Mitigating Pollutants from Highway Infrastructure for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Compliance: Monitoring Efficacy of Best Management Practices and Advancing Decision Support-Phase I

The protection of United States waters, such as the Chesapeake Bay, is of critical importance and has strategic significance to associated state transportation agencies. These organizations must assist in the effort to meet multi-jurisdictional stormwater regulations within the watershed. Stormwater runoff from roads and highways may carry nutrients, debris, oil, heavy metals, solids and other compounds, often directly into waterways. The resulting runoff may have detrimental pollutants that often go untreated into waters and can damage ecologically sensitive habitat. As stormwater regulations are implemented, effective guidance for understanding pollutant loadings from highway infrastructure has become essential. State transportation agencies will need additional tools to consider appropriate watershed scale impacts and evaluate actions for stormwater compliance. In this study, an amended framework for the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment Model (L-THIA) is used to determine stormwater pollutant loading from highways. The L-THIA method estimates the long-term impacts of land use on stormwater quantity and quality. The methodology is applied to estimate the average annual pollutant loading from the associated amount of impervious surface of highways. A case study demonstrates using this method to assess the average annual pollutant loading from Maryland’s state roads and highways within 11 regulated counties. The results indicate that L-THIA can provide direct estimation of targeted stormwater pollutants from highways and estimate pollution reduction of best management practices.

• Record URL:
  http://www.matsutc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mitigating-Pollutants-from-Highway-Infrastructure-for-Total-Maximum-Daily-Load-TMDL-Compliance.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/34768
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Morgan State University

  Baltimore, Maryland  United States  21251

  Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903

  Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability Center

  University of Virginia
  Charlottesville, VA  United States 

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hunter, James G
  • Kang, Dong Hee
• Publication Date: 2016-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 29p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Case studies; Environmental impacts; Highways; Land use; Methodology; Pollutants; Runoff; Water quality management
• Geographic Terms: Maryland
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01663159
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 20 2018 5:09PM