STC synthesis of research results for water quality management at construction sites : final report.

Details

• Creators:
  Aguilar, Alexander M. ; Sheffield, Richard H. ; Welch, Wilfred M.
• Corporate Creators:
  Thompson Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration ; Southeast Transportation Consortium
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Water quality management
  • Sediments
  • Waterways
  • Construction sites
  • Literature reviews
  • State departments of transportation
  • Erosion control
  • Best practices
  • Turbidity
  • Environmental impacts
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/LA.13/511
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Abstract:
  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists sediment as the most common pollutant in U.S. streams, rivers, lakes, and ; reservoirs. This is of significant importance to state Departments of Transportation (DOT) due to the large amount of construction necessary to ; maintain and improve interstate and intrastate public roadways. As part of construction, soils are frequently exposed due to the removal of ; vegetative cover. Unimpeded, sediment is transported to waters of the state, where deposition may cause a problem for aquatic organisms in the ; receiving waterways. Sediment is known to disrupt fish populations and aquatic plants and promote the growth of nuisance algae. Sediment may ; also be a carrier for chemical contamination. In March 2012, Thompson Engineering contracted with the Louisiana Transportation Research ; Center (LTRC) to perform a synthesis of research results on water quality management at construction sites within the Southeastern ; Transportation Consortium member states. This report presents the results of the research. While states in the southeastern U.S. have performed ; research on the subject of erosion and sediment management, there is still a need to take a closer look at management practices that will improve ; water quality at department of transportation construction sites. This report is an overview of recent research that has been performed or funded by ; state level DOTs in the southeastern United States. The primary source of information for this report comes from literature obtained from ; individual DOT databases or the Transportation Research Board database. Additionally, a questionnaire was sent to 12 states located in the ; southeastern United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, ; Virginia, and West Virginia. The following nine states responded to the questionnaire Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, ; Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Research that is ongoing is not included. Responses from the questionnaire indicate ; that the DOTs are making an effort in managing erosion and sediment at construction sites. All responding states indicate that they have ; stormwater training or monitoring programs in place. Additionally, literature regarding erosion and sedimentation was found from most states. A ; wide variety of research has been performed throughout the southeastern United States. Topics ranging from vegetative cover to individual best ; management practice (BMP) design and performance assessments have been studied with varied results. In the case that water quality degradation ; is eminent, the mitigation process has also been studied. The most recent research available was collected from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, ; Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Although DOTs are making efforts through research ; and management programs, there is still a need to continue improving construction impacts on bodies of water. More research regarding specific ; BMPs, site planning, training programs and systematic approaches would greatly benefit the DOTs in the effort to control or eliminate sediment ; loss at construction sites.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  LTRC Project Number: 12-5PF ; State Project Number: 30000543
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26923/dot_26923_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.33 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:daf00529d0e2543038f66ed7a8bbd9e67a205f9b6392e29e778510c92462d28b