Earlier this week the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released NCHRP Research Report 1117: On-Bridge Stormwater Treatment Practices – A Guide, from the Transportation Research Board’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The report was developed as a guide for determining the feasibility of on-bridge stormwater treatments for bridges and what design, construction, operation and maintenance approaches are necessary to mitigate risks and balance costs with environmental protection.

Stormwater treatment of bridge deck runoff has long been a design challenge. While there has been extensive research and development of stormwater best management practices over the years, there has been little focus on designs specific to the on-bridge environment. This report aims to address the need for more options for on-bridge treatment of stormwater that will address challenges, including, but not limited to, level of service, structural integrity, hydraulic function, litter and sediment loads, freeze-thaw cycles, maintenance operations, and work zone safety.

NCHRP Research Report 1117: On-Bridge Stormwater Treatment Practices: A Guide is available now. Supplemental to the report is NCHRP Web-Only Document 401: Developing a Guide for On-Bridge Stormwater Treatment Practices, a conduct of research report summarizing the work that went into the development of the guide.