In the last section of a road project, where an embankment and some cross-drainage work were planned, the soil was found to be contaminated for reasons not attributable to our project. The area used to be a landfi ll for building materials, and we detected the remains of fi bre cement containing asbestos.

To decontaminate the area, it was decided to dig out the contaminated soil using specialized equipment because of the asbestos.

The contaminated area was excavated by an authorised company belonging to the FCC Group, with personnel specifi cally equipped to avoid inhaling or otherwise coming into contact with asbestos particles. Signs were posted, and the work area was fenced off, with a single entrance for better access control. Only authorised personnel were allowed to enter.

The contaminated earth was loaded onto lorries in hermetically sealed “Big Bags”, which kept the material from being scattered by wind in transit to a proper landfi ll. The soil was handled as class III waste at the Castellolí landfi ll, which is also managed by a group company and is the only landfi ll in Catalonia authorised to treat this sort of waste.

At the exit from the work area, lorries were washed to avoid propagating asbestos particles off-site, and dust on the worker’s coveralls was eliminated with compressed air.

We handled a total of 19,250 tons of contaminated earth in these soil decontamination operations, thus averting the risk of contaminating the area at the end section of the road.

After the area in question has been fully decontaminated, we can proceed with the drainage work and build the base for the embankment.