SILT FENCE

Definition

Temporary barriers of woven geotextile fabric used to intercept, reduce velocity, and filter surface runoff from disturbed areas.                             

Purpose

Silt fences filter sediment from runoff so that deposition of transported sediment can occur.  Silt fences can be used to intercept sheet flow only.  They cannot be used as velocity checks in ditches or swales, or be placed where they will intercept concentrated flow.

Conditions Where Practice Applies

Silt fence is limited to intercepting sheet flow runoff from limited distances according to slope.  Silt fence provides filtering and velocity dissipation to promote gravity settling of sediments.

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