Silt Fence & Inlet Protection in Hartford, CT

On most building and grading projects around Hartford, silt fence and inlet protection go in before anything else and come out last. Silt fence is a geotextile fabric stretched between stakes and buried along its bottom edge, set on the low side of disturbed ground so runoff ponds behind it and drops its sediment. At storm drains, inlet protection serves that same purpose. We are silt fence contractors for builders, site contractors, homeowners doing big additions or pools, and anyone whose project has a sediment control plan to follow.

Where silt fence goes

Silt fence belongs along the contour on the downhill edge of disturbed soil, not straight down a slope, and not across a channel where water flows in a concentrated stream. It works by slowing sheet flow and letting it pond, so it needs room behind it. We typically put it:

• Along property lines that drop toward neighbors, streets or wetlands
• Around soil stockpiles
• Below new foundations, pools and additions on sloped lots
• At the edge of brooks, ponds and wetland buffers
• Along the low side of driveway and utility trenches

Installing it so it works

Most silt fence failures come from poor installation. If the lower edge of the fabric is not set into a trench and backfilled, water just runs underneath. Stakes go on the downhill side at close spacing. The ends turn uphill so water cannot slip around them. Long runs on a slope may need short sections at intervals rather than one long line. Where the fence will hold back a lot of water or sit for a long time, a wire-backed, stabilized silt fence holds up much better.

Inlet protection

In a city like Hartford, with streets lined with catch basins, the nearest storm inlet is usually close to the work. Sediment that reaches the inlet goes into the storm system and, eventually, toward the river. We protect inlets on and next to a site with filter fabric barriers, gravel and mesh, sandbag rings, straw bales or insert bags that sit under the grate, chosen to suit the inlet type and whether it is in a paved road or a yard. Curb inlets on busy streets need protection that will not flood the road.

Get a Free Estimate

Sediment control beyond the fence

Silt fence is one tool. Good sediment control also means keeping the disturbed area as small as possible, covering stockpiles, putting stone at the construction entrance so trucks do not track mud into the street, and seeding or mulching bare soil as soon as grading stops. We can install the fence, protect the inlets and then hydroseed the site when it is ready, so the controls and the final cover are planned together.

Maintenance and removal

Silt fence needs looking after. Sediment that builds up to around a third or half the fence height should be removed. Torn fabric, leaning stakes and undercut sections need fixing after heavy rain. Once the grass is established and the ground is stable, the fence and inlet protection come out and the trench line is raked and seeded. We can maintain controls through the project or remove them at the end.

Small jobs count too

Sediment control is not only for large developments. A pool dig in a sloped backyard, a long driveway regrade, a foundation repair or a big addition can each send a surprising amount of soil toward the street in one storm. For projects like these we can put in a short run of silt fence, protect the nearest catch basin and cover the soil pile, often in a couple of hours. It costs far less than cleaning sediment out of a neighbor's yard or a storm drain afterward.

Following the plan

Larger projects often have an approved erosion and sediment control plan from the town or the project engineer. In Connecticut those plans draw on the state's Guidelines for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, which DEEP and the Connecticut Council on Soil and Water Conservation maintain. When there is a plan, we install what it shows, in the places it shows, and keep it in good condition. If conditions on the ground do not match the plan, for example water coming from a direction nobody expected, we point that out to you and the engineer rather than improvising.

Coordinating with seeding

Silt fence is temporary. The permanent fix for sediment is grass, and the sooner the ground is seeded the sooner the fence can come down. When we handle both the controls and the hydroseeding, we plan the fence lines so they will not be in the way of the truck later, seed right up to the fence, and remove it once the grass has rooted. That avoids the common problem of a fence left standing for years because nobody was scheduled to take it out.