This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles

for the
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

Designation: D6462 − 19

Standard Practice for

Silt Fence Installation and Maintenance1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D6462; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope 1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the
1.1 This practice covers common installation and mainte-
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-
nance procedures for temporary silt fence applications. This
priate safety, health, and environmental practices and deter-
practice is based on AASHTO M288.
mine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
1.2 This practice is applicable to the use of silt fence as a 1.7 This international standard was developed in accor-
vertical permeable interceptor designed to remove suspended dance with internationally recognized principles on standard-
soil from overland, non-concentrated water flow. The function ization established in the Decision on Principles for the
of a temporary silt fence is to trap and allow settlement of soil Development of International Standards, Guides and Recom-
particles from sediment laden water by intercepting and mendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical
impounding water in an effort to slow the transport velocity Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
and provide storage for sediment to be captured. The purpose
is to greatly limit the transport of eroded soil from the 2. Referenced Documents
construction site by water runoff. 2.1 ASTM Standards:2
1.3 The practices presented herein are intended to ensure D653 Terminology Relating to Soil, Rock, and Contained
good workmanship and quality, but do not necessarily apply to Fluids
the concentrated flow applications. D3740 Practice for Minimum Requirements for Agencies
Engaged in Testing and/or Inspection of Soil and Rock as
1.4 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units Used in Engineering Design and Construction
are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in D4632/D4632M Test Method for Grab Breaking Load and
each system may not be exact equivalents, therefore each Elongation of Geotextiles
system shall be used independently of the other. Combining D6461/D6461M Specifications for Silt Fence Materials
values from the two systems may result in non-conformance
with the standard. 2.2 AASHTO Standard:3
M288 Standard Specification for Geotextile Specification for
1.5 This practice offers an organized collection of informa- Highway Applications
tion or a series of options and does not recommend a specific
course of action. This document cannot replace education or 3. Terminology
experience and should be used in conjunction with professional 3.1 For definitions of terms used in this practice, see
judgment. Not all aspects of this guide may be applicable in all Terminology D653.
circumstances. This ASTM standard is not intended to repre-
sent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of 4. Significance and Use
a given professional service must be judged, nor should this
4.1 Proper installation is critical to effective performance of
document be applied without consideration of a project’s many
silt fence. This practice presents procedures for installing and
unique aspects. The word “Standard” in the title of this
maintaining silt fence that have been shown to result in silt
document means only that the document has been approved
fence installations that effectively redirect and impound surface
through the ASTM consensus process.
runoff and, thereby, provide effective sediment control.

1 2
This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or
Rock and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D18.25 on Erosion and contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For Annual Book of ASTM
Sediment Control Technology. Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
Current edition approved June 15, 2019. Published July 2019. Originally the ASTM website.
3
approved in 1999. Last previous edition approved in 2008 as D6462 – 03(2008), Available from American Association of State Highway and Transportation
which was withdrawn February 2017 and reinstated in June 2019. DOI: 10.1520/ Officials (AASHTO), 444 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 249, Washington, DC 20001,
D6462-19. http://www.transportation.org.

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 D6462 − 19
NOTE 1—The quality of the result produced by this standard is to slow the velocity of the water flow and provide for additional silt
dependent on the competence of the personnel performing it, and the collection without the risk of harmful flooding.
suitability of the equipment and facilities used. Agencies that meet the
criteria of Practice D3740 are generally considered capable of competent
8.1.3 Maximum post spacing shall be based on the fabric
and objective testing/sampling/inspection/etc. Users of this standard are support (wire or polymeric mesh) or, if unsupported, on
cautioned that compliance with Practice D3740 does not in itself assure elongation as measured in accordance with Test Method
reliable results. Reliable results depend on many factors; Practice D3740 D4632/D4632M. Supported silt fence shall have a maximum
provides a means of evaluating some of those factors post spacing of 3.0 m (10 ft). Unsupported silt fence with
5. Controlling Material Specifications elongation ≥50 % shall also have a maximum post spacing of
1.2 m (4 ft). Unsupported silt fence with elongation <50 %
5.1 All materials used for temporary silt fence shall conform shall have a maximum post spacing of 2.0 m (6.5 ft).
with the specification requirements of ASTM Specification 8.1.4 When using shorter silt fences, wood, steel, or syn-
D6461/D6461M unless otherwise specified. thetic support posts having a minimum length of 0.9 m (3 ft).
6. Certification may be used; however, in most cases a minimum 1.22 m (4 ft)
T Post or hardwood stakes would be recommended. The height
6.1 The contractor shall provide to the engineer a certificate of the silt fence fabric would be the determining factor. The
of compliance from the supplier(s) of the silt fence. posts shall have sufficient strength to resist damage during
7. Sampling, Testing, and Acceptance installation and to support the applied loads due to material
build up behind the silt fence.
7.1 Silt fence materials shall be subject to sampling and
testing to verify conformance with the controlling material NOTE 3—See D6461/D6461M for recommended wood post dimensions
or steel post requirements.
specification.
8.1.5 Wire or polymer support fence shall be at least 750
8. Silt Fence Installation and Maintenance mm (2.5 ft) high and strong enough to support applied loads.
8.1 Materials—Silt fence materials shall conform to the Polymer support fences shall meet the same ultraviolet degra-
requirements of Section 5. Unless otherwise specified, the silt dation requirements as the geotextile. Wire or polymeric mesh
fence installation shall conform to the following: support height should be adjusted when site conditions require
8.1.1 The geotextile used for temporary silt fence must be the fence height to be adjusted.
supported by posts, and may or may not be supported between NOTE 4—Wire support fence having at least six horizontal wires, and
posts with wire or polymeric mesh. being at least 14 gauge wire have performed satisfactorily. Vertical wires
8.1.2 As a general rule, the minimum height above ground should be a maximum of 6 in. (150 mm) apart.
for all silt fence should be 450 mm (18 in.) and a maximum of 8.2 Construction:
750 mm (30 in.), see Note 2 discussing the maximum height 8.2.1 Trench Construction—The bottom of the silt fence
above ground. geotextile shall be buried in a “J” configuration to a minimum
NOTE 2—The recommended maximum height of 30 in. (750 mm) is
depth of 150 mm (6 in.) in a trench so that no flow can pass
designed to trap the flowing sediment without creating a serious down- under the silt fence. Backfill the trench and compact the soil
stream flooding problem if the silt fence experienced a total rupture. In over the geotextile so that the compacted soil completely fills
addition, the maximum silt fence height must take into account the the trench. (See Fig. 1.)
environmental conditions of the area of installation to, for example, avoid 8.2.2 Soil Slicing Construction—Insert the geotextile in a
a situation where the silt fence could cause the level of the retained water
to rise to a level that would flood an adjacent structure. In that situation, slit in the soil 0.2 to 0.3 m (8 to 12 in.) deep so that no flow can
it would be necessary to use a lower height silt fence above ground and pass under the silt fence. Create the slit such that a horizontal
consideration should be given to using multiple properly spaced silt fences chisel point (approx. 76 mm/3 in. wide) at the base of a soil

FIG. 1 Typical Silt Fence Installation Detail

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 D6462 − 19
slicing blade (approx. 18 mm/0.75 in. wide) slightly disrupts the backfill soil immediately next to the silt fence geotextile.
soil upward as the blade slices through the soil. This upward Compact the upstream side first, and then the downstream side.
disruption minimizes soil disturbance. Once the geotextile When installing pre-assembled silt fence, care shall be taken to
fabric is mechanically inserted in to the slit, the area around the sufficiently compact soil adjacent to the installed geotextile and
slit that was disrupted should be mechanically compacted back posts. The soil adjacent to the buried silt fence geotextile shall
to its natural state. (See Fig. 2.) be compacted to achieve no less than 50% of its original in situ
8.2.3 Splice the geotextile together only at support posts. strength when measured using a suitably calibrated hand-held
Two sections of fence may be overlapped or alternatively penetrometer or shear vane, unless a more appropriate com-
spliced as long as there are no gaps, voids, or other loss of paction measurement technique and associated compaction
integrity of the barrier. criteria is directed by the engineer.
8.2.4 Place the posts at spacing as shown on the project
NOTE 7—Installed posts may interfere with compaction by large
plans. Drive posts or place a minimum of 500 mm (1.65 ft) into equipment adjacent to the silt fence. Compaction is commonly accom-
the ground. Increase depth to 600 mm (2 ft) if fence is placed plished with the front wheel of a tractor, skid steer, roller or other device,
on a slope of 3H:1V or greater. as well as with manual tamping or other manual means.
NOTE 5—Where 500 mm (1.65 ft) depth is impossible to attain, the 8.3 Maintenance:
posts should be adequately secured to prevent overturning of the fence due 8.3.1 The contractor shall inspect all temporary silt fences
to sediment loading.
after rainfall, and at least daily during prolonged rainfall. Any
8.2.5 Fasten the support fence securely to the upslope side deficiencies shall be immediately corrected by the contractor.
of the fence post. The support fence shall extend from the 8.3.1.1 The contractor shall also make a daily review of the
ground surface to the top of the geotextile. location of silt fences in areas where construction activities
8.2.6 When self-supported fence is used, securely fasten the have altered the natural contour and drainage runoff to ensure
geotextile to fence posts. that the silt fences are properly located for effectiveness. Where
8.2.7 Silt fences should be continuous and transverse to the deficiencies exist as determined by the engineer, additional silt
flow. The silt fence shall follow the contours of the site as fence shall be installed as directed by the engineer.
closely as possible so that flow does not concentrate to any low
8.3.1.2 Repair damaged or otherwise ineffective silt fences
point along the fence, unless the downstream side of the silt
or replace promptly.
fence, which will result in degradation of the installation along
with possible failure. Place the fence such that the water cannot 8.3.2 Either remove sediment deposits when the deposit
run off around the end of the fence, unless a “Smile or U reaches half the height of the fence, or install a second silt
Configuration” is utilized in series so that a downstream “Smile fence as directed by the engineer.
or U Configuration” has been installed down grade to capture 8.3.3 The silt fence shall remain in place until the engineer
the bypass. directs it be removed. Upon removal the contractor shall
remove and dispose of any excess sediment accumulations,
NOTE 6—Commonly, silt fence is limited to handle an area equivalent appropriately grade the area, and vegetate all bare areas in
to 90 m2/3 m (100 ft2/10 ft) of fence. Caution is used where the site slope
is greater than 1H: 1V, and water flow rates exceed 3 L/s/3 m (50 accordance with contract requirements.
gal/min/10 ft) of fence.
8.2.8 Compaction—When assembling silt fence on-site, 9. Keywords
compaction prior to installing posts is recommended. Compact 9.1 geotextile; silt fence; sediment control

FIG. 2 Typical Silt Fence Installation Using Soil Slicing

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 D6462 − 19
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