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The generation of a substantial amount of construction waste (CW) poses significant challenges to the green transition of highway construction projects. However, the construction industry lacks integration of construction waste management (CWM) practices into the construction process. This paper aims to develop a calculation for assessing the performance of CWM to monitor its effectiveness in highway construction. Initially, this study utilizes the Site waste management plan (SWMP) as a foundation and develops a Construction Waste Management Performed Assessment Method (CWMPAM). The extension of CWM is incorporated into earned value management (EVM) to manage costs, schedules, and the performance of CWM within a unified framework. The functionality and sensitivity of CWMPAM and CWM-embedded EVM are validated through pilot testing and scenario analysis. The research results are computerized into a calculator to facilitate the practical application of CWM, and its validity is tested using random cases. CWMPAM and CWM-embedded EVM prove satisfactory in assessing and monitoring the execution and performance of CWM. The developed calculator simplifies the practical application of the outcomes. Essentially, the developed calculator represents a groundbreaking integration of CWM and construction management, enabling project managers to monitor and compare the CWM performance across different segments of highway construction. Not only does this contribute to the green transformation of highway projects, it also promotes high quality and sustainable development in the construction industry.

The pollution of aquatic systems by microplastics is a well-known environmental problem. However, limited studies have been conducted in freshwater systems, especially in the Philippines. Here, we determined for the first time the amount of microplastics in the Philippines’ largest freshwater lake, the Laguna de Bay. Ten (10) sampling stations on the lake’s surface water were sampled using a plankton net. Samples were extracted and analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A total of 100 microplastics were identified from 10 sites with a mean density of 14.29 items/m 3 . Most microplastics were fibers (57%), while blue-colored microplastics predominated in the sampling areas (53%). There were 11 microplastic polymers identified, predominantly polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which together account for 65% of the total microplastics in the areas. The results show that there is a higher microplastic density in areas with high relative population density, which necessitates implementing proper plastic waste management measures in the communities operating on the lake and in its vicinity to protect the lake's ecosystem services. Furthermore, future research should also focus on the environmental risks posed by these microplastics, especially on the fisheries and aquatic resources.

Chlorophyll trends in subtropical and tropical estuaries are under characterized and may reveal patterns not shared by their temperate analogues. Detection of trends requires long-term monitoring programs, but these are uncommon. In this study, we utilized an 18-year chlorophyll- a time series from 2002 to 2020 in Weeks Bay, AL, to detect and quantify trends in chlorophyll variability over multiple time scales. Our analysis included up to 30 years of contemporaneous data for variables such as river discharge, nitrogen, and phosphorus to relate the chlorophyll- a trends to environmental drivers. We detected an abrupt shift in chlorophyll- a that was linked to changes in phosphorus and hydrology. The shift followed an abrupt increase in total phosphorus concentration from upstream of the primary river system that discharges into Weeks Bay. Total phosphorus continued to rise after the abrupt shift, but there was no detectable change in chlorophyll- a . We propose that the exceedance of a total phosphorus threshold at 0.1 mg l -1 , combined with a period of very low river discharge variability, induced the shift in chlorophyll- a . This shift opposed the pattern of proportional change usually observed as a result of nutrient enrichment. Not all monitoring stations underwent the abrupt shift, which demonstrated the complexity of phytoplankton response to environmental drivers and the significance of spatial differences even over small estuaries.

Nonparametric harmonic analysis, a new data-analytic method for deconvoluting and graphically presenting the periodic signals in water quality time-series data, is demonstrated using data from the System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (Georgia). The analysis uses the new statistical technology known as generalized additive models, an alternative to the classical harmonic regression analysis used for centuries to model and predict tidal forcing. Generalized additive models are especially well-suited for data-rich settings in which strong and nonsinusoidal periodic signals are expected. Data from two sampling sites on Sapelo Island, Georgia, show strong and regular M2–dominated periodicities in water depth. At the Hunt Dock (HD) site, water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) have strong diel signatures in the summer months, but these weaken in colder months. DO and pH at this site also exhibit tidal-cycle patterns at times, particularly in fall and late summer, with lower pH and DO occurring at low tides. At the Lower Duplin (LD) site, there is again a seasonally varying diel signal for temperature but little or no diel pattern for pH or DO. All three of these variables at LD show some patterns versus the tide, with higher temperatures and lower pH and DO values recorded at LD low tide. Salinity has a strong and fairly regular M2-dominant cycle at the LD site, with higher amplitudes in January–April. In contrast, salinity at the HD site displays trends of 5–10 ppt lasting a fortnight or more, with complex and inconsistent diel- and tidal-cycle patterns, which we believe to be influenced by freshwater intrusion events that created some inconsistency in the cyclic fluctuations found. Mild hypoxia, with DO at or slightly below 20% saturation, occurred at both sites with some regularity in late summer, usually associated with the pattern of declining DO at low tide.

Environmental monitoring is both a scientific and management imperative for effective coastal and estuarine resources research, management, and education. The establishment of monitoring programs provides for baseline studies, trend analyses, and impact assessments as related to both short-term variability and long-term change within estuarine environments. The effectiveness of these programs is dependent not only on the data collection but also on the implementation and maintenance of procedures to ensure access to high-quality data, data documentation, and derived products. Advances in information technology are improving the way resource managers and researchers can assimilate, manage, disseminate, and share environmental data and information. The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) initiative is developing an integrated national system for the United States' coastal zone built upon federal monitoring efforts and regional coastal observing systems that monitor the state and variability of the coastal waters and estuaries of the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) acknowledges the importance of long-term environmental monitoring programs and data and information dissemination via the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). Consistent with the IOOS initiative and in support of sound data-management and -dissemination practices, the NERRS SWMP has implemented and sustains procedures to manage the basic infrastructure and data protocol to support the assimilation and exchange of quality-controlled data, metadata, and information within the framework of NERRS sites, state coastal zone management programs, and NOAA/OCRM as well as other state and federally funded education, monitoring, and research programs.

In 2004, the UK government published requirements for Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs). These formed a voluntary code of practice. In 2008, they became mandatory regulations for construction projects costing more than £300 000. The aim of SWMPs is to divert waste from landfill by increasing on‐site reuse and recycling rates. The onus is on the client or principal contractor to make sure the project meets SWMPs regulatory requirements through effective implementation and monitoring. Currently, there is extended discussion in government circles as to whether the statutory requirement for SWMPs should be rescinded. We present the findings of our research into the operation of SWMPs as current ‘best practice’. Even if legislation is repealed, there will still be a need to reduce construction waste and ensure its effective removal from construction sites. We believe that SWMPs are pivotal in this role, and their widespread adoption is important in the drive for sustainable development. We explain why.