Major public works
The construction of large infrastructures has been proceeding apace all over Italy for some years. Projects of such wide scope and complexity entail technical, engineering and geotechnical difficulties, also tied to construction in natural environments with extremely different geomorphic characteristics.
The EDF Fenice Environmental Services Centre (ESC) plays a decisive role in these major projects, carrying out an essential activity of assessment and constant monitoring, in all the main phases of each project, of all possible quantifiable conditions of the main environmental matrices (soil, subsoil, atmosphere, the water cycle, flora, fauna and physical agents) in order to prevent and effectively mitigate the impact of the infrastructure on the environment.
ANTE OPERAM ACTIVITIES (prior to opening of the sites and the start of the works)
This is an extremely important phase in which it must be possible to select design solutions complying with objectives such as protection of the quality of the environment and of historical, artistic and natural assets.
In this phase, the ESC defines the baseline environmental conditions of the areas where the works will be carried out, identifying receptors sensitive to environmental impact or environmental situations at risk (and the presence of harmful substances or geomorphic characteristics of the areas that could generate critical conditions), analysing available networks and data, adapting the monitoring project to these and making the necessary measurements and analyses for this purpose.
IN OPERAM ACTIVITIES (during construction activities)
This activity is intended to monitor and measure the decisive effects of construction on various environmental matrices and to assess the performance of environmental monitoring project indicators in order, if necessary, to modify monitoring methods and to select more efficient indicators for assessment of the consequences of construction of the infrastructure in the reference context.
The ESC contributes through direct monitoring, including in-field surveys and laboratory measurements of the main factors of direct and induced work/environment interference on the various matrices, such as:
- Atmosphere
- Noise
- Vibrations
- Asbestos
- Surface waters
- Underground waters and drinking water sources
- Soil and subsoil
- Ionising radiations
- Vegetation, flora, fauna and ecosystems
POST OPERAM ACTIVITIES (after closing of the sites and completion of the works)
The aim of this phase is to monitor and measure the determining effects of construction of the infrastructure on the various components, to verify on-going development trends and to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation measures adopted. According to the controls established and carried out in the previous steps, EDF Fenice will therefore verify the present state of the environment in relation to initial conditions, with particular reference to those areas where deterioration factors have been identified, carrying out further checks on the main environmental matrices already surveyed.