Rolled erosion control products (RECP) are designed to solve an issue where soil erosion is imminent on bare ground soil, but vegetation alone can’t prevent soil erosion. These products are designed either as an open weave textile such as COIR matting or Jute matting or as a loose matrix of fibers mechanically stitched to one or two natural or synthetic nets. The products function to prevent erosion and hold seed on slope or channel until vegetation can germinate and prevent the soil erosion on it’s own, at which time these products will either photodegrade or biodegrade. When choosing an RECP several factors must be considered.
Rolled Erosion Control Considerations:
Steepness of Slope in a slope application
This is typically represented by H:V with H being the horizontal distance that a slope travels to achieve a 1ft elevation increase (V).
Water flow rate and shear stress in a channel application
This data is much more complicated to calculate as it depends on many factors, and is usually best calculated by your hydraulics engineer when they design the storm water plan for a job.
Time needed for selected vegetation to be established
Typically, less time is needed with cool season grass species than that of warm season grasses or legumes, or woody shrubs that may be found in a specified seed mixture. You want to choose a blanket that will prevent erosion until these plants reach maturity and provide the biomass to prevent erosion on their own.
Vegetation Enhancement associated with RECP matrix
RECP products impact vegetation establishment in a myriad of ways including ability to hold moisture, soil needs for matrix or netting to biodegrade, and light penetration. A lighter matrix typically allows more sunlight through which will help seeds germinate more quickly, but it also tends to be less effective in protecting against erosion, so in this case you may want to pick the product that matches your site specific needs and not blanket the job with the highest tested blanket available. Also, some matrix materials require nitrogen from soil to biodegrade (wood) where others have a high nitrogen availability (agricultural wheat straw).
For additional assistance in selecting the right temporary RECP for your application, please contact your Cherokee Manufacturing sales representative.