Stormwater Management with Pervious Concrete Pavement

Pervious Concrete Pavement Application

Pervious concrete pavement is ideal around buildings
Description (e.g., walkways, courtyards, etc.), as parking lots and as
Pervious concrete pavement is a porous pavement, low-volume roadways. Pervious concrete pavement
often with an underlying stone reservoir, that captures also has some application on highways, where it can
rainfall and stores runoff before it infiltrates into the be used in shoulder and median construction for
subsoil. This pervious surface replaces traditional stormwater runoff mitigation. It also may be used as a
pavement, and allows stormwater to infiltrate directly surface material to reduce hydroplaning, splash and
into the ground, permitting a naturally occurring form spray, and mitigate tire-pavement noise.
of water treatment. Pervious concrete mixtures consist
of specially formulated hydraulic cementitious mate- Regional Applicability
rials, water, and uniform open-graded coarse aggre- Pervious concrete pavement can be applied in most
gate (e.g., ASTM C33 Size Numbers 5, 56, 67, 8, and 89). regions of the country, but the practice has unique
When properly designed and installed, pervious challenges in cold climates. Design of the system
concrete has a high percentage of void space (15% or should ensure that washout from adjacent (soil) areas
more) to accommodate stormwater from significant is not allowed to drain onto pervious concrete pave-
storm events (see Figure 1). ment surfaces. Care should be taken with regard to
sand being applied to the pavement surface for
deicing because the sand may become lodged in the
pavement surface. This is not to imply that it is impos-
100% Voids above surface; sible to use pervious concrete pavement in cold
Curb can contribute to total capacity climates. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that
snow-covered pervious concrete pavement actually
may clear more quickly than impervious surfaces,
Pervious Concrete Surface
15 25% Voids Thickness reducing the need for snow plowing. Additionally,
determined
Subbase/Stone Reservoir by design
melted snow and ice will drain through the pervious
concrete pavement rather than ponding and
20 40% Voids
refreezing at the surface, a common occurrence with
Subgrade Filter fabric/ traditional impervious pavements; this action alone
5 20% Voids geotextile
(optional) may minimize the need to apply deicing materials to a
Figure 1. Typical cross-section of pervious concrete pave- pervious concrete pavement.
ment. On level subgrades, stormwater storage is provided in
the pervious concrete surface layer (15% to 25% voids), the Another concern in cold climates is that infiltrating
subbase (20% to 40% voids), and above the surface to the runoff below the pavement may cause frost heave,
height of the curb (100% voids). After: ACI 552R-06. although design modifications that provide for an

1
2009 American Concrete Pavement Association
adequate subbase layer can reduce this risk. Pervious around the surface of conventional pavement is sub-
concrete pavement structures that incorporated frost- sequently heated by the sun and hot pavement
heave-reducing design features have been used surface. By allowing rainfall to rapidly infiltrate,
successfully in Norway (Stenmark, 1995). Successful pervious concrete pavement eliminates this problem,
longer term installations of pervious concrete pave- helping to mitigate the potential for thermal shock
ments in regions of cold weather also have been docu- events caused by heated stormwater flowing into
mented in North America (Delatte, et al, 2007; nearby streams and estuaries.
NRMCA, 2004; and Schaefer, et al, 2006).

ULTRA-URBAN AREAS
Siting and Design Considerations
Ultra-urban areas are densely developed urban areas Siting Considerations
in which pervious and naturally draining surface area
Pervious concrete pavement has the same siting
is reduced. Pervious concrete pavements are ideal
considerations as other infiltration practices. The site
design options in such areas because they allow for
needs to meet the following criteria:
additional use of land by eliminating the need for
stormwater retention systems. When pervious concrete pavement systems are
designed with a stone reservoir, the reservoir
STORMWATER HOT SPOTS
should be of sufficient depth to accommodate
Stormwater hot spots are areas where land use or stormwater storage for the design storm event.
activities generate highly contaminated runoff, with
concentrations of pollutants in excess of those typi- Design options include installation of wells or
cally found in stormwater. These areas may include drainage channels through the subgrade and/or
commercial nurseries, auto recycle facilities, fueling underground storage chambers for below
stations, storage areas, industrial rooftops, marinas, surface storage of stormwater.
outdoor container storage of liquids, outdoor loading/
unloading facilities, public works storage areas, haz- If used to treat off-site runoff, pervious concrete
ardous materials generators (if containers are exposed pavement should incorporate pretreatment, as
to rainfall), vehicle service and maintenance areas, and with all structural management practices.
vehicle and equipment washing/steam cleaning facil-
Pervious concrete pavement should be sited at
ities. Pervious concrete pavement should not be used
as an infiltration practice on stormwater hot spots due least 3 ft (1 m) above the seasonally high ground
to the potential for ground water contamination. water table, and at least 100 ft (30 m) away from
drinking water wells.
STORMWATER RETROFIT
A stormwater retrofit is a stormwater management Design Considerations
practice (usually structural) put into place after devel- Some basic features should be incorporated into all
opment has occurred to improve water quality, pervious concrete pavement designs. These design
protect downstream channels, reduce flooding, or features can be divided into five categories: pretreat-
meet other specific objectives. The best application of ment, treatment, conveyance, maintenance reduction,
pervious concrete pavement for retrofits may be on and landscaping.
individual projects where a parking lot or low-volume
road is being reconstructed. 1. Pretreatment. The pervious concrete pavement
acts as pretreatment to the stone reservoir
COLD WATER (TROUT) STREAMS below. Because the sur face serves this purpose,
Pervious concrete pavement can help to reduce the periodic maintenance of the surface is an impor-
increased runoff water temperature commonly associ- tant factor in optimal performance.
ated with impervious cover (Dane County, 2007 and
Hunt and Collins, 2008). Stormwater ponding on or 2. Treatment. The stone reservoir directly below the
pavement surface should be sized to attenuate

2
 water flows from the design storm event. Typi-
cally, pervious concrete pavement is sized to treat
a small event such as a water quality storm (i.e., Pe
rvi
ou
the storm that will be treated for pollutant sc
on
Su cre
bb te
removal), which can range from 0.5 to 1.5 in. (13 to Su
as
e
bg
25 mm). As with infiltration trenches, water can rad
e
be stored in the void spaces of the stone reservoir.

3. Conveyance. Water is conveyed to the stone

reservoir through the pavement surface where it Pipe
optional
then infiltrates into the ground. A geosynthetic
liner should be placed below the stone reservoir
to prevent preferential flow paths and to main-
tain a flat bottom. Designs also may incorporate
some method to convey larger volumes of
stormwater runoff to the storm drain system,
such as the inclusion of drain pipes below the Pipe optional
pavement, diverting stormwater flow to supple-
Figure 2. Elevation (top) and plan (bottom) views of a sloped
mentary catchment areas for potential reuse, or
installation. For sloped pervious concrete pavements, storage
other innovative devices. capacity calculations must consider the depth of pavement,
infiltration rate of subbase, and desired runoff goals. Source:
4. Maintenance Reduction. One nonstructural com- Tennis, et al, 2004.
ponent that can help ensure proper maintenance
of pervious concrete pavement is the use of a
carefully worded maintenance agreement that trenches carry water traveling down the paved slope
provides specific guidance, including how to out to the adjacent hillside. Use of soil filter fabric also
conduct routine maintenance. Ideally, signs is recommended to prevent wash out of the subgrade
should be posted on the site identifying pervious (Tennis, et al, 2004).
concrete pavement areas. Vacuum (preferred) or REGIONAL ADAPTATIONS
pressure wash the surface annually, or more In cold climates, the base of the stone reservoir should
frequently if dictated by site specific conditions. be below the frost line. This modification will help to
5. Landscaping. Reducing sediment loads entering reduce the risk of frost heave.
the pavement can help prevent clogging. Thus, POORLY DRAINING SOILS
the most important landscaping feature is fully While more suitable for well-draining soils (minimum
stabilized upland drainage. percolation rate of 0.5 in. [13 mm] per hour), per -
vious concrete pavement can be utilized in poorly
Design Variations draining soils, provided special design considera-
SLOPING SURFACES tions such as those shown in Figure 3 are followed
When the surface is not level, the depth of the pave- (Tennis, et al, 2004).
ment and subbase must be designed to meet the
desired runoff goals, or more complex options for Limitations
handling water flow may be used. Pervious concrete
Installation/construction procedures for pervious
pavements have been placed successfully on slopes
concrete pavement differ from those used for conven-
up to 16%. In such cases, trenches were dug across the
tional concrete pavement. Care should be taken to
slope, lined with 0.25 in. (6 mm) visqueen, and filled
pre-qualify suppliers and installers for pervious
with rock (see Figure 2). Pipes extending from the concrete pavement systems. Guidance on applica-

3
tions, specifications and installation techniques are Effectiveness
continually evolving and being published (ACI 522.1-
Pervious concrete pavement can be used to substan-
08, 2008; ACI 522-R06, 2006; NRMCA, 2006).
tially reduce the volume of runoff, to provide ground
water recharge and to reduce pollutants in storm
Maintenance Considerations water runoff. Research suggests that pervious con-
For a pervious concrete pavement to perform as crete pavement systems help up to 80% of the annual
designed, the required maintenance schedule must rainfall go towards ground water recharge (Clar,
be followed. In addition to owners not being aware of et al, 2004).
the presence of pervious concrete pavement on a site,
Studies conducted on long-term pollutant removal
negligence of required maintenance activities and
have shown that pervious concrete pavement is very
schedules is the chief reason for premature pervious
effective in removal of pollutant load (Dierkes, et al,
concrete pavement failures. Typical maintenance re-
1999), in some cases demonstrating greater than 80%
quirements are shown in Table 1 on Page 5.
efficacy in pollutant removal (Rushton, 2001).

2 ft
(0.6 m)
a.

e.

b.

2 ft
(0.6 m)

f.
c.

Figure 3. Example cross-sections of alternative designs for use

in poorly draining soils. (a) rock filled trench under pavement;
(b) rock trench along pavement edge; (c) V-trench; (d) rock
filled trench extending beyond pavement; (e) sand under-
drain; and (f) sand underdrain with rock trench. After: Tennis,
et al, 2004.

d.

4
 Table 1. Typical Maintenance Requirements for Pervious Concrete Pavement (Source: WMI, 1997)
Activity Schedule
Avoid sealing or repaving with impervious materials. N/A
Ensure that the pavement area is clean of debris.
Ensure that the pavement dewaters between storms. As needed
Ensure that the pavement area is clean of sediments.
Mow upland and adjacent areas, and seed bare areas.
Vacuum/sweep the pavement surface to keep it free of sediment. As needed
Inspect the surface for deterioration or spalling. Annually

References Schaefer, V.; Wang, K.; Suleiman, M.; and Kevern, J.; Mix
Design Development for Pervious Concrete in Cold
American Concrete Institute (ACI), Pervious Concrete
Weather Climates, National Concrete Pavement Tech-
(522R-06), Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2006.
nology Center, Ames, Iowa, 2006.
American Concrete Institute (ACI), Specifications for
Stenmark, C., An Alternative Road Construction for Storm-
Pervious Concrete Pavement (522.1-08), Farmington
water Management in Cold Climates, Water Science and
Hills, Michigan, 2008.
Technology, 32(1):7984, 1995.
Clar, M. L.; Barfield, B. J.; and OConnor, T. P., Stormwater
Tennis, P. D.; Leming, M. L.; and Akers, D. J., Pervious
Best Management Practice Design Guide Volume 1:
Concrete Pavements, Portland Cement Association,
General Considerations, EPA/600/R-04/121, United
Skokie, Illinois, 2004.
States Environmental Protection Agency, 2004.
Watershed Management Institute (WMI), Operation,
Dane County, Wisconsin, Erosion Control and Storm-
Maintenance, and Management of Stormwater Manage-
water Management Manual, Ch. 3, Stormwater, 2007.
ment Systems, Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protec-
Delatte, N., and Miller, D., Portland Cement Pervious tion Agency, Office of Water, Washington, D.C., 1997.
Concrete Pavement Field Performance Investigation on
Parking Lots and Roadway Pavements, RMC Research & Additional Resources
Education Foundation, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2007.
American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA),
Dierkes, C.; Holte, A.; and Geiger, W. F., Heavy Metal PerviousPave: Structural Design Software for Pervious
Retention Within a Porous Pavement Structure, Eighth Concrete Pavement, SW04, Skokie, Illinois, 2009.
International Conference on Urban Storm Drainage,
Sydney, Australia,1999. American Concrete Institute (ACI), Guide for Selecting
Proportions for No-Slump Concrete (ACI 211.3R-02),
Hunt, W.F., and Collins, K.A., Permeable Pavement: Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2002.
Research Update and Design Implications, AGW-588-14,
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Center for Watershed Protection (CWP), Various
Carolina State University, 2008. stormwater management publications and tools,
http://www.cwp.org/Resource_Library/Controlling_R
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), unoff_and_Discharges/sm.htm, Accessed February
Freeze-Thaw Resistance of Pervious Concrete, Silver 2009.
Spring, Maryland, 2004.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Various
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), stormwater management publications and tools,
Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification, NRMCA Pub. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/h2o.htm,
No. 2PPCRT, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2006. Accessed February 2009.
Rushton, B., Infiltration Opportunities in Parking-Lot Portland Cement Association (PCA), Pervious Concrete:
Design Reduce Runoff and Pollution, Southwest Florida Hydrological Design and Resources CD, CD063, Skokie,
Water Management District, Brooksville, Florida, 2001. Illinois, 2007.

5
United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (US Wanielista, M. and Chopra, M., Performance Assessment
EPA), Various stormwater management publications of Portland Cement Pervious Pavement, Final Report
and tools, http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm? FDOT Project BD521-02 (4 parts), State of Florida
program_id=6, Accessed February 2009. Department of Transportation, 2007.

3 in. (75 mm)

Topsoil, seed
and mulch
7 in. (175 mm) Concrete pavement 24 in.
Bioretention area (600 mm)
20 ft (6.1 m) 22 ft (6.7 m)
(18 in. [450 mm]
deep min.) Concrete 7 in. (175 mm) 4 in. (100 mm) Mountable curb
wheel stop Pervious concrete 2% Slope

24 in. (600 mm) Prepared subgrade

Drainable stone subbase
Organic topsoil
(12 in. [300 mm] thick) Section AA
NOT TO SCALE

3 in. (75 mm)

Topsoil, seed
and mulch
2 ft 24 in.
(0.6 m) 7 ft (2.1 m) 22 ft (6.7 m) (600 mm)

7 in. (175 mm) 7 in. (175 mm) 4 in. (100 mm) Mountable curb
Porous concrete Uniform concrete 2% Slope
3 ft (0.9 m)
Masonry wall PLANTING BED

24 in.
(600 mm)
Geofabric textile Prepared subgrade
(as required)
10 ft (3.0 m) 6 in. (150 mm)
Promenade Perforated pipe
Section BB
NOT TO SCALE

3 in. (75 mm)

Topsoil seed
24 in. 24 in. and mulch 24 in. 24 in.
(600 mm) 14 ft (4.3 m) (600 mm) 76 ft (23.2 m) (600 mm) 14 ft (4.3 m) (600 mm)
7 in. (175 mm) 7 in. (175 mm)
Pervious concrete Pervious concrete
6 in. (150 mm)
Straight face integral curb

4 in. (100 mm) 8 in. (200 mm) 8 in. (200 mm) 4 in. (100 mm)
Integral mountable curb Drainable stone subbase Section CC Drainable stone subbase Integral mountable curb
NOT TO SCALE

Figure 4. Illustrations from the Lost Peninsula Marina project in Erie Township, Michigan.

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