CURLEX NETFREE

Curlex NetFree Installation

Curlex Netfree – The Perfect Answer For Golf Course Erosion Control

New regulations for erosion control are now in place.  Areas even as small as one acre must follow the NPDES permitting procedures.  U.S. EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) has become quite strict with the approval of  NPDES Phase II.

The popularity of golf as a sport has grown over the past few years creating a demand for the construction of golf courses. Erosion control has become more challenging as a result.  In addition to erosion control, golf courses must create areas that are easy to mow on a playable turf.  While standard erosion control blankets or ECBs, do a great job at controlling erosion while allowing for great growing conditions, the netting being used presents a problem for golf courses.  The problem, golf courses must be mowed before the netting can degrade.  Usually, netting containing UV degrader additives has been used on golf courses because the netting photo degrades within 90 days.  Golf courses cannot wait months on end to get the surfaces mowed.  Therefore,  erosion control blanket netting is often found wrapped around mowing equipment. While sod is another alternative, for timely mowable turf, the cost is approximately twice as much as ECBs and demands cumbersome watering in order to survive.

Golf Professional Hiram J. Cook Jr watched over the construction at Stonebrook. No outside contractors were needed on this project because course personnel did all the work.  The largest application of the new ECBs was applied in a large stormwater retention ditch. This was performed to manage runoff generated on the golf course. Retention areas are created to slow down and retain stormwater runoff. Pollutants found in stormwater runoffs are prevented from going into receiving bodies of water including elements found in fertilizers. The ditch was trapezoidal in shape having a 100 ft wide bottom, 40 ft long side slope ( 4H:1V), and a total length of 700 ft.  The flows are not expected to go beyond 1.0 lb/ft2 shear stress which is based on the design of the retention ditch. The soil was compacted, seeded with Winter Rye, and blanketed after construction was completed. A crew consisting of only two or three people was used to install the erosion control blankets. Common Bermuda has applied to over-seed the retention areas in 2004 because Winter Rye is only an annual grass.

The Learning Process

The installation crew ran into minor problems during the installation of the blankets.  It seems a percentage of the center cores were crushed inside the blanket rolls. The manufacturer of the ECBs was informed of the problem and provided a soft core in the center of the blankets that would prevent crushing.

NetFree with Young Plants Added

Entanglements of Excelsior Blanket

The Results

The benefits of this product were realized shortly after the installation. Rainfall-runoff caused rills to form in the soil that unprotected while the soil under the erosion control blankets was held in place. The threat of seeding washing away will happen anytime rills form in the soil. Vegetation is the main goal in erosion control so the seedbed is protected for the generation to take place.

Lush vegetation now exists on the slopes, the holding ponds, and retention ditches where the Curlex NetFree was installed.  Cook said course personnel are very pleased with the results and believed the blankets will hold without using a lot of staples.

It is not recommended that you install any ECB without anchoring it to the subgrade but personnel recognized the ability of the product to conform to the soil. John Slupecki at American Excelsior Company has been monitoring the success of the project and he believes the product offers great contact with the subgrade because it does not have any nettling which can reduce contact with soil.  Contact between the product and the subgrade is very important in all erosion control operations.