdivision there, one that will eventually include 200 homes. Construction crews were working to build the subdivision's infrastructure and were drawing upon two large stockpiles of exposed soil in the process. Each stockpile contained about 1,000 cubic yards of soil, which needed to be protected from erosion, whether from wind or rain.
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PHOTO: WINDSWEPT ORGANIX |
Windswept Organix, Stumpff's company based in Chandler, AZ, sent a hydroseeding machine, a foreman, and a laborer to the site in mid-July. The crew covered both stockpiles with Enviro-Shield, a jet-applied bonded fiber matrix product.
The application was relatively quick, taking about half a day to completely cover the soil piles. Once applied, the matrix forms a protective crust over the piles, keeping the soil in place even when high winds or rain hit a site.
The product, manufactured by the Industrial Products Division of United States Gypsum Co., has been a boon to Stumpff's company. Contractors often call on Windswept, which specializes in preventing stormwater pollution, for these jobs. Work that once took Windswept's workers hours now takes significantly less time. Stumpff's crews can apply about 1,000 pounds of Enviro-Shield in 20 to 30 minutes, he says.
"It's not as fast as hydroseeding, but it is similar,' says Stumpff, president of Windswept Organix. "We can take care of all the stockpiles on a contractor's site in a few hours. If we're on a big job site, it certainly increases our efficiency."
Stumpff has been using the product for about five months, which is about how long United States Gypsum has been offering it. "This is something we've been using often," Stumpff notes. "We work with a lot of contractors here who are required to stabilize their soil if they're not going to use it for 14 days or more. If they have large stockpiles of soil that they need to hang onto, they need to do something to stabilize it. We've been using Enviro-Shield pretty regularly to stabilize those stockpiles."
Windswept made it to the Gilbert site at an opportune time. Heavy rains fell on the area in late July and early August. Stumpff visited the site shortly after it had been soaked with 2 inches of rain in two hours. The soil piles his crew had doused with Enviro-Shield stayed put, and the crust atop them was still intact. The same couldn't be said for the fresh, untreated dirt on the site. The new dirt piles were loose and had already begun eroding.
"The product is working, and it is working well," Stumpff says. "It actually works better than I had thought it was going to."
His crews previously used rock and wood mulching to stabilize stockpiles of soil. This worked but was far from efficient. The equipment used to install the mulching was also far more expensive. In other cases, Windswept Organix workers would protect the perimeters around the stockpiles by building small rivulets that would catch stormwater and divert it from the piles. That too worked but was time-consuming and expensive. "This new way is much easier," Stumpff says. "We can burn off 20 bales of the product in about 20 minutes."
"Contractors, with all the new federal regulations, are very much aware of how important erosion control is on their sites," says Brad Fogel of United States Gypsum. "They need to control their exposed soil from eroding down steep slopes. Enviro-Shield helps them do this. It's also good on sites where the contractors want to grow grass; it protects the seed. When a contractor wants to grow grass on a steep slope, they can seed the slope and then apply our product on top to hold the seed and give it time to germinate." The matrix retains moisture from rainwater, aiding in germination, and also includes gypsum plaster, which provides calcium to the soil.
Designed for use in challenging conditions, it can be applied at high elevations, on steep slopes, and in areas that experience heavy rainfall. And because contractors apply it with conventional hydraulic seeding equipment, they can apply the matrix in less time than it takes to use erosion control blankets or sod.
Stumpff also says that demand for these types of applications should increase as contractors throughout Windswept's service area look for more efficient ways to handle their erosion issues. "The contractors I work with are more aware every day of the importance of erosion control on their sites," Stumpff says. "Part of it is the government doing more to educate contractors. Part of it is the associations that serve these people. They do a lot of education, too. Some of it is vendors educating the contractors. Some of it is enforcement, scaring people into it. We don't want to see any contractors get hurt. We want to help them stay out of trouble. That's our goal."
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Stumpff offers this protection to local contractors. Many contractors' sites feature dry retention ponds, basically large sloped holes where runoff collects and eventually evaporates. The problem is that during the early stages of construction these dry ponds feature little landscaping or vegetation on their sloped sides and are highly susceptible to erosion. Stumpff's crew has applied Enviro-Shield to the slopes of several of the dry ponds.
"After mass grading the contractor is left with a bunch of untreated slopes," Stumpff says. "We've been working with a couple of contractors on this. I've been very happy with the way the product has worked. It's done what we've wanted it to do." EC
November-December 2005
Protecting Soil stockpiles
I
t's become second nature for Kevin Stumpff and his crew.Once or twice a week they drive their hydroseeding equipment to the work sites of local contractors and homebuilders. Their job? Protect the large stockpiles of soil on these sites from wind and water erosion.
On a recent project, a homebuilder called Stumpff and his crew to a 50-acre site in Gilbert, AZ, a town located near Phoenix. The developer was building a subdivision there, one that will eventually include 200 homes. Construction crews were working to build the subdivision's infrastructure and were drawing upon two large stockpiles of exposed soil in the process. Each stockpile contained about 1,000 cubic yards of soil, which needed to be protected from erosion, whether from wind or rain.
|
PHOTO: WINDSWEPT ORGANIX |
Windswept Organix, Stumpff's company based in Chandler, AZ, sent a hydroseeding machine, a foreman, and a laborer to the site in mid-July. The crew covered both stockpiles with Enviro-Shield, a jet-applied bonded fiber matrix product.
The application was relatively quick, taking about half a day to completely cover the soil piles. Once applied, the matrix forms a protective crust over the piles, keeping the soil in place even when high winds or rain hit a site.
The product, manufactured by the Industrial Products Division of United States Gypsum Co., has been a boon to Stumpff's company. Contractors often call on Windswept, which specializes in preventing stormwater pollution, for these jobs. Work that once took Windswept's workers hours now takes significantly less time. Stumpff's crews can apply about 1,000 pounds of Enviro-Shield in 20 to 30 minutes, he says.
"It's not as fast as hydroseeding, but it is similar,' says Stumpff, president of Windswept Organix. "We can take care of all the stockpiles on a contractor's site in a few hours. If we're on a big job site, it certainly increases our efficiency."
Stumpff has been using the product for about five months, which is about how long United States Gypsum has been offering it. "This is something we've been using often," Stumpff notes. "We work with a lot of contractors here who are required to stabilize their soil if they're not going to use it for 14 days or more. If they have large stockpiles of soil that they need to hang onto, they need to do something to stabilize it. We've been using Enviro-Shield pretty regularly to stabilize those stockpiles."
Windswept made it to the Gilbert site at an opportune time. Heavy rains fell on the area in late July and early August. Stumpff visited the site shortly after it had been soaked with 2 inches of rain in two hours. The soil piles his crew had doused with Enviro-Shield stayed put, and the crust atop them was still intact. The same couldn't be said for the fresh, untreated dirt on the site. The new dirt piles were loose and had already begun eroding.
"The product is working, and it is working well," Stumpff says. "It actually works better than I had thought it was going to."
His crews previously used rock and wood mulching to stabilize stockpiles of soil. This worked but was far from efficient. The equipment used to install the mulching was also far more expensive. In other cases, Windswept Organix workers would protect the perimeters around the stockpiles by building small rivulets that would catch stormwater and divert it from the piles. That too worked but was time-consuming and expensive. "This new way is much easier," Stumpff says. "We can burn off 20 bales of the product in about 20 minutes."
"Contractors, with all the new federal regulations, are very much aware of how important erosion control is on their sites," says Brad Fogel of United States Gypsum. "They need to control their exposed soil from eroding down steep slopes. Enviro-Shield helps them do this. It's also good on sites where the contractors want to grow grass; it protects the seed. When a contractor wants to grow grass on a steep slope, they can seed the slope and then apply our product on top to hold the seed and give it time to germinate." The matrix retains moisture from rainwater, aiding in germination, and also includes gypsum plaster, which provides calcium to the soil.
Designed for use in challenging conditions, it can be applied at high elevations, on steep slopes, and in areas that experience heavy rainfall. And because contractors apply it with conventional hydraulic seeding equipment, they can apply the matrix in less time than it takes to use erosion control blankets or sod.
Stumpff also says that demand for these types of applications should increase as contractors throughout Windswept's service area look for more efficient ways to handle their erosion issues. "The contractors I work with are more aware every day of the importance of erosion control on their sites," Stumpff says. "Part of it is the government doing more to educate contractors. Part of it is the associations that serve these people. They do a lot of education, too. Some of it is vendors educating the contractors. Some of it is enforcement, scaring people into it. We don't want to see any contractors get hurt. We want to help them stay out of trouble. That's our goal."
Stumpff offers this protection to local contractors. Many contractors' sites feature dry retention ponds, basically large sloped holes where runoff collects and eventually evaporates. The problem is that during the early stages of construction these dry ponds feature little landscaping or vegetation on their sloped sides and are highly susceptible to erosion. Stumpff's crew has applied Enviro-Shield to the slopes of several of the dry ponds.
"After mass grading the contractor is left with a bunch of untreated slopes," Stumpff says. "We've been working with a couple of contractors on this. I've been very happy with the way the product has worked. It's done what we've wanted it to do." EC