Sodium chloride is used in Sweden as a de-icing agent in order to maintain road safety and accessibility of the road network at acceptable levels during the winter season. Exposure of the roadside environment to sodium chloride gives rise to environmental impacts such as contamination of groundwater, damage to roadside trees and deteriorated scenic quality of the roadside vegetation. As a road keeper, the Swedish Road Administration (SRA) needs to follow up how their use of de-icing salt affects the environment in various ways. The aim of this paper is therefore to suggest improvements to the system used by the road keeper to follow up the development of environmental features influenced by the use of de-icing salt. The suggested improvements will facilitate monitoring of the influence on groundwater, vegetation and the roadside scenery as a societal asset. (Author/publisher)
Abstract