ABSTRACT
Not less dramatic than the consequences of large industrial accidents are the costs for cleaning of contaminated areas. The costs needed for a world wide cleaning and rehabilitation of the environment have been estimated at U$ 0.76 1012 to U$ 3.1 1012 [1,2]. A substantial portion of this amount will be spent on civil engineering projects, for example for building and upgrading of sewage systems, structural provisions to protect the soil and the ground water against leakage of hazardous substances and for storage systems for various types of non-tractable hazardous wastes.
