Recently, at the foundation pit site of the Paitou Resettlement Housing Project Area A in Dianbu Town, Feidong County, a white air dome standing 20 meters high and covering an area of 6,750 square meters was particularly eye-catching, as if putting a huge "dust-proof coat" on the 12-meter-deep foundation pit. This province's first foundation pit air dome technology has successfully upgraded the earthwork operation area into a "dust-free workshop." Its innovative effectiveness in solving pain points such as urban construction dust and noise nuisance provides a valuable, replicable, and promotable sample for environmental governance of foundation pit construction across the province.

From "Chasing Dust" to Full Enclosure of the Foundation Pit

The Paitou Resettlement Housing Project Area A in Dianbu, Feidong County, is located at the intersection of Longquan Road and Caomiao East Road, surrounded by dense residential areas and a concentrated population. The nearest Feidong County People's Government is less than 10 meters from the foundation pit. The pit itself is 112.5 meters long and 60 meters wide, and during peak earthwork construction, more than 400 vehicle trips per day can occur, making dust and noise control extremely difficult.

Previously, foundation pit construction in urban core areas generally relied on traditional dust control measures such as fog cannons and sprinklers. These methods have an obvious shortcoming of "chasing dust," resulting in limited governance effectiveness.

The dust and noise generated during construction not only seriously affect the daily lives of surrounding residents but also put considerable pressure on urban environmental control, becoming a common pain point plaguing urban construction.

To solve this problem, the project department innovatively introduced an intelligent air dome enclosure system, which is also the first large-scale application of this technology in foundation pit construction in our province.

"The air dome system uses PVDF membrane material, supported by diagonal mesh steel cables and internal-external air pressure difference, achieving full enclosure of the foundation pit with a dust prevention efficiency of over 95%," said Xia Benfa, head of Hefei Meisite Membrane Structure Co., Ltd., to reporters. This system completely blocks the spread of dust from the source, achieving a qualitative leap in environmental governance compared to traditional measures.

Exhaust and ventilation function can be activated within 15 seconds to ensure a safe working environment

In addition to efficient dust prevention, the air dome system also performs outstandingly in noise control. "It not only prevents dust, but the soundproof structure of the air dome can also significantly weaken the transmission of construction noise, fundamentally solving the problem of construction nuisance and keeping surrounding residents away from the noise of the construction site, truly achieving 'construction without disturbing residents,'" Xia Benfa added.

The system's intelligence level is even more impressive. Xia Benfa introduced that the system is equipped with a Siemens PLC intelligent control system, which can monitor the air pressure, dust concentration, and temperature and humidity inside the membrane in real time 24 hours a day, with strong adaptive adjustment capabilities: when wind speed exceeds level 5 or snow accumulation occurs, it can automatically adjust the internal pressure to above 285Pa to resist loads; when harmful gas concentration exceeds the standard, it can activate the exhaust and ventilation function within 15 seconds to ensure a safe and compliant working environment.

Balancing environmental protection and efficiency is another major advantage of this technology. It is reported that the air dome adopts a modular installation mode and was fully assembled in just 6 days. The column-and-beam-free design creates a super-large unobstructed working space, which does not affect the normal construction progress. Its enclosed characteristics can also play an insulation role in winter construction, helping to advance construction efficiently.

The province's first foundation pit air dome technology application project

It is worth mentioning that the intelligent air dome enclosure system has a designed service life of 2 years and features recyclability and low-carbon environmental protection. It will be dismantled and recycled in an orderly manner according to the project construction progress, realizing resource recycling and effectively reducing construction carbon emissions, in line with the development concept of "green construction, technology first."

"At present, foundation pit air dome projects are widely used in northern cities, represented by Beijing. The successful application of the foundation pit air dome project at the Paitou Resettlement Housing in Feidong County is the first foundation pit air dome technology application project in our province," said Zhu Hua, head of the Steel Structure Professional Committee of the Anhui Civil Engineering and Architecture Society.

He believes that the innovative practice of this project not only solves the pain points of dust and noise nuisance in urban construction but also provides a valuable, replicable, and promotable sample for environmental governance of foundation pit construction across the province, which will promote the upgrading of environmental governance of foundation pit construction in our province toward refinement and intelligence.