Abstract
Designers of infrastructure are aware that the government, owners and users become more and more concerned about negative environmental impacts of tunnels, so environmental assessment of tunnels are becoming an issue in the process of tunnel design. In this study, to assess tunnels in construction and operation phases, the matrix method, through which the “Impacting Factors” and “Environmental Components” are determined, is also outlined. The affected environment was divided into thirteen components, such as Ecology, Surface water, Air quality, etc. In this paper, matrix method was applied to evaluate the impact of tunneling in three typical tunnels and compare them with standard diagrams of Environmental Components that were derived and introduced. These tunnels were: Urban Utility tunnel in Tehran, Eurasia tunnel in Istanbul and Tsuen Wan drainage tunnel in Hong Kong. Based on the acquired results, the present paper finally concluded that among three cases, Tsuen Wan drainage tunnel affects the environment in construction phase more than others, while Eurasia tunnel effects on air quality are more significant in operation phase.
Highlights
The concept of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) refers to the examination, analysis and assessment of planned activities with a view to ensuring their environmental soundness and sustainable development
Numerous EIA methodologies have been developed such as interaction matrices, networks, weighting-scaling checklists [14], multicriteria/multiattribute decision analysis (MCDA/MADA) [15]-[30], input-output analysis [30], life cycle assessment (LCA) [32]-[34], AHP or fuzzy AHP [35]-[37], fuzzy sets approaches [38]-[41], Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) [41][44], and data envelopment analysis (DEA) [46]
Designers of infrastructure are aware that the government, owners and users become more and more concerned about negative environmental impacts of tunnels, so environmental aspects of tunnels are becoming an issue in the process of tunnel design of increasing importance [51]
Summary
The concept of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) refers to the examination, analysis and assessment of planned activities with a view to ensuring their environmental soundness and sustainable development. In construction, maintenance and operation of underground systems, all favorable or adverse social-economic effects and environmental impacts should be identified and considered. Except to the Folchi technique [65], existing evaluation methods are limited in scope, with just one or two aspects of environmental impacts of mining and ore processed. M. mirmohammadi et al [67] suggested an algorithm that attempts to develop the Folchi matrix method for assessment of the effects of mining units, including underground mines and mineral processing plants. M. mirmohammadi et al [68] suggested another algorithm for assessment of the effects of mining units, including surface mines and mineral processing plants
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