What is dust?
Dust refers to fine particles of solid matter. It generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind, volcanic eruptions, or pollution. Dust is present everywhere, in homes, workplaces and the surrounding environment as well. High amount of dust can lead to serious health damages for people, animals and can affect plant health. This brings down the total standards of living in a particular area.
What is dust mitigation?
Dust mitigation refers to the process of practicing certain techniques or using specially designed tools to ensure that the dust levels in a particular area do not increase the said limit and cause harm to the living things.
Dust mitigation systems can be used on unpaved roads, construction sites, sporting arenas, animal habitats and parking lots. The best option for controlling dust is to analyse the needs of the location, the type of dust that is prominently present and other factors that can influence the decision of choosing the right system.
Dust Mitigation techniques that can be employed in a construction site:
Any time that there is any construction work happening on a person’s property, it’s going to stir things up, mainly, dust in particular. To keep from breathing it in or negatively affecting the environment, one must take certain steps to mitigate the dust. Short term damages of dust can lead to respiratory ailments and can be an influencing factor in the welfare of the people living in and around the area.
Hiring of a landscape coordinator with environmental services:
Professionals often bring in and offer various environmental services that can help in reducing the dust on a site drastically. The help in ensuring site sustainability for long term projects and prevent any unwanted accidents by following the government regulations. This can be very advantageous and reduce the stress of a construction company to a great extent.
Here are some ways to better control dust on a construction site which can be taken care by the landscape coordinator:
• Cover bare soil – grass or mulch areas that don’t receive vehicle traffic can be covered and preserved for longer life.
• Using a water truck or temporary irrigation to keep haul roads damp which will prevent the dust from flying can be very helpful.
• Apply dust-retarding products that are commonly available in the market and can be easily used.
• Spreading gravel or mulch will help to better contain fine soil particles on the surface itself.
• Create natural or artificial wind breaks at periodic intervals.
• Restrict earthmoving tasks during extremely windy conditions and plan out the construction activity based on weather conditions as well.
• Phase site clearing activities to only clear areas you’re about to work on is essential to avoid large areas of no activity.
• Lower the travel speeds on unpaved areas. Studies show that by just dropping the speed at which the vehicles travel from 45 to 35 mph can reduce dust emissions up to 22 percent.
Dust suppressant products have shown great success with effective products like calcium or magnesium chloride apart from water to supress the flying dust.
