At construction sites there is usually a large amount of digging of ground, which results often in piles of loose dirt and gravel, or in large stretches of bare earth. Such earth or dirt piles, generally being non-compacted, and often even compacted, are subject to erosion by wind or, more particularly by rainfall. When such raw earth is adjacent to streets or roads, rain can and most often does, wash the dirt over the road, creating a muddy hazardous condition. When the raw earth is adjacent a drainage ditch or sump and drainage pipe, such can be clogged or even plugged or dammed by the dirt that is washed into the ditch, sump, and/or pipe.
It is usually the practice to place plastic sheeting between the raw earth and a street, road, or other path, which is done by driving spaced wooden stakes into the ground along the stretch to be protected, and tacking or stapling plastic sheeting thereto, to form a plastic fence or dam. Such an arrangement at least partially dams the flow of dirt (usually mud) but is subject to wear and tear, often collapsing when the dammed load becomes too great. This problem also arises when the plastic strip is used to protect a drainage ditch, for example.
In the case where a sump and/or drainage pipe is to be protected, the protective structure is not as simple. Generally, assuming, for example, a square shaped sump, a square ditch is dug paralleling the sides of the sump, and vertical steel posts are driven into the ground at the four corners of the square. These posts are cross braced at their tops and their verticality maintained usually by two-by-fours attached to diagonally opposed posts and to each other. It is the usual practice to stretch plastic or felt sheeting around the square formed by the posts, and material such as chicken wire can be used to support the fabric spans. It is often the case that a mesh material, known as silt fencing, is supported by the chicken wire instead of the plastic or felt. Silt fencing is commercially available and is a plastic mesh sheeting material which allows the passage of water, but blocks, at least to some extent, the passage of debris, e.g., earth and rocks. The material extends down into the trench and is covered by, for example, lumped dirt, to prevent debris passing through the bottom edge of the structure. The structure as just described is relatively expensive to construct and, further, can only be used once, having to be completely disassembled for removal.
It is desirable, therefore, that a relatively simple, effective erosion control arrangement that can be reused where needed be available that has the inherent versatility to protect a wide variety of situations from erosion, or the deleterious results thereof.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds