Site restoration - roadsides

[ACtrafficengr]

I was just looking through the NYSDOT bid price catalog. Item 610.1601, Establishing Turf - Roadside, is $5/SY. Item 610.17, Wildflower seeding, is too new to have a bid history yet, but the item it replaced averaged $8000/acre, or under $2/SY.

Assuming the wildflowers would mmet the requirements of our SWPPP permit, is there any reason not to specify them?

I must confess that I'm motivated as much by anticipation of the look on the Deputy Commissioner's face when I suggest it as by any potential savings.

 

[cvg]

I doubt wildflowers would provide the level of erosion protection that grass would. Also, you will probably need a specialist to recommend the seed mixture. They usually need to be native seed appropriate to the climate at the site. Might take some time to harvest the seed.

 

[ACtrafficengr]

You're probably right. I'd bet there are other groundcovers that would work that are cheaper than grass, but I don't know enough about horticulture to even begin to write a spec for them.

TxDOT used to sow wildflowers on roadsides, then not mow in the spring and summer. It supposedly saved them money and generated tourism. I don't know if they still do that.

 

[dicksewerrat]

If they have a spec number for the seed, they probably have a seed mixture in there also. I know MNDOT had seed mixes in the book.

Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.

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