Ways to Control Erosion at Construction Sites

This report discusses the problem of erosion at construction sites and its impact on the environment. It includes a literature review of effective techniques such as jointed concrete blocks, MSE walls, and geotextiles. The report also highlights the risks and outcomes of soil erosion and the importance of considering internal and external factors in the construction industry. Course code and college/university are not mentioned.

Task 1; Ways to Control
Erosion at Construction
Sites

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Problem identification............................................................................................................3
Analysis of problem context and impacts..............................................................................3
Literature review....................................................................................................................4
Discussion on risks and outcomes..........................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References .......................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
The term soil erosion refers to wearing away of land in respect to the action of wind,
gravity or water and their relative combinations. Due to this, it results wearing away of land and
ultimately results into motion. With context of the construction work, lot of earth movements are
involved that are intended both intentionally and unintentionally (Maffra and Sutili, 2020). As a
result of this earth movement that often leads to erosion impact on construction site as well as
natural areas in the surroundings. The provided report document is a construction project that
will highlight ways to control erosion at construction sites. This will include analysis of the
problem context with relative impacts, literature review and discussions on potential risk factors
and relative outcomes (Williams and et. al., 2018).
Main Body
Problem identification
When working in construction industry there are several issues and challenges that are
faced by engineers. One of the most underrated issue that is sometimes even ignored by
construction engineers relates to erosion. There are multiple factors that contributes towards soil
erosion when operating several operational workings in the construction industry. This might be
an inclusion of weaving away of land by the action of wind, gravity or water apart from
construction activities being chunked to the land (Puppala, Ruttanaporamakul and Congress,
2019).
The stated problem i.e., erosion proves to be dangerous for construction managers at it
could threaten life impact on individuals. Even through construction erosion only impacts on
surrounding areas but the provided impact could be extremely detrimental. With inclusive of the
issue major contributors are activities of filling and grading that reduces soil quality, lead to
erosion and environmental degradation.
Analysis of problem context and impacts
Soil erosion is considered to be the topmost concern for the construction project
institutions. The given problem is taken to ease or is being neglected by many engineers. In
addition to this, construction works churn up the soil making it more vulnerable to erosion.
Furthermore, a heavy run-off due to rain and related construction activity steadily leads to wash
away the soil that can also result in project delays. For this scenario blame for the cause is tagged

with natural happenings risks and uncertainties, but the truth lies in more wider context.
Therefore, construction managers or engineers have to take considerations of various factors that
are present in the operational environment of the construction industry (Chen and et. al., 2020).
This could be both internal as well as external factors. Within the internal environment, it
includes workplace environment, motivation factors and cultural groups working at the
workplace. On the other hand, external environment of the workforce includes, customers and
relative stakeholders such as sponsors, investors and competitors in the operational marketplace
(Megahan, 2021). There are variety of impacts that can be taken into consideration for given
problem of erosion towards the construction industry; Technology impact: In this element there is a greater influence of technology on
operational working of the construction site when engaging with problem of erosion. It
considers availability of technology element that is an inclusive of taking use of
innovative technologies or sometimes also highlights on negative impacts of use of
technology in the environment (Vos and Thomas, 2018). Social impact: For this segment, social impacts such as cultural behaviour or tradition
being followed in the region also disrupts effective operational working of the
construction industry. This includes better terms on the basis of which coordinated terms
can be established taking contrast to social factors present in an economic region.
 Economic impact: It includes impact of economic factors such as inflation rates, level of
income group of consumers, interest rates etc. This is an inclusive of taking consideration
of economic laws and relative legislation in the region that forms on effective operations
of the construction industry (Auerswald and Geist, 2018).
Literature review
Being mentioned by Juan Rodriguez, (2019), erosion control is amongst the biggest issue
that is being faced by large construction projects. The issue is caused due to the contribution of
multiple factors and each factor comes with specified solutions that are based on the site and
severity of the problem. There is greater importance for controlling erosions at the construction
site as it minimizes the risks of structural failures and relative environmental impacts on the
project. There are several solutions for the issue of erosion being faced by construction sites,
these are as follows (8 Ways to Control Erosion at Construction Sites, 2019);

 Jointed concrete blocks: It is a revetment systems which can be constructed for a wide
variety of shapes and thickness. Such blocks formulates as a grid for interconnected units
that are helpful for erosion control. This emphasises on embankments of waterways
various man-made drainage channels. MSE walls: This is a modern solution that have replaced various traditional concrete
retaining walls. Such walls offer several advantages over conventional reinforced
concrete walls that also includes speed and ease of its installation (Ozumba and Shakantu,
2018).
 Geotextiles: It is a common method for control erosion that improves soil over which
embankments, roads, pipelines and various earth-retaining structures are built. The
provided strategy with its specified type is based on several criteria is an inclusive of
separation, drainage, sealing and filtration (Favas,, Martino and Prasad, 2018).
From the analysis of the literature, it can be said that better terms of effective working at
the workplace can be taken into consideration when taking into consideration above mentioned
method to avoid erosion of soil. This includes effective basis of evaluation of business
environment in which productive business decision can be enabled at the construction project
industry. There is greater importance for controlling erosions at the construction site as it
minimizes the risks of structural failures and relative environmental impacts on the project
(Soltani, Zhu and Hammad, 2018).
According to information provided at Superior Ground cover incorporated, (2020), the
process of construction is an inclusive of high ground movement that is being done both
intentionally or unintentionally. Due to this movement of land, it sometimes leads to erosion that
could impact both construction site as well as natural areas around the construction site. The
stated problem arises which could damage the wealth of an economic region. For the reason
being high investment of costs and human resources in being invested in the construction project.
Usually large construction projects often have control problems of erosion that could be caused
by variety of potential cause. Following are the techniques that could be adopted at the
construction site to protect erosion problems (Erosion Control on Construction Sites, 2020); Riprag: The given technique is one of most common method that is being used to protect
soil from erosion in areas of concentrated run-off. Under the technique which consist of

large interlocked stones that forms as a barrier on slopes and prevent erosion (Tian and et.
al., 2018).
 French drains: The provided technique is an inclusive of underground piping system
which is also termed as drain tile. In this method, channel surface and ground water is
being extracted to an exit point through use of pipes. For proper installation of this
technique to avoid erosion of land it requires French drain a slope that is around 1 inch of
drop per feet of horizontal run.
From the analysis of the literature, it can be said that better terms of strategic working at
the workplace can be taken into consideration. This includes effective basis of evaluation of
business environment in which productive business decision can be enabled at the construction
project industry. There is greater importance for controlling erosions at the construction site as it
minimizes the risks of structural failures and relative environmental impacts on the project. By
following the term better considerations to techniques and potential solution are provided to
construction industry managers to enable sustainable manner of operating in such industry.
Discussion on risks and outcomes
The operational working at the construction site involves greater influence of internal and
external workplace environment. The project work is widely being exposed to variety of such
factors that might influence on effective project deliverables directly as well as indirectly. There
is a greater importance to key considerations to risk factors that might influence on construction
project undertakings (Niu ande et. al., 2019). With regards to the given project work that is
related to construction industry better terms can be established through taking into consideration
following risk elements;
Risks Evaluation Outcomes
Political risk For this risk various political
element in the society is being
taken into consideration. It
have a greater potential to
delay the project undertakings
and largely impact over
effective project workings. For
The possible outcome of the
provided risk factor includes,
failure of business plans or
might result in causing
additional resources of the
construction industry.

this risk any changes in
political laws or legislation
might lead to failure of project
goals and objectives.
Socio-culture risk With light to the fact that
operational working of the
construction industry is being
exposed to several cultural
groups within the marketplace.
This delivers better terms of
understandings that relates to
key findings over decision
making of the firm and also
creates higher chances of
conflicts at the workplace.
For the provided risk possible
outcome includes higher
chances of conflicts at the
workplace. This might
ultimately cause issue to the
workforce as negativity in the
workforce can be spread and
could result in ineffective
usage of resources of the
business firm.
Conclusion
From the analysis of the above construction project, it can be concluded that erosion at
construction project have a greater influence over undertaking of the project work. By following
the term better considerations to techniques and potential solution are provided to construction
industry managers to enable sustainable manner of operating in such industry. The provided
report includes several consideration to existing literature that are supported with suitable
analysis. Finally, taking into consideration project risks better terms of decision making can be
established by construction managers.

References
Books and Journals
Williams, A.T., Rangel-Buitrago, N., Pranzini, E. and Anfuso, G., 2018. The management of
coastal erosion. Ocean & coastal management, 156, pp.4-20.
Maffra, C.R.B. and Sutili, F.J., 2020. The use of soil bioengineering to overcome erosion
problems in a pipeline river crossing in South America. Innovative Infrastructure
Solutions, 5(1), pp.1-8.
Puppala, A.J., Ruttanaporamakul, P. and Congress, S.S.C., 2019. Design and construction of
lightweight EPS geofoam embedded geomaterial embankment system for control of
settlements. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 47(3), pp.295-305.
Chen, J., Xiao, H., Li, Z., Liu, C., Ning, K. and Tang, C., 2020. How effective are soil and water
conservation measures (SWCMs) in reducing soil and water losses in the red soil hilly
region of China? A meta-analysis of field plot data. Science of the Total
Environment, 735, p.139517.
Megahan, W.F., 2021. Effects of forest roads on watershed function in mountainous
areas. Environmental geotechnics and problematic soils and rocks, pp.335-347.
Vos, T.P. and Thomas, R.J., 2018. The discursive construction of journalistic authority in a post-
truth age. Journalism Studies, 19(13), pp.2001-2010.
Auerswald, K. and Geist, J., 2018. Extent and causes of siltation in a headwater stream bed:
catchment soil erosion is less important than internal stream processes. Land
Degradation & Development, 29(3), pp.737-748.
Favas, P.J., Martino, L.E. and Prasad, M.N., 2018. Abandoned mine land reclamation—
Challenges and opportunities (holistic approach). In Bio-geotechnologies for mine site
rehabilitation (pp. 3-31). Elsevier.
Ozumba, A.O.U. and Shakantu, W., 2018. Exploring challenges to ICT utilisation in construction
site management. Construction Innovation.
Soltani, M.M., Zhu, Z. and Hammad, A., 2018. Framework for location data fusion and pose
estimation of excavators using stereo vision. Journal of Computing in Civil
Engineering, 32(6), p.04018045.
Tian, K., Wu, Y., Zhang, H., Li, D., Nie, K. and Zhang, S., 2018. Increasing wind erosion
resistance of aeolian sandy soil by microbially induced calcium carbonate
precipitation. Land Degradation & Development, 29(12), pp.4271-4281.
Niu, Y., Gao, Z., Li, Y. and Luo, K., 2019. Effect of rock fragment content on erosion processes
of disturbed soil accumulation under field scouring conditions. Journal of soils and
sediments, 19(4), pp.1708-1723.
Online
8 Ways to Control Erosion at Construction Sites, 2019. [Online]. Available at:
<https://www.thebalancesmb.com/erosion-control-methods-844587>
Erosion Control on Construction Sites, 2020. [Online]. Available at:
<https://www.superiorgroundcover.com/erosion-control-on-construction-sites/>