Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the problems connected with the location of big infrastructure objects; like bridges; in close neighbourhood to the small cities located in valuable environment and landscape; and the ways to minimize the potential threats. The case study of the small town Wyszogrod in central Poland will be presented to illustrate the values of the environment and landscape; which could have been easily destroyed by inadequate bridge project located in its surroundings. Complex environmental and landscape studies have been conducted within Environ-mental Impact Assessment (EIA). The results of the studies indicated that the environmental and landscape values could have been threatened; due to the technical parameters and the scale of the bridge and associated objects. The landscape impacts could be big scale; negative and non-reversible. During EIA a set of effective mitigation measures has been indicated. Due to them the project has been changed radically; what minimised environmental and landscape threats. The crucial conclusion is that Environmental Impact Assessment is a tool that can and should be used in controversial cases to predict potential negative changes and to avoid or lessen them. Described EIA was not only a formal procedure; but the process undertaken with the highest respect to environmental and landscape circumstances and visual quality of the space. The indirect; long-term; cumulative; permanent; irreversible and unavoidable landscape impacts have been described; as well as their spatial scope; scale; significance and the uncertainty of the prediction. This allowed to precise the adequate and effective mitigation measures to protect the unique character of the environment and landscape surrounding the city. The results of undertaken studies may serve as an excellent example in other cases; where new technical objects can destroy the relations between the city and its surroundings; especially regarding the landscape aspects.

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