Responsible handling of contaminated materials

Enghave Brygge in Copenhagen is a fast-growing area where around 1,200 homes and several commercial buildings are to be erected in the future modern and exclusive canal-side town.

But there are number of challenges to be tackled first. For example, a wide range of pollutants were found on the development site, including landfill waste and soil contaminated with metals and tar. Soil and water are also contaminated with various solvents and several types of oil products, cinders and fly ash.

The polluted soil and groundwater, together with contaminated waste materials, have to be handled in an environmentally correct manner, and in this connection, COWI helped to make the site ready for sale by identifying contamination in the soil, water and buildings and facilitating the demolition of the buildings, and by optimising the reuse of clean building components in the subsequent refurbishment work.

Large parts of the surplus materials from the refurbishment work will be used in several pieces of reclaimed land on which homes will be built. This has brought significant savings compared to using original clean friction materials, which was the plan in the early phase of the project.