In 2010, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers will enter the second phase of a project for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Maintenance Division to develop an Approved Products List (APL) for sediment control devices. Sediment runoff from construction sites is now the number one pollutant of our waterways, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. By 2013, contractors will be required to monitor and measure storm water runoff, which then must meet standards (Effluent Limitation Guidelines) before it can be discharged into a storm water conveyance system. For over 20 years, research conducted at TTI‘s Riverside Campus facility has produced methods, products, materials and devices in the area of vegetation and storm water management. Since 1990, the TxDOT-funded program at the TTI Hydraulics, Sedimentation and Erosion Control Laboratory has regularly updated an APL for erosion control materials, with many manufacturers having their materials tested at the facility.
The sediment retention device test flume, part of TTI's testing equipment at the Hydraulics, Sedimentation and Erosion Control Laboratory (HSECL).
Another view of the sediment retention device test flume.
Greenhouse at the HSECL.
