Category: Construction and Roads

By Annika and Aron

Salting   

Lately, scientists in Norway have been wondering why the use of road salt has increased these past years. When in fact they have been trying to use less.

This is a plow truck salting the road to melt the ice and snow.

Salting often contaminates water and rivers that are close to roads along with just pure use of the road, things will be thrown into the water. If it rains then the runoff will drain into the water and bring along salt, dirt, and various leaks from cars, and other vehicle`s that use the road into the water.

Since the gravity has pull as it does, everything will flow into rivers or lakes that are used as a source for drinking water for wildlife and humans. Contaminated drinking water can poison the humans and animals who drink from it. Salt runoff can also seep down into the groundwater and further pollute the ocean and make rivers and lakes saltier to the point where the organisms in the lake or river can die from too much salt.

Salt runoff from the road can cause a separation in the water of small lakes/ponds where the saltwater collects at the bottom and keeps the water from circulating. This is a problem cause due to the lack of circulation the water loses air which can be fatal for the organisms that live in the pond, like fish. Salt can also be dangerous for amphibious animals like frogs as their skin doesn’t react well to salt.

Is there an alternative?

Statens Vegvesen (our Transport Authorities)  in Norway have tried to find different ways of removing the ice on roads in the winter by dampening, mixing and using salt with more magnesium. Sadly, there hasn’t been a breakthrough yet, but they are working on a new and more environmentally friendly solution.

The best alternative right now is gravel.

Building roads

The action of building roads damage nature. But what are the other bad side effects of building roads? And how does this pollute the freshwater sources near the building site?

• A negative side effect to building roads is that if you use explosives to flatten a rock that is in the way it can unleash an amount of dust that then usually drifts to the water making the water dirty and polluting it.
• Asphalt is the binding glue that they mix with rocks and such to create asphalt-concrete that is used to build the roads. Under construction the asphalt is heated and can cause toxic fumes which can enter your body through breathing it in or skin-absorption. It can cause harm to the roadworkers and to the animals and nature surrounding it.

This is a picture of refined Asphalt.

Today a big problem with roads and traffic are the rubber-bits that fall off the vehicles tires while driving. These bits of rubber are extremely small and pollute rivers, freshwater sources and the ocean with plastic. the algae eat these small pieces of plastic and the fish eat the algae which ultimately ends up with making us eat plastic if we eat fish.

Runoff

In tunnels there is a lot of dust, rubber, tire bits and metal particles from the cars that drive through. When they clean these tunnels the run

off water spills out of the tunnels and sometimes spills into a pond or very small lake. The runoff decreases the water quality in the small lake/pond for the animals who live and drink from it.

What are the challenges and what are the measures being taken?

Written by Sofia Barton and Daniel Brandeggen.

27^th March 2020

Introduction

In this essay we discuss how polluted masses from road construction, salting and littering can affect the drinking water quality, and the quality of freshwater and sea water on and around Nesodden.

Study area

Nesodden is a peninsula in the Oslo fjord with a population of about 20.000 inhabitants. In Norway everyone has access to clean drinking water and the water supply is mostly from surface water. In Nesodden we have four municipal waterworks, at Blekslitjern, Kirkeåsen, Jaer skole and Fagerstrand. The waterworks main source of water is Blekslitjern.  Nesodden also imports water from Bærum municipality when there is a local shortage.

Runoff from roads and drinking water

On Nesodden municipality’s web page they claim that the residents that live here have access to perfectly clean drinking water. But that does not mean we don’t pollute freshwater and saltwater in the environment.  In the society we live in we construct roads, salt and pave them. People also drop litter on the pavement. How sure can we be that these sources of pollution don’t end up in our drinking water sources or in aquatic environments? How sure can we be that Nesodden municipality is making sure that this doesn’t end up in for example Blekslitjernet or the Oslo fjord?

Interview with Marianne Olsen from Miljødirektoratet (the Norwegian Environment Agency). We used Google Translate for parts of the interview.

How can runoff and road construction affect water quality?

Surface runoff from urban areas can contain environmental toxins and microplastics from road traffic (e.g. wear from car tires), contaminated particles (e.g. from fuelwood), and waste. Norway`s largest sewage treatment plant receives drainage from four different municipalities, among these Nesodden. In a few hours the water is treated and it’s all released into the Oslo fjord. Due to climate change, the amount of rainfall will increase in the years to come. This means that there will be larger amounts of water that end up in the sewer system. The drainage systems do not have the capacity to receive all the water, and the risk of having water that hasn’t been through a cleaning process will increase, and this will most likely end up in the fjord. Much surplus mass from road construction is filled into the sea along land to establish new land areas. To do this, road builders must have permission from the country governor in accordance with the pollution regulations.  In such permits, the country governor set requirements to ensure that the landfill does not cause any significant damage to the natural environment. The pollution authorities have also made rules for how both polluted and clean masses from road construction can be landfilled to prevent damage to the natural environment. Contaminated masses from road construction must be dumped at improved landfills if the masses cannot be recycled or used for useful purposes in an environmentally safe manner.

How can salting and putting gravel on roads affect the water quality?

In the winter, there’s a lot of ice and snow on the roads. To keep the roads safe, we have to salt and put gravel on the pavements and roads. We salt the roads because of that But this also has its consequences on the fjord, lakes and ponds. Dumping of contaminated snow in watercourses or landfills can pose local pollution problems. Excess snow may contain microplastics, sand, gravel, salt and garbage as well as environmental toxins/heavy metal. Oslo municipality has therefore made an agreement with the NCC company to receive big amounts of snow that has been driven away from streets and roads in Oslo. The snow gets transported to NCC’s snowmelt plant, where its melted and cleaned. The purified melt water gets released into the Oslo fjord. Freshwater, like ponds and lakes, may get contaminated in a different way. Runoff from salting the roads can be dangerous for aquatic life. Runoff can wash salt off from the roads, and this may end up in lakes like Blekslitjernet. The salt is heavier than the freshwater, so this will fall to the bottom of the pond and the freshwater will go to the top. This creates a separation between the salt and the freshwater. In the autumn, when there’s a lot of wind, there won’t be as much circulation in the water as there usually would be, and the water can end up with oxygen deficiency (anoxic). And fish and living creatures that live in the pond need oxygen to survive.

What is being done to prevent that these environmental toxins end up in aquatic environment?

The Storting has unanimously decided that the government will present a comprehensive plan for the Oslo fjord with the aim of promoting active outdoor life and achieving a good environmental condition in the fjord.

Here’s a list few things that are being done to protect the aquatic life around Oslo and Nesodden:

– As mentioned, the NCC snowmelt plant has agreed on receiving on receiving snow from streets and roads in Oslo.

– The sewage treatment plant VEAS receives drains from Oslo, Asker, Bærum and Nesodden.

 

The Norwegian Public Road administration and the company “Nye Veier” (New Roads) are project owners for road construction in Norway. They have to take certain precautions that can vary from project to project. Here are some examples:

• They have to monitor the roads that have been constructed around lakes to prevent lakes form being contaminated.
• Pebbles that are used to fill the sea must contain as little plastic as possible.

 

Conclusion

What are the main things to take away from the interviews? We think that although we may have access to perfectly clean drinking water on Nesodden, that does not mean we don’t pollute freshwater and saltwater in the environment.  Runoff from salting the roads can be dangerous for aquatic life.

We also think that it is

important to know that, surface runoff from urban areas can contain environmental toxins and microplastics from road traffic, contaminated particles, and waste.  Because of climate change the drainage systems do not have the capacity to receive all the water, and the risk of having water that hasn’t been cleaned will increase, and this will most likely end up in the fjord

To solve many of

these problems, the Parliament has asked for a comprehensive plan for the Oslo fjord with the aim of promoting active outdoor life and achieving a good environmental condition in the fjord.

 

Nesodden local council wishes to investigate the water situation on Nesodden to find out if there is a connection between human activity and pollution of groundwater, freshwater and fjords. The living area to many species are getting ruined by physical interferce for example: agriculture, forestry, various types of development (housing, industry, and roads) contributes the most.

We were given a task to find the answers to the following questions:

Does human settlement, development and various constructions effect the water quality and the life around you? In that case, how?

What challenges do you builders face when it comes to water and drainage at Nesodden? In that case, why?

We interviewed Alfred’s dad because he is an architect and here are his answers:

– Often when you build a house you usually build it on a natural ground. You can try to build it in a way that “protects” the nature. For example, to draw the house in a way that you can keep as many trees as possible. He also said that it’s still hard to build without effecting the biological diversity. Many houses are built with a basement which is a huge interference in nature. Even though the architect wants to keep as much nature as possible, it’s the buyer or the person that orders who decides.

Challenges:

In the last few years, they tightened the rules around the handling of rainwater. In Oslo there is a big problem, the water system is flooded. Because it isn’t enough nature to absorb the water from the rain. The last two projects he has been working on there has been claims for a raingarden on the site/plot where the water can be gathered. It is a very good measure, not just for the stormwater but for plants and insects. There are also many buildings that are built with something called “green roofs” It’s the same principle as the traditional cabin –grass, moss and/or plants on the roof. The roof then absorbs the water and one gets vegetation which will be good for insects. On larger projects its common for mapping of the biodiversity before it gets permission to build. Even though it’s not so popular in Norway, houses with hay on top is the best solution for the environment.

By: Hedda and Emily

Our group task was to find out more about the drinking water sources and how/if it can get polluted by roads in the area. We made some questions about things we would like to know that we sent to different people that know about the condition of the water and could answer our questions. Sadly, none of them answered so we tried to answer our own questions as well as possible by searching on the internet and using the sources that our teacher recommended for us. Since we never got any answers from the people we asked, we needed to find out the answers ourselves. And by searching on the internet and using some of the links that our teacher sent us, these were the answers we got.

Here are the questions and answers we got:

1. Does our drinking water get affected by the roads (gravel, sand etc.)?

 The roads can affect the water both while they are being built and when in use. The reason for that is that when for example you build the road, a lot of sand is in use, and some of that often can end up in the water if there is any in the area.

2. What is the reason behind water pollution?

 Over spring when the snow melts and becomes water, that water gathers with the other water sources, the drinking water too. That snow has been out all winter and contains a lot of emissions form cars and roads that is not meant to go into your body. So, when that snow melts together with our drinking water, the water gets polluted.

3. Can groundwater get polluted?

 Yes, it can, even though groundwater is found far below the ground it is possible. As an example, it is proven that on the Marshall Islands the water has gotten polluted by earlier nuclear explosions by the USA. This shows that ground water that is not protected by the surface can get polluted.

 What kind of particles found in gravel, sand etc. are there that are harmful?

Particles found in gravel, sand etc. that are harmful are pollutants, microplastics and heavy metals from construction sites or from roads in use. Both surface water and ground water can get polluted by these. When roads are in use, can particles from car tires and dust change the quality of water nearby. The most common type of pollutant that affects water is heavy metals from tires and brakes. These metals are zinc and copper. It is also common to find molecules from car exhaust and salts (when it is winter) which is because of imperfect combustion. Imperfect combustion is when there is not enough oxygen for the fuel to oxidize properly. As a result, what should have been carbon dioxide in the exhaust turns into carbon monoxide. Microplastic is also a big polluter, and roads are one of the biggest sources to this. The microplastics come from tires, and it compiles itself in dust and other particles and gets rinsed out with washing liquids. It is almost impossible to get rid of microplastics in nature, so the government has put out barriers for the plastic that stops it from entering nature.

 Why can we not drink these particles?

We cannot drink these particles because they are harmful for our bodies. Metals, especially heavy metals, are dangerous in high concentrations. It is even more threatening to your health if they are in the air and you breathe them in. So, drinking metals is less harmful than breathing them. Metals can cause cancer, issues in the nervous system, and issues in the heart and vascular system. Microplastics have a low health risk, according to a report from WHO. Microplastics are therefore not something to worry about. Pollutants are damaging, but there are a lot of things that need to be considered before you can determine if it is harmful or not. Nevertheless, pollutants are toxic. They can cause cancer, heart and vascular disease, as well as damaging the development of infants in many ways.

6. Is this a big problem for the drinking water in Nesodden (where we live)?

No, the drinking water in Nesodden is cleansed thoroughly and safe to drink. Some people that live here have gotten a strange flavour or scent in their water, but that is not caused by anything harmful.

In conclusion, the water around roads does get polluted under construction as well as when the roads are in use. The most common particles are pollutants, microplastics and heavy metals. Pollutants and heavy metals are harmful, whereas microplastics are not very harmful. Where we live, the drinking water is perfectly safe and free of pollutants.

Sources:

• https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/fokusomrader/miljo+og+omgivelser/forurensning

 

• https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/fokusomrader/miljo+og+omgivelser/forurensning

 

 

• https://forskning.no/geofag-miljo/verdens-grunnvann-er-forurenset-av-rester-fra-atomprovesprengninger/348317

 

• https://www.aftenposten.no/osloby/i/QmW8V/forurenser-drikkevann

 

 

• https://www.fhi.no/nettpub/hin/miljo/miljogifter/
• https://www.dagsavisen.no/nyheter/verden/who-mikroplast-i-drikkevannet-har-lav-helserisiko-1.1572499

 

• https://www.fhi.no/nettpub/luftkvalitet/metaller/metaller—luftkvalitetskriterier/

 

Pictures:

• https://www.google.com/search?q=nesodden+kommune+vei&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjHkdj92cHoAhWOCHcKHSsCAxwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=nesodden+kommune+vei&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQGFCpCFipCGDBDGgAcAB4AIABMogBMpIBATGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img&ei=aaOBXoe5FI6R3AOrhIzgAQ&bih=657&biw=1366&rlz=1C1GCEU_noNO864NO865#imgrc=wwUTIM-5GEkG1M

 

• https://www.google.com/maps/@59.8645106,10.659534,1574m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

by Eline, Nikolai and Emanuel.

Building of apartments and large constructions destroy a lot for the ecological life of nature, and for our drinking water. New buildings being produced comprise 40% of the world’s emissions. That is, it affects both our climate, our water and our animals. But how can we find a way to make this sustainable? Is there already a way? Where we live, in Nesodden, we have seen a great development of new apartments / large buildings in several places. This has been a discussion that has been going on for a long time, but it has now been established that several of these buildings will be built, and some are soon finished.

But it is not just buildings that are harmful to the environment. Large-scale industries that mass produce products in their factories usually do their work as cheap as possible to make the most money from it. And as we know, the cheapest solution is often the worst for the environment.

So, our question is, how does it affect us and the nature? We need to find out!

(This is how one of the new apartments on Nesodden will look like. It is 20 meters away from our school)

 Gas stations are some of the most damaging buildings

As said, the picture you see above is one of the new building that have been built in Nesodden. Nineteen years ago, there was a gas station standing right there, and it has left marks. For nearly thirty years the gasstation had been there, and it was clear that when they startet building and digging there to create the apartment, they got shocked. The rocks and dirt under the ground had the highest degree of pollution. So what they did, they removed all dirt and rocks that had high pollution, and replaced it with new and fresh dirt and rocks. They digged out ten thousand tons, and out of those ten thousand tons, nine thousand tons was polluted. That’s just insane thinking about. How heavy marks a small gas station can do to the nature with just existing.

How does the building of new apartments and big structures effect the nature?

We have read up on nature conservation in Norway and it says; In our time, new houses and apartments do not need as much energy as before, because it`s built with renewable energy and has a comfortable indoor climate. It is also increasingly seen that new houses are using solar panels, which are also a good source of natural and renewable energy. The authorities are also putting strict rules when it comes to building houses and other buildings. Among other things, from 2020 it should not be allowed to heat your house with certain oils, that they have found out that are dangerous against climate. Another tip they gave was “Don’t build big“. A large house means a large area to heat and maintain. So here is one thing we can look for when we buy a house or apartment, DON’T GO TO BIG.

How is today’s construction sustainable?

In today’s society, in Norway, not all construction is sustainable, and if it is, it is often marked clearly and sold for a more expensive money. You can build sustainably when it comes to both materials used, interior and electricity. “Today’s society has started to place a great focus on Environment and Sustainable Construction, which puts pressure on the producers, and then there is no other way but the right way”, says Professor at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Tor Medalen.

Building near the sea – rules

Everyone in Norway who has some kind of passion for nature, has a small dream of a summer place by the water, but it’s not just easy to get one. Only places where a house has previously stood on its own plot, or houses that are already there are allowed to stay. The beach law states that you are not allowed to build within a range of 100m from the sea. This is to take care of the coast, and the life that lives there. We have already seen to a great extent how construction and pollution damage nature, and this rule is absolutely necessary to preserve marine life.

Sources:

https://www.amta.no/bolig/tangen/nesodden/rapporten-er-klar-massene-pa-esso-tomta-var-svart-forurensa/s/5-3-601788?access=granted&access=granted

https://naturvernforbundet.no/pusse-opp-bygge-nytt/bygge-bolig-article32661-3650.html

Water pollution from the road

By: Haldis and Flora

Norway is known for having good water. And Nesodden is a place sur

rounded by water on both sides. Our task was to find facts about how the road construction, salting, gritting and run off form the polluted masses affects the water community.

 

Nesodden have 4 municipal water works. They are in the places called: Bleksli (1) , Kirkeåsen (2) , Jaer school (3) and Fagerstrand (4).

Facts about how the water quality on Nesodden is affected by the roadwork

When its roadworks, poisoned chemicals can flow down into lakes and rivers. The same can happen with groundwater and with chemicals from explosives.

The biggest problem is micro-plastic. Microplastic can come from for example wear from car wheels. This can cause that micro- plastic will fall into our ocean. Since July 2018, every water supply system in Nesodden approved by the health ministry in Norway.  The water can be dangerous. But our country has the sources to clean the water luckily.

And according to Nesodden’s website it says that the water we get are clean and healthy. And that they will warn us, if something is wrong. That will affect the water quality.

Conclusion

So as a conclusion, the water her on Nesodden is not affected by the chemicals from the road. Because we have a cleaning system that makes the water clean

Sources: https://www.nesodden.kommune.no/priser-og-avgifter/kommunale-avgifter-for-vann-avlop-slam-renovasjon-og-feiing/engangsgebyr-for-tilknytning-til-kommunalt-vann-og-avlop.13117.aspxhttps://www.vegvesen.no/fag/fokusomrader/miljo+og+omgivelser/forurensning/saltskaderhttps://www.nesodden.kommune.no/vei-vann/vann-og-avlop/kommunal-vannforsyning/https://www.vegvesen.no/fag/fokusomrader/miljo+og+omgivelser/forurensning/vann

the waterglass foto (Foto: Microstock)

 

the map foto-http://www.nesoddendans.com/kart%20over%20nesodden/nesodden.gif