Green Roads
Mn/DOT Research and Innovation Roadmap
Demonstration Project – Innovative Sedimentation Traps
Implementation Plan
Overview
Maintaining a healthy environment, especially clean water, consistently ranks as very important to the
citizens of Minnesota. Maintaining a healthy roadside system is of paramount importance to
Mn/DOT. Protecting the existing green infrastructure investment, balanced with maintaining
ecological diversity, will establish a solid foundation for this emerging topic within the Department.
While erosion control methods and technologies are not new, recent bioengineering materials and
construction methods have been proposed and used in conjunction with simple rock traps, check
swales, rain gardens, and other techniques. Unique combinations of readily available construction
materials used with plant materials may provide substantial results. Some limited applications of
innovative green sediment traps have proven vastly reduced the amount of suspended material carried
downstream. These innovative traps also appear to be very cost-effective and simple to construct.
The roadside environment is a very harsh place; establishment of vegetation is difficult and
maintenance is challenging. Specific plant species should be investigated in conjunction with the
physical methods used to trap sediments. The long-term service life of such traps is unknown, but
they appear to be very easy to maintain and periodically clean.
Knowledge obtained from such a demonstration project could potentially be applied to many of
Mn/DOT’s projects throughout Minnesota, as well as other transportation organizations and units of
government.
Objectives
1. Confirm Mn/DOT’s past use and knowledge of sediment traps.
2. Create and document a demonstration project that uses different green technologies,
materials, and methods for trapping sediments.
3. Communicate findings and implementation strategies for incorporating appropriate
sediment traps throughout Minnesota for Mn/DOT projects and other transportation
systems.
Anticipated Sequence of Tasks
1. Identify appropriate Mn/DOT project champions and technical leads for the research
project.
2. Establish a project team to provide technical oversight and guidance throughout the
course of the project.
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3. Project team is to define initial work plan for the project and create the underlying
methodology for the study.
a. Identify technical resources inside Mn/DOT (and if necessary outside the
Department) to manage and lead the study.
b. Search the literature to identify past research on bioengineered sediment trap
design and construction.
c. Obtain detailed information on Mn/DOT’s use of sediment traps, including
what techniques have been used, when where they installed, what was the
unique purpose and/or reason for their use).
d. If pertinent, obtain detailed construction records from other transportation
agencies, states, and/or countries for green sediment traps.
e. Compare and contrast Mn/DOT’s practices related to this topic to the
practices of other states, countries, and transportation agencies.
4. Refine and modify work plan based on the findings of the above work tasks and proceed
with creation of a demonstration project model.
5. Develop evaluation criteria, schedule, and implementation goals.
6. Define best methods for executing the demonstration project study.
7. Develop project advertisement, solicitation, and award procedures for the project.
8. Select a contractor to install the innovative sedimentation trap(s) demonstration project.
9. Execute the demonstration project in the field with a selected contractor. Select several
sites throughout Minnesota to gain information in varying weather and site conditions.
10. The project team will work with the contractor to monitor and obtain measurable
findings.
11. Prepare reports summarizing the findings of the study.
12. Propose associated or allied future research to confirm the findings in the study.
13. Advocate funding options for future or additional research and/or implementation.
14. Suggest modifications to Mn/DOT Special Provisions and the Standard Specifications
based on the findings of the research projects.
15. Update content in the various Mn/DOT Design Manuals related to sediment traps.
16. Identify implementation strategies and future end-user products.
17. Communicate the findings of the projects through multiple outlets.
a. Highlight the findings and new material at Design Manual Workshop(s) and
training conducted by the Office of Environmental Services.
b. Present the findings of the studies at the annual CTS Research Conference and
other diverse conferences of transportation infrastructure.
18. Demonstration project deliverables include reports on findings, establishment of
performance measures, recommendations for policy and specification modifications,
training, and typical plans and details showing implementation strategies.
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