Green thinking - Skanska

48 New ways to conserve waterDifferent ways to use materials 49Keeping a close watch on water.3 Case Study: New ways to conserve waterLocation: HMP Dovegate, Staffordshire, UK.Challenge: Expand a prison facility, while simultaneouslyen hancing local biodiversity and reducing the riskof flooding.Completion: 2010.Skanska designed and constructed the existing prisonbetween 1999 and 2001, and is now in the process of expandingthe facilities. To avoid the risk of flooding, the perimeterwas raised by 3.3 feet /1 meter. The material needed wassourced from an area nearby, and then three new lakes werecreated in the places that were excavated. The lakes are anintegral part of the flood management plan – they help re ducerunoff and store floodwaters.The lakes also enhance biodiversity by attracting amphibians,insects and birds. An island was created in one of thelakes to provide a nesting site for birds that is safe from predators.Consulting with the Environment Agency and theStaffordshire Wildlife Trust, we ensured that the project furtherimproved the area’s biodiversity by creating wetlandsand planting trees.To conserve water, the prison has low-flush toilets andtimed showers, as well as a tap system that automaticallyswitches off a few seconds after use. To learn more aboutHMP Dovegate, go to skanska.com/hmpdovegate.Everglades restoration project.4Case Study: New ways to conserve waterLocation: Ten Mile Creek Water Preserve Area, Everglades,Florida, US.Challenge: Capture stormwater to prevent it from entering themost biologically diverse estuary in North America.Completed: October 2005.The lifeblood of the Everglades and its ecosystems is freshwater. This project was focused on protecting the St. LucieRiver and the Indian River Lagoon, an estuary of immensebiodiversity. The objective was to keep the estuary from beingharmed by increased stormwater flows caused by developmentin the area’s watershed. This involved designing andconstructing a mechanism to capture and store stormwaterfrom the Ten Mile Creek basin during the rainy season, andthen releasing the water and its sediment back into the estuaryin a controlled way. This means that stormwater thatwould otherwise have been lost to the sea is directed back tothe ecosystem, revitalizing it.To achieve this, a 6,000-acre/2,400-hectare reservoir wasconstructed, as well as a pump station, a stormwater treatmentarea and control structures for directing the flow of thewater back into the creek. During construction, the flora andfauna were protected – for example, by avoiding constructionwork in the vicinity of bird nests during the nesting period.Other animals were trapped and relocated to other sites,particularly when it came to threatened or endangered specieslike the gopher turtle and the indigo snake.The project is a vital part of the Comprehensive EvergladesRestoration Plan. The goal is to restore, protect and preservethe water resources of central and southern Florida, therebysafeguarding its unique wetlands and ecosystems. Read moreat skanska.com/tenmilecreek.Different waysto use materials.