EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURAL SEDIMENT PERIMETER BARRIERS: LITERATURE REVIEW AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

A sediment perimeter barrier is a common practice along the perimeter of construction sites to prevent sediment from being washed over all the way to the nearby storm drains or directly into water bodies. It is important to apply barriers during construction since the grading and demolition do not allow the application of other ground surface protection, such as erosion control blankets. To better understand the mechanism, this paper conducted a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of structural sediment perimeter barriers (SPBs) in preventing sediment pollution. The study systematically analyzed the experimental design and results of previous research studies, including their strengths and limitations. The findings suggest that while SPBs have shown promise in reducing sediment pollution, their effectiveness varies depending on factors such as experimental design, installation, and sampling approach. Worse still, the criteria to evaluate the SPBs also differed across different studies. From the reviewed studies, we identified that there is a need to develop a unified test standard, especially on evaluation criteria and water sampling protocol. Additionally, there is a need for more studies to be conducted in various geographical and climatic conditions to assess the performance of SPBs. Although some models (WEPP and VFSMOD) have been proven to be effective in predicting the effectiveness of non-structural SPBs (vegetative filter strips), exploring the feasibility of these existing models in simulating structural SPBs to be subjected to sedimentladen water is recommended. Other software or methods used in the area of computational fluid dynamics, such as HYDRUS- 3D, ANASYS, EDEM, and finite volume methods (FVM), could also be introduced in this field.