CASE STUDY Winter Olympics

2014 Winter Olympics Erosion Control Project Worthy of Zeus’ Attention

The world was watching Products Market Development Manager. “Agronomic A television audience of more than 3 billion from around factors were in play that would influence seed germination, the globe tuned in to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, while the location and topography of the site itself . In addition to skiers, biathletes and ski jumpers, contributed to high erosion risks. There were project viewers saw the finished results of one of the largest management issues to navigate through, too.” infrastructure projects ever. The soil was poor in every way imaginable. It was rocky That infrastructure work was estimated at $50 billion USD. and compacted with little organic value present. Soil The improvements included a truly colossal erosion control compaction led to poor water infiltration. Low Cation and vegetative establishment project, led by Russia-based Exchange Capacity (CEC) and nutrient values resulted ECTM Ltd in fellowship with Profile Products. The in unfavorable conditions for plant establishment. The Chicago-based manufacturer consulted on the project to underground water breaching cut slopes created additional determine the specific solution that eventually shaped risk of erosion in rainfall events. These conditions, an area of mountainous terrain into the smooth, winding combined with the steepness of the slopes, created slopes that later allowed the world’s best athletes to show accelerated sheet flows so erosion was going to be a huge off their skills to a global audience. issue throughout the project. Project challenges in Sochi The sheer magnitude of the project made it very difficult to From an erosion control and vegetation establishment manage. Specifications and schedules were often revised, standpoint, the soil and slopes in Sochi presented the which made it more difficult for the supplier and the hardest challenge for Profile Products, ECTM (the contractor to meet the deadlines. project’s erosion control supervisor and supplier) and High altitudes (3,000 - 7,000 ft; 914.4 - 2133.6 m) and Rosengineering (the “turn-key” contractor). alpine terrain ranked high on the list of challenges of “There were a lot of site-specific conditions in Sochi that the Sochi project. Getting water to the site and securing created a lot of high-level risks to controlling erosion equipment was quite an effort requiring skill and and establishing vegetation,” says Steve Zwilling, Profile sometimes even daring. Time constraints meant seeding CASE STUDY Sochi Winter Olympics

was necessary during both the wet winter chosen because of the project site’s high months and the hottest, driest summer erosion potential, slope length and gradient, months to finish on schedule. and functional longevity needs because the “It’s never an ideal situation to attempt to seeds would need protection for an extended establish vegetation in winter temperatures period of time. or the summer months that lack The erosion control project team paid special precipitation,” says Mikhail Teterin, of attention to seed selection. With extreme ECTM. “But we only had a finite amount of climate conditions and timing constraints time to complete the project, so we had to in mind, the grass species were required work year-round regardless of the season.” to have versatile characteristics, such as Seeding was carried out in the rain, snow, drought resistance and shade tolerance, high sun and fog. The altitude of the mountain rate of winter survival, quick germination, ranges and vast distances of the steep slopes extended root system and ability to grow in meant a lot of hose work, very often with a extremely poor soils. The final seed mixture harness for the applicator to ensure safety. met the project requirements and delivered Oftentimes the distance from the staging excellent results. KEY PRODUCTS area and a hydroseeder to the application Many areas of the project required a Flexterra® High Performance-Flexible area required over 1,300 ft (396.24 m) different erosion control solution: areas of Growth Medium™ (HP-FGM™) of hose. concentrated water flow, water diversion • Immediately bonds directly to soil upon channels, extreme slopes. To ensure application, and is 99% effective in “For even the easiest erosion control and minimizing soil loss. vegetation establishment projects, you need vegetation establishment in those areas, the ™ • Fastest growth establishment and a 1500% a lot of things to go in your favor,” says GreenArmor System was installed. The water-holding capacity to deliver moisture Yelena Ponomaryova, Profile Products GreenArmor System is a cost-effective to the seedbed and accelerate growth. Market Development Manager. “While this green solution of protecting high-discharge GreenArmor™ System project had hurdle after hurdle, we were waterways and extreme slopes. Where • Flexterra® HP-FGM™ sprayed into the slopes were unstable, the GreenArmor Turf Reinforcement Mat (TRM) for fortunate to have a tailored solution specific cost-effective protection of steep slopes. to the Sochi site’s challenges in place to System was additionally armored by rockfall protection (double twisted steel mesh and • Installation cost is 30-50% less than hard overcome the obstacles.” armor (concrete, stone, gabions, etc.). percussion-driven earth anchors) creating Tailored solution for • Immediate erosion control and twice the one multi-level soil stabilization system. erosion resistance of natural vegetation. maximum results Let the games begin Profile Soil Solutions Software (PS3) Several site visits and soil tests helped In all, 82 acres were covered with 19,000 • Web-based tool for selecting the right determine the makeup of the tailored products, addressing a site’s physical and bales of Flexterra HP-FGM at a rate of 4,000 solution, which ultimately comprised of a chemical properties for critical design pounds per acre (4,480 kg/ha). Some of the combination of two soil amendments and elements: soils, vegetation species, erosion area was covered twice to ensure the soil and sediment control material, installation, two erosion control solutions. would hold and vegetation would take root and inspection/maintenance. The soil was amended at a rate of 40 pounds along the slopes. • FREE soil test/analysis at per acre (44.8 kg/ha) to address the low www.ProfilePS3.com lays the foundation “When all was said and done, this was an of holistic, sustainable erosion control and organic matter and encourage germination absolutely incredible undertaking by all vegetation establishment. with a pair of biostimulants: JumpStart™ 5 parties involved,” says Pavel Greskov, of and BioPrime™. The two soil amendments ECTM. “From the research done ahead are part of Profile’s ProPlus® Prescriptive of time by ECTM and Profile Products to Agronomic Formulations. prescribe the best solution for the Sochi When the soil conditions were addressed environment, to the distributor delivering and made more conducive to plant survival, the needed materials, to the contractor’s PROFILE Products LLC the task was to protect the surface and ability to wrangle a large crew in extreme 750 Lake Cook Rd • Suite 440 the seeds until germination. The highest conditions and get the job done, it took a Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 • 800-508-8681 performing hydraulic mulch product herculean effort to pull off what everyone www.profileproducts.com ® available, Flexterra High Performance- should be proud of.” Flexible Growth Medium™ (HP-FGM™), was applied at a rate of 4,000 pounds per acre (4,480 kg/ha). Flexterra HP-FGM was OLYM-01 04/15