Introduction

The Institution of Civil Engineer's Road Engineering Board staged a colloquium* on Highways and the Environment at the ICE on Thursday, 4 November, 1976. The general objective of the colloquium was to produce a brief but comprehensive review of the state of knowledge of the impacts of highway schemes on the environment and their physical measurement, and to study means of reducing any conflict between the country's highway needs and environmental disturbances. The hope of the Board was that the discussion would lead to a meaningful reappraisal of existing policy.

The programme was arranged so that each topic was intro duced by a main speaker whose principal points had been pre printed in a concise form to allow the participants ready access to current recommendations and procedures. In addi tion to the main speakers the 95 invited participants were all carefully chosen from the sections of the road construc tion industry and planning departments most closely con cerned with making decisions on highway planning and con struction.