Prepare Your Construction Sites for NYS DEC Winter Stabilization Guidelines:
- Maintain a 25-foot buffer from silt fence and perimeter controls. Mark silt fence with taller stakes for increased visibility above snowpack.
- If your work area drains to and is within 100 feet of a water body, add a second row of silt fence (spaced 5 feet apart).
- Keep snow off of drainage structures to prevent ice jams that can cause flooding.
- Install silt fence prior to frozen ground conditions.
- Install silt fence 15 feet from stockpiles (versus 10 feet).
- Stabilize soils within 3 business days (versus 7 or 14) of inactivity.
- Spread straw at 4 tons per acre if seed is not used (2 tons per acre with seed).
- Prepare for melting events by stabilizing soils at the end of the business day unless soils are to be worked within 24 hours and no precipitation is in the forecast.
- Use 10-foot-wide stone paths to stabilize equipment access perimeters of buildings.