Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a rapidly growing city of 75,000 people built entirely on a well-developed karst plain, upon which the natural drainage of the area flows to the Barren River via sinkholes, sinking streams, underground rivers, and caves developed in the underlying limestone.1 This natural hydrologic system presents a variety of challenges for development and urban planning, not...
The Town of Big Flats, New York had a challenging series of stormwater channels on a public right-of-way. The series of stormwater channels transported rainwater and snowmelt that originated from a steep hill, crossed rights-of-way and eventually emptied into a stream. The long downhill run caused concentrated flows in the channels that temporary rolled erosion control products (RECPs) could...
Three years of construction and $11.5 million later, the residents of and visitors to the South Lake Tahoe area enjoy a newly-restored marsh that had been lost over the years following development and alterations to the river that flowed through it (Figure 1).
In the 1940s the Upper Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe covered 1,600 acres, which made it...
2023 IECA Annual Conference and Expo
The 2023 IECA Annual Conference and Expo in Kansas City (KC), Missouri brought back our global community and a new group of peers to network with from the Geosynthetics group. The conference kicked off with a brews and BBQ tour of KC and ended with field tours of the Berkley waterfront development, smart sewer...
Sustainability Through InnovationThis article is part of Environmental Connection’s mission to help grow the industry by promoting innovative research, products and technology that meet industry needs through more sustainable approaches. Articles in future issues will continue to provide multiple perspectives to promote ongoing efforts to protect natural resources.
Since 1937, Soil and Water Conservation Districts have diligently worked to meet...
Trying to grow your business alone can be risky and unproductive because no one person or organization has all the necessary answers, connections and resources needed for growth. People and organizations outside of your company and industry who share the same customers can help you grow your business. There are even circumstances in which your competitors can be smart...
Many of us have heard the mantra about soil erosion prevention that goes something like: “It’s the cover, dummy!” Many studies have shown that covering up the soil with something can reduce erosion by more than 90%, but what should that “something” be? There are lots of options and a few of these have been the focus of recent...
An unavoidable aspect of coal mining is the accumulation and piling of overburden — the rock or soil layer that needs to be removed in order to access the ore being mined. The removal of topsoil increases the difficulty and cost of rehabilitating mining sites.
In Queensland, Australia, a partnership of companies that includes a soil remediation contractor, horticultural consultant,...
Runoff from urban areas was first recognized as a problem for receiving waters in terms of too much volume in too short of a time period. The solution was to detain the water and release it more slowly. Then it became clear that contaminants in the runoff, including heavy metals and nutrients, were also a problem. One of the...
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has more than three decades of evaluating the performance of erosion control products. These products include rolled erosion control products (RECPs) and hydraulically applied products (HECPs). The results provide the data for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Approved Product List for erosion control products. While this program has ensured the use of...
