- Title
- Spoil management in Australia and the development of a prototype exchange platform for spoil handling
- Creator
- Rahimzadeh, Ali
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- The rapid extension of metropolitan areas, as well as population growth, drive more and more construction projects. Residential, commercial and infrastructure projects produce a considerable amount of excavated soil. The traditional trend in spoil handling is to dispose of it. As a result, this practice is neither financially sustainable nor justifiable. Spoil disposal is common, and reuse practices are often limited to tier-one companies. This raises the question of, ‘What are the main obstacles in spoil management and how can these be overcome?’ This study aims to identify the significant shortfalls of spoil management in Australia, and to provide solutions to overcome these issues. A triangulation method was chosen. This consists of a series of semi-structured interviews with experts to pinpoint the characteristics of spoil handling in Australia and the major barriers to spoil management, and a focus group to validate the outcomes. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted to gather qualitative data. The interviewees were selected from environmental managers and spoil managers of tier-one construction companies in Australia. An analysis of the qualitative data was then undertaken to identify spoil management characteristics and major drivers and obstacles for spoil producers to reuse spoil. The study has shown that resource limitations, as well as the dynamic nature of construction, among other barriers, have made the management of spoil a cumbersome task for some of the spoil producers, resulting in ineffective management of the material. It has been discovered that the current practice lacks an adequate response to the job's dynamic nature. Moreover, a lack of knowledge and communication in the supply chain, in addition to illegal activities, have created a low-trust environment. The low level of trust in the supply chain has been found to compromise spoil management outcomes in terms of reuse. Moreover, the relationship between industry and regulator needs to be improved through effective communication and a thorough understanding of reuse practices and legislation. Moreover, both the regulator and industry partners are required to have oversight over the process, which is attainable through material tracking. Additionally, it was found that a dynamic approach is requisite for the supply chain to increase the amount of spoil reuse. Thus, a prototype exchange platform was developed and proposed to gather the suppliers and consumers of spoil in a market-place. This exchange platform provides more reuse opportunities for the parties involved, and can cope with last-minute changes dynamically. The ability to track the material is embedded within the platform to provide the oversight needed and minimise illegal activities. Lastly, a focus group session was conducted to evaluate the study’s outcome and the platform. Focus group participants evaluated the platform’s ability to provide adequate responses to the barriers identified. The focus group substantiated that the prototype platform is able to address the dynamic nature of projects, create more opportunities for spoil producers and consumers, and increase trust in the supply chain. Similarly, the platform has been validated by the focus group in terms of its ability to address space and time limitations and ensure compliance.
- Subject
- spoil management; Australia; spoil handling; prototype exchange platform
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1428820
- Identifier
- uon:38658
- Rights
- Copyright 2021 Ali Rahimzadeh
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 10 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 165 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |