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MITIGATING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS |
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Building a new highway in one of the U.K’s National Parks, which are the most sensitive and well protected landscapes in the country, is a fairly unusual event. Increasingly, highway construction is subject to scrutiny, but in the picturesque Lake District, the level of interest is even greater. Working with the main contractor and engineering consultant, Golder Associates staff in Leeds have created in detailed design the initial route plan of a four-kilometre (2.5 mile) bypass around two settlements near Windermere. Ensuring that this new highway will have minimal effect upon this valued area has entailed careful and coordinated design. A major factor in the current support for the scheme has been the preparation of a ‘realtime’ 3D flythrough of the scheme. This tool has enabled the project team, in meetings with local politicians, planning officers and the community, to demonstrate how the proposed scheme will look after it has been built. So far the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. In addition, Golder ecologists have undertaken bat surveys and supervised the construction of a bat ‘hotel’ to accommodate a population that will be displaced from demolished buildings. Mitigation will also include structures to ‘guide’ flight routes over the construction site. Underpasses to the new road will have lighting controlled to avoid peak periods of bat activity. Additionally, fencing and crossing points will be provided for the many badgers active around the site – up to 40 setts (burrows). A Golder archaeologist from Leeds has also undertaken the recording of a building to be demolished, and paleo-environmental sampling of peat areas is planned. All of this will result in a roadway that meets the needs of the traveling public while also protecting a world-renowned landscape.
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Safeguarding the environment in a National Park in the U.K.