Design and execution of research and development

Description

The contracting authority needs a new innovative real time measuring system in order to monitor the environmental effects connected with site activities and handling matter. The environmental effects that are most relevant in this project are emissions to water, air (dust and noise), and vibrations. The needs were identified in a preliminary project that was carried out in 2018-2019 as a collaboration between Bærum Municipality, the development projects (BaneNOR, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Oslo Municipality's Agency for Water and Wastewater Services, and the Fornebu Railway), and private actors within matter management (Isachsen, AF, Skanska Industrial Solutions, Franzefoss, Topass and Haug), which have common challenges as regards measuring the environmental effects of handling matter. The starting point for this project is the theme matter management for many major infrastructure projects that will be implemented in Bærum and the surrounding area in the next 10 years (the Ringeriks Railway, alterations to the E16 and E18, the Fornebu Railway, water supply from Holsfjorden to Oslo, a new waterworks for Asker and Bærum, etc.). Extensive site work and large amounts of matter are expected to be transported, handled, temporarily stored and processed in these infrastructure projects. Handling matter and site activities can have negative environmental effects, which calls for good monitoring and follow-up of these environmental effects. Environmental measurements have traditionally been based on manual work, sending samples to a laboratory, and reports from a consultant. This involves a time lag from when the samples are taken to when the results are available, which makes it difficult to implement quick measures for transgressions. It has, therefore, become increasingly more common to use sensors for these measurements in order to get quicker and more automated data. The challenge is that each supplier has its own measuring system that has only measured a limited number of measurement parameters. The systems have not usually been very compatible, nor flexible as regards connections to other types of sensors. This means that suppliers of water sensors have had their reporting system, and suppliers of noise measurements have had theirs, etc. This project has, therefore, identified a need to develop a new and general measuring system that gathers data from all the required sensors in a joint system, which is also flexible and can connect to a broad spectrum of sensors at a later date. Sensor here means sensors or similar measuring equipment that can measure the requested environmental parameters in real time, or approximately real time.