Erosion Control is the process of preventing or controlling the erosion caused by wind or water in agriculture, land development, and construction. This is achieved by stabilizing the areas disturbed by grading operations and reducing soil loss due to water or wind action to prevent water pollution. Erosion control products are primarily used in agriculture, construction, and land development to preserve nutrient-rich topsoil, reduce environmental disruption during construction, and limit risk from removal of natural vegetation when preparing for building.
In the 1970s the federal government established, The Clean Water Act, a basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the US to create clean water and streams. Pollution had become unmanageable to this point, but the event that mobilized public concern across the nation was an oil slick catching fire on the polluted Cuyahoga River in Ohio.
The Clean Water Act aimed to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. Our Conwed research and development soon realized that our netting was the perfect product to add structural integrity to loose organics such as straw, coconut or excelsior shavings to form a layered blanket, mat, or fiber roll that strategically placed on the banks can save sediment from our water and streams.
These blankets not only slow the sediment from reaching the waters, but with the help of the netting’s tensile strength, the root structure can hold so that when heavy rainfall comes, everything stays in place and helps the seedlings grow.
It’s important that we have erosion control measures in place as erosion can have a dramatic effect on communities and ecosystems. The benefits of erosion control include:
- Reducing runoff velocity
- Maintaining soil integrity
- Controlling pollutants
- Maintaining habitats and biodiversity
Our products and components offer flexible containment and protection features that keep erosion in check. In fact, Conwed™️ Netting is a critical component in rolled erosion control products (RECPs). Our customers use our netting as the containment element that manufacturers use to assemble their final erosion control products.
Conwed also offers solutions for garden and nursery netting, soil stabilization netting and turf systems, paver netting, plastic fencing, erosion control blanket netting, wattle netting, and Conwed™️ Multifilament Yarn.
There are three main types of erosion control where Conwed products play a role:
- Erosion Control Blankets, or ECBs,They work to fight soil erosion of several varieties and prevent any related damages while providing added soil stability. With proper placement, the mats will help keep sediment and topsoil from shifting until vegetation takes root, which naturally fights erosion.
- Turf Reinforcement Mats, or TRMs, are used to provide temporary cover for bare soil, long-term support for vegetation, and permanent armoring against stress caused by flowing water. They are typically used in conjunction with grass and other seed on steep slopes, in higher velocity ditches and channels and along shorelines.
- Fiber Rolls, or wattles, which are tube-shaped add sediment control erosion control devices filled with straw, rice, or coconut fiber wrapped with netting and most commonly placed along highways or construction sites.
As a leader in this industry, Conwed actively participates in the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), www.ieca.org, and the Erosion Control Technology Council (ECTC), https://www.erosioncouncil.org.
Please contact us if you have any questions about erosion control or our Conwed products or would like to speak to a Conwed Sales Representative.