Environmental Impact Assessment: Integrated Evaluation of Bridge Construction Project in Bangladesh
Environmental Impact Assessment: Integrated Evaluation of Bridge Construction Project in Bangladesh
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Abstract
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) may provide a mechanism for executing sustainable development and it is also becoming a very
significance revision before authorizing of any project plan. EIA helps to decision making process whether the project is beneficial or
harmful effects for the environment. Both on site and off site environmental impacts can be reduced through undertaking EIA for any
bridge construction activities. This paper mainly concentrates on to find out potential environmental impact during the construction, oper-
ation and maintenance phase of the project using different matrix method. It also finds out the effective mitigation measures of the adverse
impacts that will be helpful for the surrounding environment. Primary data were collected from field survey, focus group discussion. Most
of the impacts and other consequences are identified based on public perception and the interview of the key personnel’s. Secondary data
were also collected for conducting the research. The study found that the bridge is connecting three regions (Bauphal, Patuakhali and
Barisal) and it will be a great achievement for the local coastal community. This new bridge project will not only increase the communi-
cation facilities but also other facilities such as economic flow, medical facilities etc. The EIA study founds some major negative Impacts
such as loss of land and resettlement, loss of aquatic habitat, loss of local trees varieties, loss of agricultural lands, loss of vegetation,
potential impact on ecological resources, impact on fish migration etc. But analyzing the overall impact of the environment, the EIA study
found that that the possible negative impact is not so high and the project can be implemented. Different environmental management plans
are suggested for reducing the potential negative impact of the bridge construction project.
of projects: green, orange A, orange B and red with respectively no, requested to highlight possible solutions that the project should
minor, medium and severe environmental impacts. For the red cat- bring about as per their indigenous knowledge and experiences. The
egory of projects, a full EIA is required. All regional and national baseline environmental condition of the project area was drawn ac-
highway, railway and bridge projects of over 100 m length fall in cording to the information collected from secondary and primary
the red category. The orange B category includes feeder and district data sources through literature review, field investigations and con-
roads and bridges under 100 m length [2]. The proposed Baga sultations with different stakeholders. For primary data collection
Bridge is 700m long. So, it is included in the red category. That’s five focus group discussion, hundred household surveys and twenty
why Environmental Impacts Assessment should include the predic- KII were conducted. The baseline data of water resources, land re-
tion, evaluation and mitigation of environmental impacts based on sources, agriculture, livestock, fishery, ecosystems and socio-eco-
the characteristics of project. The main purpose of this study is to nomic resources were collected from different internet sources. The
find out the adverse environmental impact during the construction matrix has been used for the evaluation of the bridge construction
operation and maintenance phase of the project. The precise pur- projects supported by extensive field checks and surveys. The se-
pose of the study is: lected sites were existing namely Baga Bridge project in Patuakhali
• To find out potential environmental impact during the con- district. These EIA reports of building construction projects were
struction, operation and maintenance phase of the project critically reviewed with ground observations using different build-
• To propose effective mitigation measures of the adverse im- ing construction projects parameters.
pacts from the bridge construction in the project area
3. Description of the project location and ac-
2. Methodology of the study cess ways
Initially a field visit was conducted in the project area to identify The proposed project is located at Baga ferry Ghat of Bauphal
the project and location. Participatory Community Risk Assessment Upazila. The project site lies within geographical coordinates
(CRA), Rural Appraisals (PRAs), Focused Group Discussions 22.420 N and 90.450 E. The location is easy communicated both in
(FGDs) and interviews with key informants were conducted to col- road and river ways. Baga is located near Patuakhali Sadar and their
lect data and information. In the study area, one hundred and distance is 28.8 km by road and 15 km water ways. The proposed
Twenty (120) households were selected for conducting the EIA re- project will be constructed on the river Galachipa at 294 km of
search. The study only focused on one hundred and Twenty house- Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga-Barisal-Labukhali-Pagla-Baga road and 200
holds that were purposively selected for directing the research. The km from Dhaka by water way.
selected respondents’ households were not representative of a larger
sample, but they were cases which demonstrated different contexts. 3.1. Project type
Moreover, different extreme poor household’s compositions such
as female headed, male headed, and female managed, larger family Under the Environmental Conservation Rules (1997), a classifica-
and religious minorities were also kept in mind when selecting the tion system was established for development projects and industries
sample. Ten focus group discussions were organized for conducting on basis of the location, the size and the severity of potential pollu-
the research. These groups were also comprised of men and women. tion. There are four categories of projects: green, orange A, orange
This method was very effective to authenticate the opinion of com- B and red with respectively no, minor, medium and severe environ-
munities and key informant’s personnel. It also provided useful in- mental impacts. For the red category of projects, a full EIA is re-
formation in a short period of time for understanding the real con- quired. All regional and national highway, railway and bridge pro-
ditions of local communities in the study area. The research also jects of over 100 m length fall in the red category. The orange B
conducted key informants interview such as four Key Informants category includes feeder and district roads and bridges under 100 m
Interviews among the local representatives and School teachers and length [2]. The proposed Baga Bridge is 700m long. Therefore, it is
seven Key Informants Interview among NGO Officers. In order to included in the red category. That is why Environmental Impacts
get socio-demographic information of selected households, base- Assessment should include the prediction, evaluation and mitiga-
line surveys have been used for shepherding the research. Similarly, tion of environmental impacts. Based on the characteristics of pro-
during qualitative field work, the study also collected detailed in- ject and an Environmental Man-agreement and Monitoring Plan
formation on their socio demographic status after different disas- will be prepared.
ters. This information helped to compare change over time.
Local knowledgeable persons including community representa-
tives, traders, teachers, and political leaders were interviewed indi-
vidually to know the perception about the project. They were also
Project Activities
Pre-Construction Stage
Copyright © 2018 Irteja Hasan et. al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
136 International Journal of Advanced Geosciences
Land Clearing Removing Earth fill- Mobiliza- Dredgi Con- Disposal Sum of IF Average
Envisaged Ac- of sites of top ing and tion of ng for struc of dredge values by values
Impact quisi- soils compac- equip- slope tion materials types and
Factors tion tion ment’s prepa- of bio. com-
construc- ration em- ponents
tion mate- bank
rials ment
Physical Water 1 1 0 0 2 3 2 4 13 1.63
compo- Air 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 0.63
nents
Land 3 2 2 3 0 2 1 0 13 1.63
Noise 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 4 0.50
Vibration 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 6 0.75
Biologi- Flora Di- 4 4 2 1 0 1 1 0 13 1.63
cal Com- versity
ponents Fauna Di- 3 3 2 1 3 0 0 2 14 1.75
versity
Wetland 4 1 0 5 0 0 1 0 11 1.38
Char land 5 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 12 1.50
Socio- Landscape 4 3 1 2 0 2 3 0 15 1.88
Cultural Land use 2 3 4 1 0 0 2 0 12 1.50
Compo-
HSA
nents
1 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 6 0.75
Economy 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 6 0.75
Accidents 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 0.38
Cumulative values of IF
according to Environ- 30 23 13 19 16 10 15 7 IF=1.19 (Accepta-
mental Factors ble)
Average 2.14 1.64 0.93 1.36 1.14 0.71 1.07 0.50
4.3.1. Physical components Land acquisition, mobilization of equipment’s and clearing of sites
will severely affect the flora and fauna diversity but the overall im-
Water will be mainly affected by disposal of dredge materials and pact is tolerable. Due to earth filling and compaction and land ac-
dredging for slope preparation and overall impact is tolerable. Ow- quisition a large number of wetlands will be filled and the overall
ing to excavation of sediments from the river bed in a dredging pro- impact is tolerable. Char lands will be mainly impacted by land ac-
cess degrades the water quality. The suspended sediment load and quisition but the overall impact is tolerable.
turbidity of a river are increased during the removal of bed or bank
material and as a consequence of water quality such as temperature 4.3.3. Socio-cultural components
is affected (Stollenwerk, 2014). Air will be mainly affected due to
Because of land acquisition, clearing of sites, removing of top soil
clearing of site. Site preparation in the construction time may re-
and construction of embankment the land scape of the project area
quire vegetation clearance stripping off of overburden material,
ground leveling and compaction. But the average impact is very will be changed and the overall impact is tolerable. The impact of
low. Land acquisition and earth filling will mainly affect the land different activities on health, safety and hygiene is low except mo-
bilization of equipment’s, construction materials/ vehicles, so the
and the overall effect is tolerable. Noise will be mainly generated
average effect is very low. The economy will be hampered by land
as a result of mobilization of equipment and others materials but the
overall impact is very low. Excessive vibration will be generated acquisition but the entire impact on economy is very low. The prob-
due to earth filling and compaction and the average impact of vi- ability of accident is preconstruction stage is very low.
bration is very low.
The average assessment effect of cumulative impact factors on en- of super structure; mobilization of construction materials, vehicles
vironmental components is 1.19. So, the overall impact of different etc. and the overall impact is tolerable. The noise involved during
project activities on physical, biological and socio-cultural compo- the construction phase will be the result of operation of excavators,
nents is low. In the preconstruction stage the water, land, flora and Lorries and heavy machinery like electric grinders. Owing to con-
fauna diversity, landscape and land use pattern will be mainly af- struction of substructure the minimum vibration is tolerable.
fected by different construction activities. So, during construction
the authority should be aware of it and take proper mitigation meas- 4.4.2. Biological components
ure for reducing the harmful impact.
Clearing of sites will adversely affect the flora diversity. Construc-
4.4. Operation and maintenance stage impact tion of superstructure and improper disposal of waste will also af-
fect the flora and fauna diversity but the overall effect on flora and
4.4.1. Physical components fauna diversity is low. In the construction state, the impact on wet
land is negligible and char land will be mainly used for construction
In the construction stage, the water quality will be mainly affected of substructure.
by the construction of substructure and disposal of wastes and the
average impact on water is low. During black carpeting air will be 4.4.3. Socio-cultural components
mainly polluted as a result of the gases emitted from bituminous.
The air quality will be affected during the construction phase with Owing to construction of superstructure the landscape of the project
the emission of dust particles from machinery like excavators, elec- site will be impacted but the overall effect is low. Land use pattern
will be changed by the reason of construction of superstructure,
tric grinders and equipment. The substance, which will most signif-
road and clearing of sites and the overall impact on land use is tol-
icantly contribute to air pollution, will be particulate matter (PM 10)
may cause health hazards when inhaled in significant amounts and erable. Disposal of waste has a great impact on health, safety and
can also reduce the visibility. But the general effect is low. Land hygiene but the average impact is low. Due to construction of su-
perstructure and road structure, the local economy will be impacted
acquisition will be required for the construction of super structure,
but the overall impact is very low. There is a very less probability
clearing of sites, earth filling and compaction etc. the overall impact
on land low. In the construction stage, a huge amount of noise will of accidents during construction
be produced on account of mobilization of equipment, construction
Project Activities
Copyright © 2018 Irteja Hasan et. al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
International Journal of Advanced Geosciences 139
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locations to avoid local flooding, emergency response plan is pre-
pared for road accidents, regular monitoring of morphological
change of river at the bridge location. By evaluating different envi-
ronmental impacts, it can be said the negative due to this project is
not so high. So, the project can be implemented. Some recommen-
dations of the study are as follow-
• For constructing the bridge use the shortest distance of the
river
• Avoiding forest land, agricultural land and other settlements
as far as possible
• Conservation of flora and fauna diversity
• Activities which are harmful for the breeding of different fish
species should be avoided
• Complete all resettlements activities before the starting of the
project activity.