Environmental impact of construction and repair materials on surface and ground waters : summary of methodology, laboratory results, and model development.

This report concisely summarises the research conducted to develop a new testing technology to realistically estimate how conventional, recycled, or waste highway construction and repair materials may affect surface and ground waters in environments surrounding highway rights-of-way. The methodology involves fairly simple, standard aquatic toxicity screening tests that may lead to more detailed laboratory evaluation tests, and a computer model that uses the test results in computing the concentrations and loads of mobile toxicants at the highway site boundary. A knowledge base containing the results of aquatic toxicity and chemistry tests is a part of this methodology; it provides a ready means to compile relevant data and thus avoids unnecessary, duplicative laboratory testing. (A) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_448.pdf