ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF HIGHWAY SCHEMES: A REVIEW OF DMRB VOLUME 11.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a method of evaluating the likely effects a development, such as a major highway or infrastructure project, will have on the environment Formal environmental assessment allows for the importance of environmental effects, and the scope for mitigating against them, to be considered by the relevant decision-making authority before development consent is given. This paper investigates present procedures within the UK with specific regard to highways. It also presents the results of a questionnaire that aimed to review attitudes, principally amongst construction professionals, towards the assessment of the environmental impact of highways. Through the literature review and the questionnaire, it was apparent that there are many occasions when the EIA process fails. This paper includes many of the suggestions and recommendations made by people who have used Volume 11 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). The majority believe that Volume 11 is an improvement to the old Manual for Environmental Appraisal (MEA), but it is obvious that changes are required if the EIA process is to become more effective.