Impact of vehicular movement on road dust resuspension and spatiotemporal distribution of particulate matter during construction activities

This paper presents the characteristics of ambient particulate matter (PM), resuspendable road dust and PM mass deposition in the human respiratory tract during preconstruction and construction phases. PM Emission Rates (PMER) due to resuspension and spatiotemporal distribution were estimated and compared on construction roads (CR) and non-construction roads (NCR) for both phases. The construction phase monitoring results demonstrated that the silt load (SL) and PMER at CR (SL = 26–47 g/m2, PM10ER = 18.1–43.8 g/VKT, PM2.5ER = 4.3–10.6 g/VKT) were significantly high when compared to NCR (SL = 3.0–12.5 g/m2, PM10ER = 0.3–7.5 g/VKT, PM2.5ER = 0.1–1.8 g/VKT). Preconstruction phase results showed 15 to 20 times lesser values. Spatial and temporal variation studies showed that maximum PM concentrations (PM10 = 270.1, PM2.5 = 71.8, PM1 = 56.3 μg/m3) were found during night at construction roads due to the movement of heavy-duty vehicles carrying excavated earth overnight. Between 0 and 100 m length of road on either side of the construction sites, average PM10 concentrations were greater than 250 μg/m3. Similarly, for distance between 100 and 200 m, 200–400 m and 400–500 m, the PM10 values ranged between 200 and 250 μg/m3, 150–200 μg/m3 and 100–150 μg/m3 respectively. The current study results clearly indicated that resuspension of road dust due to movement of heavy duty trucks highly influence the PM concentrations in the surrounding environment of a construction site. The MPPD model results indicated that the total deposition fraction of PM10 in construction workers airway during the construction phase was 74–78%, followed by PM2.5(23–54%) and PM1(20–25%). Integration of sustainable practices, use of pollution control technologies and implementation of policies at a local scale are the way forward to mitigate the pollution from construction activities. •Construction activities have significant impact on the surrounding environment.•Heavy duty vehicle movement was the major reason for high silt load and resuspension.•Silt load was found to increase by 15–20 times during construction phase.•Maximum PM concentrations during night time at approach roads of construction areas.•Highest PM deposition dose in HRT was also found at night during construction phase.