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MD 5/Hughesville Bypass, Environmental Monitoring, Southern Maryland
MD 5/Hughesville Bypass is a new construction project that is required to address the effects of rapid population growth and subsequent traffic congestion in Southern Maryland by creating a new 3.6 mile four-lane, divided highway from the end of the divided highway south of Hughesville to the end of the divided highway north of Hughesville. The project involves 4,000 LF of streams and 11 acres of wetlands including mitigation. Construction cost is $56 million.
For this project, AMT is providing environmental monitoring services. The responsibilities of the Environmental Monitor (EM) include overseeing the construction phases of the project to ensure that permit conditions are met, as well as promoting adherence to all environmental permit conditions, as stipulated in SHA's Construction Directive Construction Directive  07220.300.01 - OOC Environmental Stewardship Plan/Erosion and Sediment Control. AMT's Environmental Monitor for the Hughesville Bypass informs SHA, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) of any problems regarding construction in association with Waters of the US, jurisdictional wetlands, erosion and sediment control (E&S), and stormwater management, as well as 404 and NPDES permits. Additionally, the EM recommends measures to bring the project into compliance regarding the place and functioning of all E&S control measures, and stormwater during all stages of construction. The EM also completes a daily and quarterly report that is sent to the SHA Project Field Engineer, SHA Environmental Program Director, SHA Director of District 5 and the U.S Army Corps, as well as attends the monthly Interagency Review Meeting to update of the project’s construction progression.
Additionally, the Hughesville Bypass Project entails daily E&S meetings that are conducted on site with SHA Project Engineer (PE), the Contractor's Superintendent and AMT. AMT recommended and initiated this daily meeting practice to provide a forum in which to proactively discuss daily progress, future work, stormwater and E&S recommendations so that all involved parties are equally informed. AMT also took the initiative to implement a "training program" for contractor personnel that provides contractor employees with a better understanding of E&S control measures, stormwater management and wetland areas associated with grading, as well as better understanding the need to minimize the pollution and violations to the State and U.S. water that may result from improper grading.
Additional services provided by AMT's Environmental Monitor include, but not limited to:
- Providing on site surveying
- Checking grades and invert elevations
- Attending erosion and sediment control field meetings
- Following inspection guidelines for initial installation, maintenance of devices, pre-storm inspection, post-storm inspection, weekly compliance inspections, off-site permits and conditions
- Reviewing the contractor's ESCM's daily reports
- Recording inspection information for OOC 60 with a reference to the IDR for that date
- Ensuring that Waters of the U.S. are not polluted by substances attributable to sewage, industrial waste or other waste that will settle to form sludge deposits, or any other material including floating debris, oil, grease and other floating material
- Recommending solutions for preventing changes on the wetland system functions during all contractor phasing
- Providing wetland delineation on site including analysis of soils characteristics, soil taxonomy, vegetation, hydrophites plants, and hydrology. (Through this service AMT found additional wetlands that were not previously delineated by SHA when the original construction permits were requested for this project.)
- Providing a plants list inventory on site, recognizing the vegetation for mitigation purposes.
- Ensuring compliance with Charles County E&S control ordinances and municipal erosion control ordinances regarding the inspection and enforcement of E&S controls
- Reviewing modification(s) to the original plans for environmental compliance, prepares modification requests, and ensures accurate execution of the modifications during construction
- Verifying stormwater management facilities are installed according to plans
- Providing suggestions for using temporary measures for stormwater facilities while changing phases Verifies if the storage volume is sufficient for the drainage area to prevent potential damage to residential, industrial or commercial areas, roads and/or railroads.
- Making recommendations regarding the landscape during the mitigation of wetlands to minimize and prevent from damage or impacts to the aquatic environment and areas outside the Limits of Disturbance (LOD)
- Ensuring that reforestation mitigation for the impacted areas meet at least the minimum standards for the establishment of Charles County forest conservation easement
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