Abstract: This environmental impact assessment for the China Hubei Shiman Highway Project, which builds links a highway with rural roads, and supporting infrastructure (bridges, overpasses, culverts, etc.), details potential negative environmental impacts and proposes measures to mitigate them. Mitigation measures include restoring irrigation facilities or providing compensation; removing cultural relics during excavation for placement in a museum; reinforcing building structures to withstand vibrations. To control soil erosion avoid hill cutting, deep digging, or high filling; build a drainage system and guard works (temporary retaining wall and settling basins) to collect run-off, plant fast-growing trees along access roads and cover the road embankments with grass; restore topsoil layer; and maintain a balance between borrowing and depositing. To reduce noise, erect noise barriers (fences and trees as buffers), schedule work for daytime, regulate speed and ban horn blowing, prevent noisy equipment from operating at night, and monitor noise volume. To minimize impacts to water quality, construct wastewater treatment facilities, separate oil from water and reuse wastewater or treat wastewater in septic tank before discharging it into irrigation system and keep harmful chemicals from riverside and cover them with geo-textiles. To mitigate air pollution, locate mixing stations away from sensitive areas, and plant a greenbelt area to reduce increased nitrous oxide, water unpaved ground as frequently as needed. Maintain landscape coherence and compatibility. To avert impacts to water quality caused by traffic accidents with vehicles transporting hazardous materials, install drains and crash-proof railing on bridges. Build temporary roads to avoid traffic jams. To foster worker and public health and safety, provide training about HIV and SARS, ensure drinking water quality meets national standards, provide protective gear (earplugs, helmets), improve management of explosives, protect against poisonous snakes and epidemics, isolate staff from SARS epidemic areas, and install traffic warning signs and impose speed limits. To protect biodiversity, promote environmental awareness, schedule blasting to minimize interference with wild animals, and avoid forested areas.
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
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