Generally hidden below grade, sediment traps are a key part of green stormwater infrastructure: they help filter stormwater runoff, thereby providing cleaner water to trees and plants in an urban forestry or landscape design.

Road debris, de-icing scoria rock, glass, branches, and oil collect within the sediment trap, which can then be cleaned periodically.  Simple ones, such as the one shown in the slideshow here, are filled with four- to twelve-inch rough-edge rock; this one had captured 50 gallons of material when it was cleaned in 2019.  Other methods, including suspending a grate in an open-trap system, would allow for even more debris offset from roads and the river.

For more details, be sure to take a look at our sediment trap pamphlet below!