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For temporary and permanent channel erosion control, rolled erosion control products (RECPs) have become a popular urban stormwater best management practice (BMP) in recent years. The notion of using RECPs for channel erosion control anchors on the complementary strength from RECP and vegetation. At the early stage, after new RECPs are installed for protecting bare channel surfaces, RECPs are the primary role of the strength provider. As RECPs age with time, vegetation growing through RECPs takes over the role as the major protector of the channel. The problem is that when RECPs are too short in longevity, erosion may occur due to insufficient time for vegetation establishment.

Manufacturers of RECPs for channel use typically claim that their products should last three or more years. Based on this claim, we hypothesize that RECPs should maintain their physical properties for three years. Seven RECPs consisting of natural, synthetic, and composite types were evaluated. Used (three years installed in the field) and unused materials of each product were tested on ten physical properties, including mass per unit area, thickness, tensile strength, stiffness, light penetration, resiliency, water absorption, swell, specific gravity, and smolder resistance. The results demonstrate that all materials exhibit a significant loss of tensile strength after a three-year use. The natural type shows 68% strength loss while the composite and synthetic types have a smaller strength loss in the range of 36-61%. This study is intended to characterize the aging effect of environmental factors on RECPs. Other results of physical property testing are also presented in this study.