This study was undertaken to characterize the physical and chemical characteristics of runoff from an urban highway segment in the Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan area.
We strove to find out if highway runoff was, and if so to what degree, a potential source of water pollution. Concentrations of pollutants had to be looked at in relation to such things as rainfall amounts, flow rates, time of year, event type and dry days.
This study and report is the first in a series and will be followed by several others from other sites in the area. These sites will be of differing characteristics in highway geometries, design, traffic, etc. From this approach, a more thorough understanding of highway runoff should result.
