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Environmental
issues such as erosion and sediment control used to be considered
peripheral concerns, but times are changing–whether your construction
work is in the US or New South Wales, Australia. By Laura Beaupeurt and B.J. Wright |
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The construction industry has not always embraced erosion and sediment control as one of its favorite concerns. After all, it’s an environmental issue that often interferes with the crucial goal of completing projects on time and within budget–and who needs that? Talk about dollars, and project managers’ ears prick up, especially when you are discussing direct costs to a project. An informal survey of a cross-section of the construction industry indicated the costs of implementing temporary erosion and sediment control measures to be 20-25% of cleanup costs at the conclusion of a project. These percentages are based on road construction and subdivision experiences in both the northern and southern parts of New South Wales, Australia. Admittedly, such variables as weather, soil type, and topography can influence final costs; however, based on discussions with key construction personnel, these percentages generally apply across the board. Based on the above figures, the cost of progressive implementation of erosion and sediment control pays for itself fourfold to fivefold throughout the life of a project. Peter Chatburn, project director for Thiess Pty. Ltd. on the Bulahdelah to Coolongolook Deviation, agrees: "The implementation of erosion and sediment control has a definite commercial advantage." An example of a specific cost comparison between installing a temporary diversion drain to control runoff at a cut/fill line on a road and of not installing the temporary diversion drain, resulting in having to repair an eroded batter and clean an adjacent culvert, is as follows:
The cost that will vary most significantly is that of the batter repair and culvert/pipe cleanout, with the possibility that costs will balloon substantially depending on such variables as storm-event size, length of run, and batter height. Similarly, costs associated with not implementing erosion and sediment control measures, such as the principle of minimum disturbance through overclearing, can be significant. Costs are incurred to:
This is in direct comparison to not having to pay a cent to maintain existing vegetation.
Another cost is that of downtime after wet weather. If a site has effective permanent and temporary drainage control, downtime is minimized. The costs of downtime to a contractor vary depending on whether the machinery is owned or leased. If a contractor owns the equipment, then the costs of machinery sitting around can be very high. What a contractor doesn’t escape is the cost of overheads. On a $10 million project, on which we are currently involved, the overheads are approximately $22,000 a week. A $20 million project could face overheads in the vicinity of $50,000 a week. Extended downtime as a result of poorly controlled stormwater runoff on a site can become very costly in a very short period of time. An argument often used against the implementation of erosion and sediment control is the high percentage cost relative to the total cost of a project. On the Bulahdelah to Coolongolook Deviation, which has a budget of $110 million, approximately 9% (or $10 million) is allocated to environmental controls (e.g., construction of frog bridges, development of fauna underpasses, and management of archaeological sites). Of that $10 million, $750,000 has been allocated to erosion and sediment control. This equates to only 0.7% of the total budget for the project–a very minimal cost when you consider the potential costs of cleanup activities. Indirect costs that a construction company can face if erosion and sediment controls are not implemented are:
By implementing erosion and sediment control measures, construction companies can minimize their risk or exposure to fines under current legislation. Following on from this, there is the potential for tenders to fail, not on price but because of a company’s lack of commitment to environmental control (often demonstrated by the number of environmental fines). Prequalification of potential bidders is common practice and involves disclosure of a company’s environmental management system and its performance record. At this point, a client can often determine whether there is only token commitment for the environment and may choose to disqualify the company. Establishing an acceptable performance record is not easy; usually only breaches of environmental legislation that are formally noted are kept on public record. There are, however, strategies that can be utilized to demonstrate a commitment to the environment. Daracon Group employs Toepfers Rehabilitation, Environmental and Ecological Services to continually monitor and report on the environmental control measures that it implements on its projects. The benefits of this are:
Having an effective environmental management system and demonstrating a high level of performance is good business because it assures clients that the contractor will look after their interests. Clients benefit by expending fewer resources on supervision, and contractors benefit by having fewer interruptions to their programs. David Mingay of Daracon Group described a recent example of a project performed by an Australian consulting firm. "They had received a very positive reaction from the local council regarding the environmental controls that were being implemented on a large subdivision project. Confidence in the contractor shown by council, the developer, and the community led to more work opportunities and encouraged the contractor to further improve their environmental management system." When selling erosion and sediment control, we encourage the use of practical control measures. Knowledge about the industry we are working with (e.g., road construction, subdivision construction, and mining) is important, as this enables us to recommend controls that are compatible with construction activities and scheduling (e.g., constructing windrows along the top of fill batters, to aid in runoff control, as part of material placement). Erosion control measures are four times less costly to install than sediment control measures; they are also more effective. Erosion control measures can be no more than minimizing disturbance, retaining vegetation where practical, controlling runoff, and restricting site access. Therefore, we primarily emphasize erosion control–as it is less costly, more effective, and more practical–and then we address sediment control. Selling a concept or a product is all about perception. Erosion and sediment control measures often have joint benefits. For example, a diversion bank can direct turbid runoff to a sediment basin, which may be used as a source of water for construction and dust suppression, as well as to keep a site dry for construction purposes. Retaining existing vegetation can minimize erosion and reduce rehabilitation costs. When selling these erosion controls to the construction industry, we emphasize the practical benefits to construction. When selling erosion and sediment control to environmentally minded people, the emphasis is placed on the environmental advantages. On the Bulahdelah to Coolongolook Deviation, timber windrows were constructed instead of sediment fences. A major cost savings is that no maintenance has been necessary. The topography and local rainfall patterns would have meant constant maintenance if sediment fences had been installed. The construction industry appreciates a practical approach to erosion and sediment control. It demands controls that work, not unproven textbook solutions. Selling erosion and sediment control does not cease when a job is secured. It is an ongoing process that involves effective people-management skills. Good communication skills and being able to "get on" with people are vital components in ensuring erosion and sediment control measures are implemented. The unofficial definition of a good soil conservationist in the now-defunct NSW Soil Conservation Service was "someone who could provide the solution to a problem with the landholder thinking that they were the one who came up with the idea." In a nutshell, it’s about fostering ownership of an idea and encouraging initiative and innovation. For this to occur, good communication skills, such as listening, asking open-ended questions, and negotiation, are essential. The "people" part of "people management" does not just refer to construction site personnel, it also includes nonsite personnel, such as EPA staff, council staff, community groups, and adjoining landholders. Developing good relationships and lines of communication with these people makes it much easier to sell erosion and sediment control because people are willing to listen to you and take onboard your message. It also allows for effective conflict resolution. Taking a team approach helps sell erosion and sediment control because it is easier to sell something to another team member. A team approach is about not being seen as an outsider but as a team member working toward a common goal. This involves being able to communicate with people at all levels (e.g., from laborers to the project manager). It’s about being seen as an integral part of a project. The types of gestures that we have found to help foster a team approach are:
Training is about increasing awareness and influencing attitudes and behaviors. Ideally, training should be implemented in the early stages of a project, and it can be undertaken formally or informally. Training can also be used to demonstrate due diligence with regard to environmental legislation. Having staff undertake erosion and sediment control training can help a company save money by reducing potential onsite repair and maintenance costs through the implementation of appropriate controls based on sound erosion and sediment control principles. The training seminars we present are aimed at practical solutions in the field, pitched at a level and in terms that the participants understand. An integral component in the training seminars we present is that of the adverse impacts of not implementing erosion and sediment control. This session is pitched to the dual roles participants play as workers (onsite impacts) and community members (offsite impacts of sedimentation and how they impact on their day-to-day lives). Training is made site-specific, using slides and onsite inspections where possible to make it more relevant. In our experience, the following three training outcomes sell/promote erosion and sediment control more effectively than waving a big stick and ordering its implementation:
We encourage participation in the planning stages of a project (e.g., design, contract specifications, and pollution-control approvals and licenses). Getting it right in the planning stage can save a lot of time, money, and frustration in later stages. Examples would be not having clean run-on water designed to enter sediment basins and locating sediment basins where they will be most effective. It can be very difficult to change the location of a sediment basin once it has been included in a pollution-control approval or license, as the approval or license is granted on the basin being in its original location. Redesign costs can be significant. On one particular road project, which involved the reconstruction of 1.5 km of highway, an additional $50,000 was spent on batter repairs, the installation of the SG kerb, batter drains, and Reno mattress outlets to address the lack of runoff control from the pavement over the fill batters. This matter wasn’t addressed in the initial design. Addressing erosion and sediment control in the contract specifications can make a huge difference in the final costs of a project. It is much more difficult and costly to get a contractor to implement erosion and sediment controls if they are not specifically specified in the contract. This is because installation of erosion and sediment control measures might not have been costed, and there might be no contractual obligations to implement the controls. If the controls are considered necessary, they are usually undertaken as variations, done on day labor and on-costed at a higher rate than the scheduled rates. It is also important to include temporary erosion and sediment control measures as Pay Items in the contract specifications. If contractors are tendering on a project where Pay Items are specified for the implementation of erosion and sediment control measures, then they will have to include a price to implement those controls. This can save a lot of hassle and money in the construction stage of a project for the reasons mentioned above. Specifications and design are more advanced in road construction than in the subdivision and building industries. On a number of large construction sites in Sydney, Australia, and in subdivisions in numerous locations along the NSW coast, poor design with little or no erosion and sediment control input keeps surfacing. It can lead to big costs (thousands of dollars) in the form of repair costs, redesign costs, and contractor maintenance costs. There are also the environmental costs of erosion and offsite sedimentation, with the community often footing the cleanup bill. Types of design issues are:
A council in the Sydney metropolitan area did not require an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan as a part of the Development Application for a small subdivision. It rained, and a substantial amount of erosion occurred on the site (it was situated on steep slopes), with the eroded soil covering a stormwater inlet in a neighbor’s yard. Consequently, the neighbor’s house flooded. An insurance claim was filed, and the insurance company found the council to be liable, as it did not require an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan to be implemented as a part of the Development Application. This is about the "big picture"–the often indirect impacts and costs that adversely affect whole communities and the environment. The impacts of erosion and sedimentation do not end at a construction-site boundary. They continue down creeks and rivers, affecting water quality that, in turn, can adversely affect aquatic fauna and flora. Ask any person who fishes about the favorite fishing hole that over time has filled up with sediment so there are no longer any fish. Additionally, there is the degradation of bushland through trees being suffocated by sediment, weed infestation, and the disappearance of wildlife because their habitat has been destroyed. Other impacts include flooding, the costs of repairs, and the dredging of estuaries and lakes. There are impacts on recreational pursuits and social impacts as well. Then there are the costs the community has to bear through the rates that it pays to council, such as the costs of cleaning dirt out of pipes and culverts, often termed "precinct maintenance costs." Figures such as $1 million, $500,000, and $250,000 are quoted by various councils across Sydney when asked what is spent on precinct maintenance. On top of that, there are the tipping fees, with budgets often exceeded by the second quarter of the financial year. People often argue that not everything that comes out of these pipes and culverts is soil, and they are correct. However, speak to the people in charge of precinct maintenance and they will tell you that the majority is soil and it is a big problem–one that can be minimized through the implementation of erosion and sediment control measures. We just need to be able to sell the concept. In 1994, a Sydney council was approached with the offer to provide training on erosion and sediment control to relevant staff members. The contact person from council made the comment, "... if council could save some, if not all, of the $500,000 it spends on cleaning soil out of pipes each year [through minimizing erosion and subsequently sedimentation], then it is all for training." It is the cumulative impact of sedimentation that is so devastating. Each small sediment load that leaves a construction site appears insignificant. When you contemplate, however, that similar loads of sediment are leaving every other construction site, the amount of sediment traveling our waterways starts to add up. An analogy is the small house construction site. One house block is relatively small, but start putting each house construction site next to one another, and soon you have a large subdivision. Erosion and sedimentation have had very significant impacts on communities in the past. In the 1930s, W.C. Lowdermilk, a former assistant chief of the Soil Conservation Service, US Department of Agriculture, undertook a survey of land use in the "olden countries" "in the interests of a permanent agriculture and of the conservation of our land resources...." What he discovered was quite remarkable. Civilisations such as Mesopotamia relied upon canal irrigation for agriculture and were brought to the brink of disaster through the silting up of these irrigation canals. Lowdermilk discovered that in Mesopotamia "stoppage of canals by silt depopulated villages and cities more effectively than the slaughter of people by an invading army." Similar effects of uncontrolled erosion were found in the Middle East, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. China is another country that has felt the impacts of erosion and sedimentation. In 1852, the Yellow River broke its banks, despite efforts by farmers to prevent this through the construction of huge dikes necessary to compensate for the silting up of the river. The breaking of the banks led to the destruction of farmlands and villages and the deaths of several million people. Lowdermilk and associates, through a series of soil erosion experiments, concluded that erosion of slopes higher up in the catchment, as a result of cultivation and the removal of forests, was the origin of the sediment that ultimately "brought ruin to millions of farmers in the plains." When viewing the "big picture" of erosion and sedimentation, the importance of being able to sell erosion and sediment control to any land user, in terms they understand, becomes apparent. A term that the construction industry understands is cost benefits. Based on our experience and discussions with key construction industry personnel, the cost benefits of implementing erosion and sediment control can be divided into the following areas:
Being able to effectively sell erosion and sediment control is vital, particularly in view of Lowdermilk’s conclusion that "unleashed and uncontrolled soil erosion is sufficient to undermine a civilisation." Laura Beaupeurt and B.J. Wright are with Toepfers Rehabilitation, Environmental and Ecological Services, an environmental company located in Wyee, NSW, Australia, that specializes in erosion and sediment control.
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