Acknowledgements
The authors thanked the management of Afe Babalola University for their
assistance during field investigations.
Conclusion
Borrow pits excavation and its associated risks are gradually on the
increase following the rising trend in various construction works which
are on-going in many developing countries. Four borrow pits have been
assessed in this study in which two were active while the other two were
abandoned (inactive). The volume of soil overburden removed from the
abandoned borrow pits is much more than the volume extracted from the
active sites, this significant change in the value of overburden removed
causes significant change to the terrain of the borrow pit. It can be
concluded from the study that the geohazards caused by excavation of
borrow pits on the environment is of no small measure. Some of the
potential and active risks include landslide occurrences, water and wind
erosion, dumping of wastes that cause contamination of surface and
groundwater, structural failures, depletion of soil nutrients, flooding
and so on. It is therefore required that some critical measures be put
in place to safeguard the environment. Government agencies and
communities where both the active and abandoned borrow pits are situated
must enforce proper closing and reclamation of borrow pits. Operators of
borrow pits should also be encouraged to agree on reclamation terms
before opening any site as this will provide for sustainable environment
on the long run.