NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES IN SNNPRS: (THE CASE OF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN SELECTED TOWNS

Abstract

Construction activities affect the environment throughout the life cycle of development. Even though the construction period is comparatively shorter in relation to the other stages of a building’s life, it has diverse significant effects on the environment. This study was carried out to identify the major environmental impacts of construction activities on building construction projects of selected towns in SNNPRS and to propose measures for their mitigation. Eleven site activities adversely affecting the environment; thirty-three possible environmental impacts of construction activities; and four groups of people likely to be affected by construction site activities were identified from literature. The 33 impacts were further categorized into nine major groups. The main approaches used in collecting data for the study were through questionnaire survey, and personal observations of some major construction sites in selected towns. Questionnaires were distributed to a total of 174 purposively selected respondents consisting of 58 contractors, 58 consultants and 58 nearby residents on 58 active building construction projects in selected towns. The respondents were asked to identify the most important item from the listed. The relative importance of the items identified were calculated and ranked by the relative importance index. According to the results of the study, the respondents agreed that concrete vibration; concrete batching, mixing and placement; and excavation are the main site activities having adverse environmental impacts in selected towns. Also resource consumption group impacts ranked highest among the major environmental impacts of construction activities in selected towns. The resource consumption group impacts were raw materials consumption, electricity consumption, water consumption and fuel consumption. Local issues impacts was second followed by transport issues impacts. Noise and vibration generation from local issues impacts group was ranked highest of all environmental impacts of construction activities. The respondents also agreed that site workers, nearby residents, and people in schools and hospitals are most likely to be adversely affected by construction site activities. The results of this study will be useful to support the implementation of environmental management systems in construction companies by providing guidance for construction practitioners. The paper recommends that stakeholders in the construction industry should start working with new methods and technologies following sustainable construction techniques to reduce environmental impacts