IMPACT ANALYSIS OF THE BANJA LUKA-DOBOJ MOTORWAY CONSTRUCTION ON THE QUALITY OF WATERCOURSES WITH A LOWER RECEIVING CAPACITY

Abstract

Prevention of the surface water quality deterioration as a result of motorway construction or similar anthropogenic activities is certainly a rather more demanding task relating to watercourses with lower flow rates than larger watercourses. The paper presents the impact of part of the Banja Luka - Doboj motorway construction site, notably section 1: Banja Luka - Prnjavor, in Miloševci and Hrvaćani, on the Crkvena river water quality. The Banja Luka-Doboj motorway, with a length of 71.91 km, represents a key regional connection in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will connect the Gradiška - Banja Luka motorway (E-661) to Corridor 5c. Conducted sampling included the Crkvena river water, a right-bank tributary of the Vrbas river, in the Miloševci settlement, and at a new measuring point along the Crkvena River, at the culvert location in the settlement of Hrvaćani, near the motorway construction site. The goal of water sampling is monthly Crkvena river water quality monitoring in order to keep track of the of newly built motorway section's impact on this watercourse in the Miloševci settlement; the purpose of water sampling at a new measuring point in Hrvaćani is to control the Crkvena river water quality before the commencement of works at this location so that the impact of same on this watercourse could later be followed up. Comparison of the data acquired by continual monitoring of a significant number of parameters (total 18) during 12 months with their zero state, i.e. their values before the commencement of construction, gives a realistic overview of impacts of the construction site on the Crkvena river water quality.