Best of IECA 2023 Annual Conference

Select content from the IECA 2023 Annual Conference is now available on demand. Annual Conference education featured timely content presented by knowledgeable experts that provides real world solutions to industry problems. 

Balancing Roadways with Vegetated Systems: Seeking Resilient Stormwater Management in a Linear Environment to Meet MS4 Requirements

Brenda Macke, PE, PMP, CFM Project Manager Burns & McDonnell Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Co-presenter: Kylie Clark, MUP, AICP, ENV SP Urban Planner Burns & McDonnell, United States
Co-presenter: Dale Kirmer, Professional Engineer (he/him/his) Engineer Kansas Department of Transportation Topeka, Kansas, United States
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) was issued six new MS4 permits in 2020, applicable to the state-maintained roadway in six urbanized areas. The new format of the MS4 permit issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) requires permittees to accumulate a required number of points in each permit year, based on a defined menu of Best Management Practices (BMPs) listed for each of the minimum control measures. This predefined menu of BMPs is centered around municipal stormwater implementation, presenting challenges for application in the linear highway environment. This paper and presentation will explore how KDOT is addressing these challenges, with a focus on post-construction stormwater management implementation and how KDOT is addressing other BMPs that are more municipal focused.

Chemical Treatment of Sediment Retention Ponds in an Ever-Changing Climate Landscape

New Zealand, and in particular Auckland City, has soils with high concentrations of clays lurking just beneath the topsoil. Being relatively close to the surface, any earthworks activity results in the exposure of these soils to the erosive effects of nature, in particular rainfall. Out of the three soil constituents’, clays are the hardest to erode, however once eroded clays are the most difficult to remove from water owing to their small particle size and surface charge. Auckland, and now the majority of New Zealand, have attempted to tackle the problem of sediment generation from construction sites and the resulting sedimentation of waterways and the environment by trapping sediment on site. The industry and regulators have lent heavily into sediment control by designing robust sediment retention ponds (SRP) and enhancing their treatment efficiency with chemical coagulants and flocculants.

Considerations When Permitting Construction Projects at Existing Facilities

Construction projects that are on existing and operating facilities can pose additional concerns not associated with greenfield construction. These facilities may have existing permits, with specific sampling parameters outlined, that your project will have to consider. There may be the potential for contamination on-site, and special waste handling procedures that will have to be addressed. It may even affect how you permit the project. These items may come into play when developing your Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and how waste material is handled. 

Improving the Design and Performance of Double Row Sediment Barriers

Sediment barriers (SBs) are stormwater management devices often installed along the perimeter of a construction site to intercept and treat overland sediment-laden flow prior to discharge into the surrounding environment. Effective SB practices remove stormwater pollutants by creating a temporary impoundment upstream of the practice which facilitates sediment capture via sedimentation. Controlling agencies and design practitioners often specify the installation of two SB practices (i.e., primary and secondary SB) in areas where enhanced stormwater treatment is critical due to downstream environmental concerns (e.g., impaired waters). This study sought to identify the overall performance of a commonly specified double row SB (i.e., double row silt fence), as well as six alternative designs that utilized various secondary SB practices that could be easily paired with a primary silt fence SB.

Largely Unchanged 1990s Sediment Treatment Design in the Context of a Changing Climate and an Ever-changing Landscape of Construction Related Compliance Conditions

New Zealand arguably leads the world in the design, building and operation of the high efficiency sediment retention ponds. While the rest of the globe works to catch up with this highly effective technology the New Zealand leaders in the deployment of this approach have their eyes on the future, a future where changes in climate and compliance standards represent challenges to the success of these 30-year-old design specifications.

Intended to provoke, this opinion piece takes a reflective look at the implications for contractors in 2022 and beyond who have grown up with Auckland Council’s Technical Publication 90 (TP90) and more recently Guidance Document 5 (GD05). As design specification bibles these may now be starting to show inconsistent outcomes in certain circumstances.

Let's Settle It: What Does It Take for an In-channel Sediment Basin to Be Effective?

Jaime C. Schussler, PhD, CPESC IT, EIT Assistant Professor Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States

Sediment basins can effectively capture sediment if properly designed and implemented; however, design and installation techniques are greatly variable. In-channel sediment basins were identified as common practices on Iowa DOT construction sites and have been evaluated using field monitoring and large-scale testing techniques since 2018. In the spring of 2022, performance evaluations were completed at the Auburn University Stormwater Research Facility. The current Iowa DOT temporary sediment control basin standard specifies constructing an earthen dam across a conveyance channel to create an impoundment favorable for sedimentation, which is dewatered through a perforated riser pipe and auxiliary spillway. Researchers evaluated sediment basin performance based on the sediment retention volume and turbidity reduction provided by structural and chemical treatments.

Monitoring Construction Site Runoff for BMP Performance

Testing erosion and sediment control practices is an important part of making recommendations for their use or even their discontinuation. The best way to conduct these tests is under controlled laboratory or field conditions in which the variables are largely controlled. However, it can also be important to see how these practices perform under actual construction site conditions, which may include a wide variety of storm events, non-ideal conditions, and influences of construction site management. This presentation will review how the McLaughlin team has approached construction site BMP testing, the results, and what we learned along the way. 

Monitoring Water Quality in and out of Sediment Basins During Highway Construction

Christina Kranz, PhD (she/her/hers) Postdoctoral Research Assistant North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Co-presenter: Richard A. McLaughlin, Professor and Extension Specialist North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

Sediment discharge from construction sites can have harmful effects on aquatic life. Sediment basins are often used to capture runoff with high loads of sediment to settle out the suspended sediments (SS) prior to discharging into adjoining waters. Polyacrylamide (PAM) is widely used as an effective flocculent to improve SS capture. PAM can be placed in channels and pipes leading to the sediment basin to dose the runoff and mix the PAM with the SS. We monitored water quality in seven sediment basins during the construction of I-540 in the Raleigh, North Carolina area over the course of three years. 

Reefton's Globe Pit Holistic remediation using the 5 Fundamentals of Successful Rehabilitation

Joe Johnson, Business Development Manager - NZ DuraVeg From PGG Wrightson Turf Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

The former Globe Progress Mine is located just outside of Reefton which is on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island.  The mine is on it was way to “closure”, its restoration project is in its final years following the extensive mining practices that have now come to an end.  Central to the project is the re-establishment of vital ecosystems in the post-mining landscape. The restoration areas predominately include species native to New Zealand.  One of the areas located on the site yet to be fully rehabilitated is the “Globe Pit”. As the site was an open pit operation. There was 30 hectares of benches, low organic matter and limited access which would provide unique challenges to obtain vegetation. These challenges were overcome following the five fundamentals.

Credit Information

This series is worth 8 Professional Development Hours. You will earn professional development for each presentation you complete.