December 02, 2024

Permeable Pavement Systems Provide Stormwater Benefits and a Structured Surface for Transportation Needs

Little is known about the efficacy of permeable pavement systems in low-lying areas with frequent flooding.

Graph of water depth from June 19, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

Storage bed water levels for pervious concrete connected to a rain garden.

[Reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) from Haselbach, L., et al. "Efficacy of Underground Aggregate Infiltration Beds Under a Permeable Pavement System." Discover Water 4, 117 (2024). DOI:10.1007/s43832-024-00175-w.]

The Science

Permeable pavement systems allow water to flow through the top pavement surface to underground storage beds where the rainwater infiltrates the soils below or is detained and then discharged. A team of researchers studied whether combined permeable pavements and rain garden systems can supplement each other with their unique hydrologic benefits and whether permeable pavement systems can function above surrounding grade when structures are elevated.

The Impact

Knowledge gaps of permeable pavement systems include: (1) long-term functionality of the below grade storage beds, (2) hydrologic benefits of discharging permeable pavement systems to rain gardens, and (3) the potential use of permeable pavement systems in frequently flooded areas when neighboring structures are raised above surrounding grade. Researchers sought to investigate hydrologic impacts of the conjunctive use of permeable pavement systems with rain gardens when installed with the pavement layer raised above surrounding grade for flooding mitigation.

Summary

The team placed water level sensors in aggregate storage beds below pervious concrete test beds at two locations: a community garden (CG) site with a pervious concrete bed above surrounding grade and a site connected to a rain garden at Lamar University’s Shipping and Receiving (SR) area. The CG site also provided some detention capability draining through the daylighted sides. Future studies are needed for the design and stability of these above grade sides of the system. When connected to the rain garden, the SR site “drained” faster post storms until the level decreased below the 18 cm invert of the connecting pipe. The rain garden may afford additional evaporative capabilities not typical to stand-alone pervious concrete systems.

Principal Investigator

Liv Haselbach
Lamar University
[email protected]

Program Manager

Daniel Winkler
U.S. Department of Energy, Biological and Environmental Research (SC-33)
Urban Integrated Field Laboratories
[email protected]

Funding

Funding for the installation of the pervious concrete and rain garden at the SR site was previously provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Division, Healthy and Resilient Gulf 2021—Building Community Resilience Through the Reduction and Prevention of Nonpoint Source Pollution (EPA-GM-2021-NPS).

References

Haselbach, L., et al. "Efficacy of Underground Aggregate Infiltration Beds Under a Permeable Pavement System." Discover Water 4 117  (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43832-024-00175-w.