Water sensitive urban design for sustainable road development

This article compares the performance of three permeable pavement materials: porous asphalt, pervious concrete and permeable interlocking concrete pavers that have been implemented on low volume residential road applications via a thorough literature review and an analysis of four case studies in the United States. The research was undertaken due to the common belief that permeable road surfaces are deficient in structural integrity due to their porous nature and therefore limiting their use to footpaths, driveways and car parks. Their reduced structural integrity is said to cause a reduction in their design life when compared to traditional surface options. Recent advancements in technology and mix designs have produced successful applications of all three pavement types to low volume road applications therefore dispelling these common beliefs. \n \nThis study is important as urbanisation is creating more runoff which needs to be sustainably handled and the current infrastructure and land space is already strained. Although the case studies analysed in this study are in their infancies, all three pavement types are wearing as designed. Porous asphalt, pervious concrete and permeable interlocking concrete pavers have each been successfully implemented on various projects and the current results show that each are feasible for low volume residential road applications. However it is difficult to nominate which pavement type is best for low volume residential road applications as each application and intended use will be unique. Early indications show that pervious concrete may be the most well rounded surface type in terms of costs, maintenance factors, availability of materials, water infiltration effectiveness and desired secondary benefits. This study also discovered that there are no common practices in terms of maintenance techniques and frequencies and recommends this as a further research area.