At three heavily traffic loaded motorways the bulk deposition was measured during 18 months using preserving jars made of glass (Bergerhoff method VDI 2119) which were positioned 10 cm above the soil surface.The concentration of heavy metals,Na,Ca and Fe was measured.For comparison the same jars were used in 1.5 m height as the standard method VDI 2119 requires.The distance of 1 m,2.5 m,5 m and at one site 10m from the roadside was sampled.As a reference,the distance of 100 m was sampled,too.The results show that beside heavy metals also great quantifies of other elemens caused by the road traffic are deposited in the area situated near the road.This is e.g.Na from deicing salt,whose dependency on seasons can be clearly demonstrated,but also Ca and Fe can be found in similarly high concentrations and freights.At all measuring sites a strong dependency of bulk deposition freight and distance from the roadside was found.This applies for all the substances investigated.The spatial distribution of the bulk deposition and the contaminant freights showed also clear differences between the three measuring sites,which can be attributed to the different percentages of heavy goods vehicles and main wind direction at the sites.Comparable studies up to now do not exist.One study,which had to rely on quite old data gives an estimation of contaminant input into soil and water (Hillenbrand et al.2005).It uses very old data,but shows that in Germany the road traffic generates considerable proportions of the input of Cu,Zn,Pb into waters and soils.These information now can be updated based on the new results.Further research should find answers to the question if soil material caused by splash effects from heavy rainfall can disturb the measurements and how this can be avoided.