Opportunities in the Erosion Control Market
Erosion Control Opportunities
Bobcat equipment ideal for handling variety of projects
Stepped up enforcement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Phase II requirements for protecting water quality from the impact of construction activities means more money-making opportunities for owners of Bobcat® compact equipment.
Versatile and dependable Bobcat equipment-from mini track loaders to skid-steeer loaders to excavators and VersaHandler® telescopic tool carriers (TTC)-are ideal for saving time and labor in constructing and installing the measures needed to comply with the Phase II rules.
These rules, which went into effect three years ago, require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit before disturbing one acre or more of soil when developing land. Depending on local authorities, who can impose more stringent requirements, disturbing even less than one acre of land can trigger the permit requirement.
Under the Phase II rules, property owners must install and maintain proper Best Management Practices for controlling erosion and sediment. These may include erosion control blankets or rock check dams to control erosion by limiting the impact of rainfall or to slow storm water flows and the addition of silt fences and vegetative buffers to prevent sediment from washing off site. Failure to comply with the permit can result in fines up to $25,000 per day per violation and/or up to two years in jail.
Offering the industry's largest selection of sizes and types of machines and an unmatched selection of attachments, Bobcat compact equipment can handle a wide array of jobs on an erosion and sediment control project.
Handling materials
From bales of hydromulch to piles of rock, the power and agility of your skid-steer or all-wheel steer loader can save time lifting and carrying a variety of erosion and sediment controls material. You can mount pallet forks to unload palletized shipments of supplies such as seed, fertilizer or straw wattles, and place them around your jobsite. Other possibilities range from using a grapple to transport rolls of erosion control blankets or turf reinforcement mats to using your loader or excavator with a bucket to fill gabion baskets with rock.
Controlling drainage
A Bobcat compact track loader provides the flotation and traction to move dirt quickly and efficiently, even in wet or muddy soils. A six-way dozer blade or a Tilt-Tatch™ with a tooth bucket or combination bucket are great for digging and shaping drainage swales between a house and nearby fence or other structure, or for building a berm or excavating a ditch to divert storm water away from the construction area. For more precise work when installing storm water drainage systems add a laser system to a box blade or grader attachment.
When there's not even room for a compact track loader, bring in a mini track loader equipped with a bucket or dozer blade.
You can also use your excavator and a grading bucket with a Hydra-Tilt™ swing accessory or power tilt® swing accessory to construct drainage channels.
Building erosion and sediment control structures
A loader and bucket also make easy work of hauling in riprap for building grade control structures such as check dams and stabilizing drain pipe outfall areas. Equipped with a bucket and hydraulic clamp or rotating grapple, an excavator is handy for placing riprap along streambanks and shorelines.
An excavator and bucket also offer the digging depth, reach and easy spoil placement for efficiently constructing sediment ponds in confined areas.
Installing silt fences
Mount a trencher attachment on a mini track loader or easy-to-man-euver skid-steer, compact track or all-wheel steer loader to save time digging the anchor trench for a silt fence. Follow up with a bucket to backfill the trenched-in fabric. You can even use the wheels on one side of the skid-steer or all-wheel steer loader to compact the filled trench.
Bobcat equipment was used to prepare the site for the field day at the recent International Erosion Control Association Conference.
Controlling sediment on streets
By using a loader and bucket to bring in rock and build a stabilized exit pad you can limit the amount of mud and dirt tracked off site by truck tires. You can also clean up any sediment tracked or washed onto streets and into curbs by equipping your Bobcat skid-steer loader with a water kit to keep down dust while sweeping dirt back onto the site with an angle broom or whisker push broom or picking it up with a sweeper and gutter brush.
Constructing retaining walls
A Bobcat System (loader and excavator) is the smart way to build retaining walls, too. While digging out the slope and preparing the foundation for the wall with the excavator and bucket, the skid-steer or compact track loader can bring in concrete blocks, stones or timbers for building the wall using a bucket or pallet forks. Then the excavator can backfill behind the structure in lifts, alternating between a bucket to add the fill and a plate compactor attachment to compact the material.
The mini track loader is perfect for carrying blocks, rock, gravel and other materials in tight backyard retaining wall projects. On large jobs, use the VersaHandler TTC.
For earth retention structures stabilized with soil lifts wrapped in geotextile or geogrids or built with cellular confinement systems, a loader and vibratory roller can save time and labor when compacting the soil lifts. You can also use your excavator or VersaHandler TTC and bucket for backfilling the cellular confinement system with soil, aggregate or other material.
Seeding vegetation
Use your loader and scarifier or soil conditioner attachment to prepare hard soils for seeding a temporary or permanent cover of soil-holding grass or other vegetation. Then come back with a bucket and soil conditioner or landscape rake to spread topsoil prior to seeding. Next, use your loader with the seeder attachment to plant seed directly into the soil or with the spreader attachment to broadcast seed and/or fertilizer.
You can protect the seed and soil by recycling small-diameter trees, limbs and brush cleared from the site. To do so mount the chipper attachment on your loader to produce mulching material, which you can then spread over the site with a bucket. If specifications call for straw mulch, your loader and a bucket or pallet forks make it easy to bring in small bales of straw. Or you can use your machine with a bale handler to feed large bales of straw into a straw blower.
If you're installing erosion control blankets or turf reinforcement mats, an excavator and a grading bucket are handy for preparing the slopes by removing rocks, logs or other debris and filling in dips in the surface to ensure proper contact between the blanket or mat and the soil.
Planting trees and shrubs
The auger attachment on your loader or excavator is the quick, easy way to drill holes for planting trees and shrubs. When installing larger trees, the tree spade attachment converts your loader into a simple-to-use tree transplanter. If project specifications call for sod, use your loader with pallet forks to place pallets of small rolls of sod or with a sod layer attachment for installing larger sod rolls.
To learn more about how Bobcat equipment can help you develop a market for erosion and sediment control services, visit your nearby dealer today.