Sustainable Mitigation of Stormwater Runoff through Fully Permeable Pavement

Sustainability and cost effectiveness in infrastructure development have received significant attention in recent times. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is interested in the development of fully permeable pavement designs for use in areas that carry heavy truck traffic, as a potential stormwater best management practice (BMP) to provide low-impact infrastructure and efficient system operation. Fully permeable pavement is a contemporary design approach in which each layer of the pavement is permeable and stores water, thereby avoiding the adverse effects of stormwater on receiving waters. An innovative design methodology was developed based on a mechanistic-empirical design approach by the University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC). To validate and calibrate the newly developed design method, two test sections comprised of porous asphalt and pervious concrete pavement were constructed at California State University, Long Beach. Test sections showed reliable performance in terms of pavement distresses after 15 months of traffic. The collected data from the strain gages and pressure cells revealed that the asphalt section has experienced more stress and strain in comparison to the concrete section. The collected data will be used to validate and calibrate the pavement structural design procedure.

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