*2.5.1 Minimizing the disturbance of maintenance to wildlife*

Depending on the facility's location, the maintenance operations can disturb wildlife in different ways. While a lot of consideration is commonly given to minimizing the disturbance to wildlife during the construction process, the risks of maintenance operations on the environment are, in many cases, underestimated and this can create severe threats for the habitats and wildlife. These risks are increased when wildlife is exposed to them for longer durations. This exposure can even impact migration, feeding, and breeding patterns. For instance, using vibrators in maintenance operations of a dam can affect the fish reproduction in adjacent waters.

EPA provides comprehensive guidelines and requirements [29] to ensure that maintenance operations' disturbances to wildlife are minimized. Some primary measures in doing so are listed in the following:


• Restoring the changes on the natural habitat during after the operations (removing temporary equipment access roads by replacing the polluted or compacted soil with the natural soil of the area, restoring the damages vegetation and views.

#### *2.5.2 Continuous assessment of environmental impacts*

Depending on the type, size, and location of the infrastructure it can affect different elements of the natural world including habitats and species. The interactions between the facility and its surrounding environment can vary over time because both the infrastructure and the environment are dynamic systems with altering elements that interact with the elements of one another. For instance, the amount of pollution infrastructure generates can change based on its production. On the other hand, the tolerance of the adjacent environment can also modify based on the severity and frequency of rainfalls, the intensity of winds, and temperature inversion in different seasons or years. Another example is the tolerance of water bodies to pollutants which decrease as they are exposed to more contaminants. In this situation, the infrastructure may have to reduce its production to maintain the water quality before other preventive measures can be implemented.

The environmental assessment methods, required tools, intervals of measurement, and data analysis methods depend on the type of environment that is in the proximity of the infrastructure. Figuring out the pattern of the repetitive alterations in the reactions between the infrastructure and the responses from the environment can significantly improve the preventive measures.

#### *2.5.3 Restoring the damages caused by the infrastructure*

Paying adequate attention to preventive measures is essential in the management of infrastructure. Though, considering the complexities and unpredictability involved during long years of service of infrastructures some damages to the adjacent environment are inevitable. However, these damages can be minimized by executing restorative measures. Depending on the type of damage, a wide variety of options exist for restoration purposes. It is crucial to keep in mind that some of these damages cannot be readily observable and they require a more in-depth examination of the area and evaluation of the facility's impacts.

Restorative measures are focused on bringing the adjacent environment back to the condition it had before the infrastructure was developed, as much as possible. These measures are more critical when the damages affect residential areas, wildlife, habitat, rare species, greenfields, wetlands, prime farmlands, and historical sites.

The restorative measure can have different types depending on the type of damages they try to restore. Some of the main types are the following:


**29**

*Maintaining the Sustainability of Critical Infrastructure DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85915*

alternative site.

footprint of the facility.

urges.

**3. Conclusion**

desired limits.

preventive measures must be taken to mitigate the risk of fire transfer from the facility to adjacent areas. In addition to these measures, in case a fire happens, the damages it has caused must be restored by recreating the affected vegetation or removing the soot, water used in extinguishing the fire), and odor. In cases that restoration is not possible, the surface area and types of damages must be measured, and an equal amount of vegetation must be planted in an

• Restoring disturbed soil. Natural soils are affected by the infrastructure in two major ways: (1) oil and other pollutants' spill and (2) compaction of soil as a result of temporary traffic of heavy equipment. Some maintenance operations utilize heavy equipment pieces that pollute and compact the natural soil. The facility managers tend to keep the temporary access roads in case a need arises in the future. This approach must be avoided as it unnecessarily expands the

In almost all restoration activities, promptness goes a long way and delaying the fixes can lead to irreparable damage. The key to prompt restoration is thinking ahead and having the required plans ready to step in when the need for restoration

Critical infrastructures have significant adverse impacts on sustainability that, if not handled, can defeat their purpose of serving to the public. Although a lot of attention is paid to develop a critical infrastructure with a minimal footprint, once a facility is operating less consideration is paid to evaluate how it interacts with its surrounding environment or the host community. It was mentioned that the dynamic nature of the infrastructure and its hosting environment causes a lot of alterations in how the facility impacts its surroundings. Examples such as the shutdown of nuclear power plants in the USA indicate that in many cased the planned trajectory of infrastructure may not be pursued due to various internal and external factors that affect infrastructures. Without proper maintenance of sustainability performance, the negative impacts of infrastructures will gradually accumulate and may lead to irreversible damages. Continuous data collection, inspections, and measurement of the environmental impacts are essential to identify how the facility's performance must be modified to maintain its negative impacts within the

Sustainability maintenance is an ongoing process throughout the service life of infrastructure to maintain its negative impacts within the desired limits and ideally enhance its sustainability performance. It was mentioned that regular maintenance operations provide a significant opportunity to mitigate the negative sustainability impacts of infrastructure. Unlike the design phase in which the sustainability threats are predicted, while performing the maintenance operation, most of the

The significant roles of considering the hosting community's concerns, managers' determination to sustainable performance, sustainable handling of materials, sustainable maintenance operations, and continuous restoration of damages caused

sustainability-related issues are precisely identified.

by the infrastructure were highlighted.

preventive measures must be taken to mitigate the risk of fire transfer from the facility to adjacent areas. In addition to these measures, in case a fire happens, the damages it has caused must be restored by recreating the affected vegetation or removing the soot, water used in extinguishing the fire), and odor. In cases that restoration is not possible, the surface area and types of damages must be measured, and an equal amount of vegetation must be planted in an alternative site.

• Restoring disturbed soil. Natural soils are affected by the infrastructure in two major ways: (1) oil and other pollutants' spill and (2) compaction of soil as a result of temporary traffic of heavy equipment. Some maintenance operations utilize heavy equipment pieces that pollute and compact the natural soil. The facility managers tend to keep the temporary access roads in case a need arises in the future. This approach must be avoided as it unnecessarily expands the footprint of the facility.

In almost all restoration activities, promptness goes a long way and delaying the fixes can lead to irreparable damage. The key to prompt restoration is thinking ahead and having the required plans ready to step in when the need for restoration urges.
