ASCE Metropolitan Section - Pervious Concrete Pavements

Pervious Concrete Pavements – A Storm Water Solution

On March 11, 2010, Gregory Novitzki of the New York Concrete Materials Association gave a presentation on "Pervious Concrete Pavements – A Storm Water Solution," describing what pervious concrete is and how it is produced and delivered. He began the presentation describing some of the many environmental benefits that pervious concrete pavement provides and how if used in parking lots it can give a designer trying to achieve LEED certification 3 points. Environmental benefits of pervious concrete pavements include:

reducing or eliminating runoff
treating pollutants
avoiding flooding
lowering the heat island effect
helping safety

Pervious concrete pavements should be used for light traffic areas and geotechnical engineers should be involved when utilizing pervious concrete design. The presentation included examples of pervious pavements in New York State and other cold weather environments; as for the freeze/thaw concerns, Mr. Novitzki believes that pervious concrete provides the water a place to go when snow melts, so when temperatures go down to freezing there is less ice on the pavement. Pervious concrete has been utilized a lot in areas of upstate New York where snow and freezing is unavoidable.