Introduction to Erosion Control Products and Geotextiles

The International Erosion Control Association’s 1992 Winter Report estimates that $6 billion to $13 billion are spent annually in the United States to mitigate the offsite impacts of erosion and sediment. Sediment accounts for more than two-thirds of all pollutants entering U.S. waterways (Theisen, 1992). Geosynthetic component systems have been developed to help restrain the gradual or sudden wearing away of soils. We will discuss products ranging from temporary products, such as hydraulic-mulch geofibers, plastic erosion-control meshes and nettings, erosion-control blankets and silt fences, to the high-performance, turf-reinforcement mats, geocellular confinement systems, erosion-control geotextiles, fabric-formed revetments, and concrete-block systems. The type of erosion control system specified depends on a number of factors (e.g., slope angle, climate, runoff, soil profile, and ultimate land use).
The specifier must select a technique that will perform up to expectations at the lowest cost.

The first group of erosion control products that we will discuss is materials of a temporary nature which facilitate vegetative establishment and then degrade. These short-term materials or temporary erosion and revegetation materials (TERMs) degrade, leaving only vegetation for long-term low to medium flow resistance.

TERM techniques include straw, hay, and hydraulic mulches; tackifiers and soil stabilizers; hydraulic mulch geofibers; erosion-control meshes and nets; erosion-control blankets; and fiber-roving systems.