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Technology for large-scale ecological surveys during the Covid-19 pandemic Undertaking 5,500 summer surveys during a global pandemic was challenging but, with the use of digital approaches and health and safety protocols, it was feasible, as Caroline Jewell MCIEEM explains
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n summer 2020, on behalf of Laing O’Rourke and J. Murphy & Sons joint venture (LM), Binnies, an RSK company, undertook 5,500 ecological surveys across Phase 1 North of the HS2 route as part of LM’s enabling-works contract. The surveys undertaken were a bat roost assessment and bat emergence, water vole, otter, great crested newt, white-clawed crayfish, barn owl and reptile surveys. This article sets out the methods that Binnies used to manage this wide-ranging suite of survey types over the year in which the Covid-19 pandemic reached the UK. The work included the use of a common data environment (CDE) for assigning surveys and collecting quality data. Planning Following lessons learnt from the HS2 ecological survey work carried out in 2019, the Binnies data products and services (DPS) and environmental services teams worked together to create a bespoke survey data platform called Onsite. Using this innovative approach helped Binnies increase the number of ecological surveys undertaken from fewer than 1,000 in 2019 to 5,500 in 2020, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The new system enabled us to receive, process and assure 200–300 surveys a week. Previously, this process took more than a month. Onsite uses Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) products to facilitate users viewing and editing collected spatial data to produce a geographical information system (GIS) deliverable based on a template, the LM HS2 Schema, provided by LM. The system removed the need for Excel worksheets that can introduce errors into the final deliverable. It was designed by our ecological technical
authority and the DPS team to ensure that the resulting product was fit for use by ecologists. All data generated and collected by the survey work were to be stored in a CDE. Species leads were assigned to each survey type. Surveyor briefing notes were set out by each species lead based on survey guidance provided by LM. The species lead then specified the fields required to create forms for each unique survey type. Our GIS team then used an ArcGIS Survey 123 (an ESRI product) form to create survey forms for each survey type. These were designed to satisfy the LM schema exactly; drop-down fields were used where only a limited number of answers to a question were permitted and field lengths were restricted where required. This was tested by the species leads and the forms were then linked to Onsite. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of a bat emergence survey form used for the 2020 surveys. Binnies used a dedicated scheduling team to schedule the surveys. We were also responsible for managing the land access requests and we set up a dedicated land access team. Surveyors received a bespoke induction to the project from Binnies before completing any surveys. The induction involved the background to the survey, specific known hazards, procedures to follow and how to collect and submit the survey data to the CDE. Assigning surveys Assignments for all the surveyors, with target locations, were sent out using the ESRI product Workforce, which was linked to the Binnies CDE. Our GIS team loaded Workforce using a spreadsheet created by our scheduling team. The schedule was based on what surveys could be completed,
factoring in the resources available, optimal timings of the surveys and any spacing of replicate surveys according to standard survey guidance (see, for example, Collins (2016) and English Nature (2001)). Workers were supplied with tablet computers that they used to log into Workforce each week to access their assignments. Workforce provided them with a geographical pin of the feature to be surveyed and specific details of that feature, such as historical data, hazards associated with the survey, controls in place for their safety and parking suggestions. Workers could then open their survey form for that unique assignment via Workforce. Health and safety To manage the volume of surveys LM required to be undertaken in 2020, a team of sub-consultants and in-house and freelance ecologists was established. The lead surveyor completed a separate site-specific risk assessment (SSRA) for each survey so that identified hazards were passed to future survey teams and it was clear that they had implemented measures to control the hazards identified on-site. When complete, the SSRA form Rail Professional
