Other operations include the manual sorting of 237,000m3 of tip materials followed by soil washing of the remaining material. The soil washing operation utilises the same techniques that have been employed by DEC in their soil treatment facility at the London 2012 Olympic Games site. The soil washing process generally allows reuse of 70-85% of the contaminated soil as suitable fill material. This reuse in conjunction with the reuse on site of material from the thermal desorption plant and the bioremediation treatments allows a very high percentage of all the excavated materials to be reused on site with only a very small fraction of material leaving the site for landfill. This reuse of material on site obviates the need for imported materials and saves many thousands of lorry movements, thereby reducing emissions and traffic congestion.
Further information on the Avenue is available at:
www.theavenueproject.co.uk.
The role of analytical chemistry Soil and water analysis at the Avenue performs two key functions. Firstly, to inform the management of the treatment processes and secondly to provide verification that either treated soils meet with the required specification or that treated water complies with the site’s discharge permit.
“The turnaround time for analysis is critical,” says earthwork planning engineer Steve Dobson. “Results for most of the analyses are required within 5 days, so that we can plan remediation activities accordingly. It has been necessary, therefore, to work in close partnership with the technical staff at ALcontrol to ensure the delivery of timely analytical data.
“The online @mis system has helped enormously to provide us with fast results from what we call ‘sentencing testing’ – tests that help determine the appropriate method and level of remediation. In addition, the facility to schedule analytical work means that we get the data we need to maximise the efficiency of the remediation work, which helps to minimise costs.
“We worked very closely with ALcontrol to develop a bespoke testing strategy to ensure compliance with the project’s requirements and the ability of the @mis system to export in AGS format has helped us to manage the enormous volume of data that is being produced.”
From the perspective of the analytical service provider, ALcontrol’s Hazel Davidson says, “The Avenue presented an interesting challenge both in terms of the volume of samples and the range of pollutants to be tested. However, two of the main advantages to be gained from an organisation the size of ALcontrol are an ability to manage extremely high volume of samples and the analytical resources to be able to measure almost anything. In fact, our UKAS and MCERTS laboratories are able to provide over 3,000 different tests, so it was simply
a
matter of creating a plan to ensure the availability of test data as quickly as possible.”
The utilisation of the Internet to provide analytical data has been given a high priority at ALcontrol and as a result, six full-time IT staff are employed to continuously improve the @mis system in line with requirements that are driven by customers and end-users. For example, the team is currently developing a capability for @mis to automatically issue sms mobile phone alarms when results meet an SGV (Soil Guideline Vale) or pre-set alarm level. However, Hazel Davidson says, “Only about 30% of UK customers currently use the online system and whilst this figure is growing, it contrasts significantly with our customers in France, for example, where 80% use the system.”
There is no extra charge for online results, so Hazel says, “It is surprising that it is not yet used by everyone, particularly since the data remains online as a permanent, easily accessible archive. This means that customers can access their data at any time and create reports, in a choice of formats, by selecting specific dates.
“Staff at the Avenue also order fresh sample bottles and schedule their analytical work though the @mis system and tell us that this is a great benefit to the speed and efficiency of their remediation work.
“Fast results are clearly essential to effective site investigation and efficient remediation, and for this reason the number of engineers and consultants benefiting from the @mis online system is growing rapidly.”
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