Research

A substantial body of local research literature has been published in the last two decades that builds on and interprets the vast library of international research literature available in this field. This research has sought to establish the sources and loads of the contaminants in road run-off, as well as to identify those contaminants. There has been particular effort made to identify whether the volume or behavior of traffic using any road can be used to accurately predict the contaminant loads in run-off from that road. There has also been a useful body of work produced that has assessed the performance of various devices being adopted to improve the quality of that run-off.

NZTA has funded a number of research projects relevant to managing stormwater and road runoff, including:

  • New Zealand Roading Network – Integrated Stormwater Management Guidelines, 2005, Research Report 260
  • Environmental management for roading contractors II. Provisional guidelines for erosion and sediment management during road works, 1999, Research Report 131
  • Field evaluation of catchbasin insert performance, 1999, Research Report 152
  • Development of a Benefit Evaluation Technique applicable to treatment of road run-off, 2005, Research Report 264
  • Field evaluation of media filtration stormwater treatment devices, 2012, Research Report 493
  • Reduction of Road Run-off Contaminants: Laboratory Experiments and Monitoring of Treatment Walls, 2005, Research Report 282
  • Enhancing the control of contaminants for New Zealand’s roads: results of a road runoff sampling programme, 2010, Research Report 395
  • Identifying Sensitive Receiving Environments at Risk from Road Runoff, 2007, Research Report 315
  • Impact of slip sediment on the biota in a New Zealand alpine stream, 1999, Research Report 097
  • Characterisation of runoff contaminants from New Zealand roads and effect of rainfall events, 2002, Research Report 228
  • Contaminant characterisation and toxicity of road sweepings and catchpit sediments: towards more sustainable reuse options, 2008, Research Report 345
  • Reconstruction of coal tar contaminated roads by in-situ recycling using foamed bitumen stabilisation, 2009, Research Report 388
  • Aquatic ecotoxicity of cutback bitumen, 2006, Research Report 285
  • Assessing the environmental effects of new and recycled materials in road construction, 2006, Research Report 306
  • Environmental effects of emulsions, 2008, Research Report 343

Auckland Motorway Alliance has reported research on sediment measurement  and on swale plantings.

Listed below is a very small selection of relatively recent or relevant research that is likely to be more or less applicable to management of stormwater run-off from roads:

The Ministry of Transport commissioned significant research into the potential effects of transport on the environment in the late 1990s. The 2004 reports from this research include: