Trialling Ceequal on a London railway embankment

Abstract

Environmental professionals and engineers working alongside each other on civil engineering projects often face the challenge of differing expectations regarding measurement and management of performance. Engineers expect precise measurements, while environmental management has not historically had rigorous and comparable mechanisms for measuring environmental performance. On civil engineering projects, the measurement of environmental performance often consists of attainment of certification to ISO 14001 and a number of unverified internal metrics that vary from project to project. The problem of how environmental performance can be credibly measured and then improved on a programme of civil engineering projects was one faced by the authors while working for Metronet Rail. This paper reports on the use of the civil engineering environmental quality assessment and awards scheme (Ceequal) to benchmark environmental management on an embankment stabilisation project on London Underground's Central line. It outlines the basis behind the assessment system and how it has been used to identify areas for improvement in environmental management in a programme of projects.