China - Third National Highway Project (Hubei) : environmental action plans and impact assessments

This report is comprised of environmental action plans and impact assessments concerning the Third National Road Project in Hubei province, part of the "two longitudinal and two lateral" national highway networks China's State Council has planned to build by the year 2000. Measures for environmental protection cover the design, construction, and operational periods of the project. In the design stage, measures call for: reducing farmland occupation; keeping the road aloof from environmentally sensitive areas; taking into account flood discharge and control without damaging the local farmland irrigation system; restraining land acquisition and arranging resettlement for displaced persons to maintain living standards and agricultural production levels; and avoiding discharging water from the drainage system directly into fish ponds near the road. During the construction period, mitigating measures involve: reducing temporary land use as much as possible, shortening the occupation time, and timely returning the land for original use; protecting wild animals and plants, and reducing forest loss; using the construction materials of earth, sand, and stone, to minimize wastes; for the earth borrowing pit, planting or using engineering measures, such as building earthslide slopes compacted appropriately and reinforced by stones, limestones, retaining walls, with turf and climber planted, to prevent soil erosion; limiting work hours at night to reduce noise in residential areas; covering stored and transported materials to prevent spillage, and sprinkling sites to minimize dust; building temporary drainage systems to discharge wastes instead of diverting wastes into water bodies; regularly collecting and disposing of solid wastes; leveling and planting over waste disposal sites with trees and vegetation; well-managed quarry production will reduce over-excavating the stone material, so as to reduce soil erosion in the quarry area; and providing garbage bins and facilities to treat sewage and wastes discharge. During the operational period, adhering to regulations about transporting dangerous goods and discharging harmful materials into water bodies will reduce accidents and harm to sensitive areas; road pavement runoff on subgrade and farmland will be mitigated by building drainage systems; to prevent the side slope from being eroded by catch water, catchment wells, catch water drains, culverts, and ditch drains alongside the road will be built; for road sections that are superelevated, the number of median openings will be increased to accelerate drainage; chutes should be added at concave curves of road embankments and the vicinity of the structures to protect farmland from being damaged by running water; road checks to ban the use of vehicles with overage emissions, encouraging advanced emission cleaning technology and devices, use of unleaded gasoline, and traffic control will combine to reduce polluting emissions; a greenbelt will be established to protect surrounding communities from traffic pollutants; regular cleaning will be done at both sides of the road to ensure that water flow is being discharged smoothly; polluted water treatment facilities will be added; and noise barriers will include heightened, enclosed walls with reinforced windows and doors.