Construction Impacts On The Environment: Strategies For Improvement
Pavement construction practice has changed significantly over the last several decades. Utilizing new technologies have resulted in improving pavement quality and construction efficiency while decreasing environmental impacts. Recent construction practices, along with an appropriate pavement structural design (see Chapter 4 (.pdf, 3 mb) of the Reference Document that uses appropriate materials (see Chapter 3 (.pdf, 5 mb) of the Reference Document), can provide significant improvements to the overall performance and sustainability of a pavement system. Critical areas of pavement construction that can have a significant effect on the overall sustainability of a paving project include the following:
- Fuel consumption (during material transport from the site, between the plant and the site, and the construction operations themselves).
- Exhaust and particulate emissions.
- Traffic delays, congestion, and noise emissions generated during construction.
- Constructed characteristics of the pavement surface, which impacts surface friction (safety), noise, and possibly fuel efficiency during the use phase.
- Pavement performance and overall life (as a result of construction quality).
Free Essay: The Impact of Construction on the Environment Introduction The construction industry impacts on the environment in a number of ways, both.
The following are the general pavement construction factors that impact pavement system sustainability over the life cycle:
- Construction-related energy consumption.
- Effect on the surrounding area (including particulate and gas emissions, noise, effects on residents and businesses, and effects on wetlands and streams).
- Economics of construction practices, including user costs (due to construction-related traffic delays and normal operations).
Table 1 summarizes several strategies for improving the sustainability of pavement construction operations that are applicable to all highway construction projects, regardless of pavement type. These strategies revolve around four major objectives (reduce fuel consumption and emissions, reduce noise, accelerate construction, and control runoff, erosion, and sedimentation), and the economic and environmental impact and trade-offs associated with each strategy are described. Additional discussion on these strategies is provided in the following sections. See Chapter 5 (.pdf, 5 mb) of the Reference Document for more details.
Objectives | Sustainability Improving Approach | Economic Impact | Environmental Impact | Societal Impact |
---|---|---|---|---|
Reduce Fuel Consumption and Emission | Minimize haul distances | Reduced fuel costs | Reduced GHG emissions and air pollutants | |
Select appropriate equipment type and size for the job | Reduced fuel costs but may require capital investment | Reduced GHG emissions and air pollutants | ||
Idling reduction | Reduced fuel costs; may require some capital investment to minimize idling | Reduced GHG emissions and air pollutants | Improved air quality | |
Use alternative fuels | Varies | Reduced emission | Improved air quality | |
Retrofit construction equipment, use hybrid equipment, or both. | Will increase costs due to initial capital investment | Reduced GHG emissions and air pollutants | Improved air quality and may decrease construction related noise | |
Reduce Noise | Construction time restrictions | It may lead to reduction in construction productivity | May increase emissions if construction is prolonged | Less noise and may affect air quality |
Equipment maintenance or modification | Increased capital investment | No environmental impact | Less noise | |
Accelerate Construction | Effective traffic control and lane closure strategies | Reduced fuel costs for users and agency | May reduce traffic delays and associated emissions | Less traffic disturbance |
Establish performance goals and measures for work zones | Reduced fuel costs for users and agency costs | May reduce traffic delays and associated emissions | Less traffic disturbance | |
Use project management software for construction sequencing and managing traffic delays | Reduced fuel costs for users and agency; extra effort for agency/contractor | May reduce traffic delays and associated emissions | Less traffic disturbance | |
Implement intelligent transportation warning systems | Increased agency costs | May reduce traffic delays and associated emissions | Less traffic disturbance and improve work zone safety | |
Control Erosion, Water Runoff, and Sedimentation | Use perimeter control barriers (fences, straw bales, etc.) | May result in increased project costs | Reduced sedimentation, prevent degradation of water quality | No direct impact on society |
Minimize the extent of disturbed areas | May result in increased project costs | Reduce disturbed areas | May reduce impact on surrounding residential areas | |
Apply erosion control matting or blankets | May result in increased project costs | Reduced sedimentation | May reduce impact on surrounding residential areas | |
Store/stockpile away from watercourse | No significant economic impact | May reduce potential water pollution | May reduce potential impact on area water | |
Improve construction quality to meet specifications | Achieve target density, placement and smoothness requirements | Generally no change or insignificant increases in cost | Reduce environmental impact through good quality materials and longer life pavements | Longer pavement life and lesser intervention |
Some of the environmental impacts are : 1. Direct Impact, 2. Indirect Impact, 3.Cumulative impacts and 4.Induced Impact
Direct Impacts:
Direct impacts occur through direct interaction of an activity with an environmental, social, or economic component.
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For example, a discharge of any industry or an effluent from the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) from the industrial estates into a river may lead to a decline in water quality in terms of high biological oxygen demand (BOD) or dissolved oxygen (DO) or rise of water toxins.
Indirect Impacts:
Indirect impacts on the environment are these which are not a direct result of the project, often produced away from or as a result of a complex impact pathway. The indirect impacts are also known as secondary or even third level impacts.
For example, ambient air SO2 rise due to stack emissions may deposit on land as SO4 and cause acidic soils. Another example of indirect impact is the decline in water quality due to rise in temperature of water bodies receiving cooling water discharge from the nearby industry.
This may, in turn, lead to a secondary indirect impact on aquatic flora in that water body and may further cause reduction in fish population. Reduction in fishing harvests, affecting the income of fishermen is a third level impact. Such impacts are characterized as socioeconomic (third level) impacts.
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The indirect impacts may also include growth- inducing impacts and other effects related to induced changes to the pattern of land use or additional road network, population density or growth rate (e.g. around a power project). In the process, air, water and other natural systems including the ecosystem may also be affected.
Cumulative Impacts:
Cumulative impact consists of an impact that is created as a result of the combination of the project evaluated in the EIA together with other projects causing related impacts. These impacts occur when the incremental impact of the project is combined with the cumulative effects of other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future projects.
Induced Impacts:
The cumulative impacts can be, due to induced actions of projects and activities that may occur if the action under assessment is implemented such as growth inducing impacts and other effects related to induced changes to the pattern of future land use or additional road network, population density or growth rate. Induced actions may not be officially announced or be part of any official plan. Increase in workforce and nearby communities contributes to this effect.
They usually have no direct relationship with the action under assessment and represent the growth- inducing potential of an action. New roads leading from those constructed for a project, increased recreational activities, and construction of new service facilities are examples of induce actions.
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However, the cumulative impacts due to induced development or third level or even secondary indirect impacts are difficult to be quantified. Because of higher levels’ of uncertainties, these’ impacts cannot be normally assessed over a long time horizon. An EIA practitioner usually can only guess as to what such induced impacts may be and the possible extent of their implications on the environmental factors.