Testing Rolled Erosion Control Products (RECPs) Under Flow Induced Shear

This test evaluates an RECPs ability to reduce erosion caused by water flow. Conatiners containing both bare and RECP-protected soil are immersed in water and subjected to shear stresses caused by the rotation of an impeller with three blades. The testing is typically run at shear stresses well below, near, and well above the shear stress that causes a threshold amount of soil loss. The amount of soil that erodes is found from weighing the soil remaining in the containers. The results of the testing include the amount of soil lost from the test pots. From this data an appropriate permissible shear stress can be determined by comparing the RECP-protected soil loss to a threshold amount of soil loss.

This test may also be performed with vegetated RECP test specimens.