Abstract:
In recent decades increasing attention has been dedicated to issues of
sustainable land management. Soil is essential for a number of functions and
services which are central to the sustainability of agro-ecosystems and the
global economy. Consequently soil management and specifically soil erosion
including, erosion from construction activities, is moving up the political and
legislative agenda. This thesis investigated the suitability of Compost Erosion
Control Blankets (CECBs) for runoff and erosion control, on construction sites
under two simulated rainfall events (5 and 75 year return period storm events
(PRSE)) as compared with currently adopted Best Management Practices
(BMPs). Two grades of BSI BSI PAS 100:2005 compost, namely CECB0-20mm
and CECB0-40mm, were tested against two Erosion Control Blankets (ECBs),
namely ECBstraw and ECBcoir, and control bare soil plots. Treatment
performance was evaluated in terms of a range of attributes including runoff
rate, volume and time to runoff initiation and total suspended solid TSS and
nitrogen and phosphorous levels in runoff. In addition, nitrogen and
phosphorous levels in leachate were also investigated.
