01658314

Component

Construction site erosion and resulting sedimentation constitutes one of the greatest pollution threats to our nation’s waterways. Erosion control practices are important aspects of any construction project due to their ability to limit the process of erosion. Testing erosion control practices under rainfall conditions that will be experienced on construction sites is important to understand the erosion reduction capabilities of a practice. Large-scale testing using simulated rainfall has been shown to provide controllable and repeatable results, in comparison to field-testing under natural conditions. Therefore, the focus of this study was to design, construct, and calibrate a pressurized rainfall simulator testing apparatus capable of accurately and repeatedly simulating a 2-yr, 24-hr storm event in Alabama. The developed testing apparatus consisted of a 40 ft (12 m) long by 8 ft (2.4 m) earthen slope at a 3H:1V slope. Six sprinkler risers were placed around the perimeter of the slope to create a uniform distribution of rainfall. Data collection procedures consisted of collecting and analyzing rainfall depth, drop size distributions, and suspended sediment concentrations. The optimum location for each sprinkler riser, as well as, the most accurate nozzle configuration were determined through test procedures developed for this study. Through calibration testing, the simulator was found to produce rainfall intensities of 1.10, 1.78, and 3.76 in./hr (27.9, 45.2, and 95.5 mm/hr). Uniformity of rainfall distribution ranged from 79 to 81%.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB65 Standing Committee on Stormwater.

18-01268

English

4p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References

Construction sites; Erosion control; Pressurization; Rainfall; Runoff; Sedimentation; Simulation

Alabama

Design; Environment; Highways

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-01268

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:19AM