Environment
The route of the Second track crosses several areas of great nature conservation importance, such as the Karst area with its extensive underground karst world, the Karst edge, the Beka Landscape Park with the Glinščica gorge and the Griža valley, the valley of the Škofijski and Vinjanski brooks and the catchment area of the Rižana river.
Already at the time of the planning of the line, with the environmental studies and the environmental impact assessment of the new line, great attention was paid to the protection of the environment and, consequently, to mitigation measures in order to minimise the impact on the environment, both during the execution of the works and later, during operation.
Environmentally important and protected areas
The route of the second track crosses several areas of high nature conservation importance, such as the Karst area with its extensive underground karst world, the Karst edge, the Beka Landscape Park with the Glinščice gorge and the Griža valley, the valley of the Škofijski and Vinjanski brooks and the catchment area of the Rižana river.
The Karst area with its extensive underground karst world
Karst Edge area
Beka Landscape Park with the Glinščica Gorge and the Griža Valley
The valleys of the Škofijski, Vinjanski, Plavski and Krniško brooks
The catchment area of the Rižana and Osapska rivers
Nature 2000 area
Mitigation measures to protect the environment during construction
The most significant environmental impacts are expected during construction, and therefore mitigation measures and environmental protection conditions have been specified in the environmental and implementation documents for the following areas: air, noise, surface and groundwater, soil, vibration and light pollution.
For example, to reduce the impact on air quality, vehicles are required to have their undercarriage and wheels cleaned consistently when leaving construction sites at a specially adapted washing facility, and regular cleaning of access roads in the construction area as well as public roads used for transport is also required. During the execution of the works, the contractor must use modern machinery and means of transport and working machines to reduce noise impacts and ensure that fuels do not cause additional soil contamination.
Measures to manage and reuse water on construction sites
The most rigorous compliance with the measures requires the management of surface water, groundwater and process water. On construction sites, sedimentation tanks are installed for the primary settling of particles and water treatment plants are installed to treat water to the legally required levels.
The treated water is reused in construction, thus reducing the need for clean water. Whilst treated water may be discharged to the environment, in protected areas treated water must be discharged off-site, as treated water is not allowed to be discharged into this area either.
In order to manage storm water along the transport routes, which can become problematic during the rainy season due to particulate matter and turbidity, certain temporary measures have been implemented in the drainage ditches, namely barriers and physical barriers in the watercourse areas, which have significantly improved the situation.
Monitoring and measures to minimise the impact of construction on the environment and nature
In view of the environmental impacts during construction, regular monitoring of specific areas under the responsibility of the construction contractor or the client shall be carried out, as specified in the environmental documents. All these impacts could also have an impact on the flora and fauna of the construction area in the event of exceedances. In addition to monitoring of air, noise, surface and groundwater, soil, vibrations, nature is also monitored: habitat types, aquatic organisms, fish and crustaceans, bats, birds and amphibians.
For example, regular monitoring of habitat types in the construction area has revealed that the clearing of large areas to create the construction sites has in some places led to the spread of non-native plants, in particular large spider moss. This alien plant smothers and suppresses the growth of native plants and should be regularly removed. In such a case, the monitoring contractor shall prescribe the method of removal according to the type of non-native plant, which shall be strictly observed by the construction contractor during removal. In the vast majority of cases, the plant shall be burned completely and disposed of in the prescribed manner. Otherwise, the plant will re-grow in the same location.
What is the role of monitoring in ensuring environmental compliance during construction and operation?
All monitoring has been carried out to the required extent since the start of construction and will continue until completion of the works. The results of the individual monitoring reports show that the measures prescribed by the environmental documents to manage construction impacts are sufficient, provided that they are consistently implemented.
Monitoring of noise, surface water, groundwater, nature, vibration, underground caves and electromagnetic radiation are also already required for the duration of the operation in accordance with the monitoring plan.
However, the final monitoring reports at the end of construction are likely to prescribe further changes to the types of monitoring, the extent and locations of measurements, depending on the results.