An Analysis of Soil Erosion on Construction Sites in Megacities Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

The highly intensive construction activities in the process of urbanization have led to the risk of soil loss, which is due to the disturbance of urbanization on the soil; this makes the soil more vulnerable to erosion by rain and other factors, thus causing soil loss to the urban drainage pipe network or the river channels around the city. This process is affected by both natural and human factors. Based on engineering experience and existing research, 13 influencing factors were identified and classified into four dimensions: Natural Conditions (NC), Construction Activities (CA), Conservation Measures (CM) and Management Measures (MM). Fifteen experts from Shanghai, Guangzhou and Zhengzhou, three main cities in China, were invited to assess the weight of each influencing factor through pairwise comparison. Based on the analytic hierarchy process, the soil erosion risk evaluation model of construction sites in megacities was established, and the weight of each influencing factor was determined. According to the weights, the weighted summation method can be used to calculate the comprehensive scores of these sites and the soil erosion risks of the construction sites can be ranked according to the comprehensive scores for multiple construction sites. The analysis of the model shows that MM is the most important factor, and improving the management level is the key measure to control the soil erosion of construction site in megacities. In addition, in the four dimensions, the results of the weight of each influencing factor in the NC dimension are quite different; this is due to the different cities where the experts are from, indicating that the natural conditions of the location will affect empirical judgment. By inviting many experts to evaluate, the deviation in judgment results, caused by differences in natural conditions, can be reduced.