subject: Role Of Drainage In Soil Infrastructure As Part Of The Stormwater Solutions [print this page] When you are working towards making a site stable, it is important that you understand the principles that concerns the proper drainage and control of the surface as well as the subsurface water that could affect the soil infrastructure in general.
When you are overlooking a project and watch it in birds eye view, you will be able to recognize the uncontrolled surface water when it runs over your site. When the surfaces are unprotected, the water runoff could make the site deteriorate in its stability and this is known as erosion. There will be destabilization of the soil on site, where the soil breaks loose from the surface and runoff with water flow as they migrate. This will result to the creation of erosion rills, eroded creek channels and shallow gullies. All of these factors will affect the entire infrastructure stability as well as could result into soil loss.
However, there are also other forms of flow pattern that cannot be easily identified and it results in the destabilization of the soils surface. You cannot immediately identify this flow but it is located beneath the surface. This could also result to water pooling, soil saturation and pore-pressure increase on slopes and hillsides. The resulting consequences are similar to the flow pattern on the surface.
When you think about stormwater solutions , it is actually the only solution that could protect your project and your site from going downstream. You will prevent unwanted impacts to the soil that could destabilize your project site and can make your project entirely a failure. There are a lot of things that you need to consider so that you can ensure that the site stability is not compromised.
The subsurface pattern is hard to recognize but it should still be included when you are working on a big project. Stormwater BMP facilities may help you improve the management of water runoff both on the surface and on the subsurface. There are methods to control the impact of water flow pattern on these two areas and control water concentration on soil that might destabilize the site.
One of the common methods is taking soil boring into the site so that onsite conditions are determined but it should be taken into the site during a wet period so that potential moisture can be determined through physical indication. You can consult a geotechnical engineer to provide assistance but it will mean that you need to add it to your budgetary expense. It is just part of the stormwater solutions so that you can ensure the success of your project.
