Silt Fence & Sediment Barriers in Cleveland, OH

Silt fence & sediment barriers in Cleveland keep soil from leaving a construction site and reaching streets, storm drains and creeks while the ground is bare. We handle silt fence installation along site perimeters, inlet protection at storm drains, sediment control around stockpiles, and the repairs and removal that follow. Builders and site contractors bring us in as silt fence contractors at the start of a job and then again to seed and stabilize at the end, so the same crew covers both halves of the erosion control plan.

Why it matters here

Sediment is the main thing a site's stormwater plan is written to stop. Ohio EPA's Construction Stormwater General Permit covers sites disturbing one or more acres, and no earthwork should begin until the site's stormwater pollution prevention plan is written. Local codes add their own layer: Euclid's erosion and sediment control chapter, for instance, provides for an abbreviated plan on sites disturbing as little as one-tenth of an acre and treats the construction entrance as a regulated point. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District runs a regional stormwater program aimed at flooding, streambank erosion and water quality across much of the area. Mud in a catch basin is visible to everyone, including inspectors.

How silt fence actually works

Silt fence is a woven geotextile fabric, trenched into the ground and supported by stakes, set along the contour on the downhill side of disturbed ground. It slows sheet flow so soil settles out behind it. It is not meant to stop a concentrated stream of water; set across a ditch or channel, it overtops or blows out. Most failures we see come from three mistakes: the bottom edge laid on the surface instead of buried, fence run straight downhill instead of along the contour, and no maintenance after the first big storm.

Built for heavy clay and frequent rain

On the clay till soils common in Northeast Ohio, runoff starts quickly and carries fine silt that is slow to settle. The USDA's Mahoning series, a typical upland soil here, has a silty clay subsoil and a perched water table near the surface from October through June. That means more runoff, more often. Cleveland averages about 41 inches of precipitation a year spread across close to 159 wet days, so fence gets tested constantly. We trench it in properly, set stakes close enough to hold a load of wet sediment, and switch to stabilized or wire-reinforced fence below long slopes.

Inlet protection and other sediment controls

Storm inlets on and next to a site need their own protection: filter fabric under the grate, silt fence or bale rings around area inlets, sandbag or gravel barriers, or inserts that sit below the grate. We also place filter socks or logs where fence will not work, such as on pavement, and around stockpiles of topsoil.

Maintenance and removal

Sediment control only works if it is kept up. After heavy rain, fence sags, sediment builds up behind it, and stakes pull loose. We offer inspection and repair visits, clean-out of sediment behind fence, and removal once the site is seeded and stable, followed by seeding the strip where the fence stood.