Depending on the type of debris left in the wake of a disaster event, stakeholders may need to alter their debris removal strategy. When collecting, hauling, and disposing debris, a number of issues should be addressed before initiating the process.
Collecting
Inadequate plans for collecting debris is often a big challenge for stakeholders. A well-developed Debris Management Plan would include scenario planning, pre-positioned contracts, mutual aid agreements, debris management sites, and a training and exercise program to assure understanding and implementation.
Hauling
Consider potential issues—traffic, routing, and distance—when hauling debris from a roadway. Keep roads and communities safe!
Disposing
Often times, jurisdictions don’t have the capacity or resources to dispose of debris generated after a disaster event. Landfills are often limited, so identify and utilize temporary sites and/or work with other jurisdictions through mutual aid agreements.
Transportation of debris to a disposal site is typically taken care of by a contracted agency, but the responsibility of compliance usually remains with the jurisdiction where the debris comes from. This leaves the jurisdiction vulnerable to complaints and lawsuits, sometimes years after the debris has been removed. Plan ahead and get input from regulatory and compliance authorities to help mitigate these issues.
TRB’s Debris Management Handbook
Competitively selected by a National Cooperative Highway Research Program panel, Dewberry has been chosen to share our knowledge of debris management issues with departments of transportation, nationwide. We have conducted a literature review and analysis, as well as interviewed individuals who have conducted debris operations, to find challenges they’ve had to address and lessons-learned. We then developed a handbook to help transportation and public works agencies, as well as stakeholders, understand how to plan for and recover from natural and manmade debris-generating disasters. The entire process took approximately 14 months with TRB anticipating publication of the guide in late 2013.
Planning ahead and understanding the requirements related to disaster debris removal is key to overcoming the challenges we’ve outlined and if done well can make the difference in your jurisdiction’s ability to recover quickly.
