Pervious Pavement Design

Design | Hydrological | Structural

Two factors determine the design thickness of pervious pavements: the hydraulic properties, such as permeability and volume of voids, and the mechanical properties, such as strength and stiffness. Pervious concrete used in pavement systems must be designed to support the intended traffic load and contribute positively to the site-specific stormwater management strategy. The designer selects the appropriate material properties, the appropriate pavement thickness, and other characteristics needed to meet the hydrological requirements and anticipated traffic loads simultaneously. Separate analyses are required for both the hydraulic and the structural requirements, and the larger of the two values for pavement thickness will determine the final design thickness.

Specification Guidance

Recommendations and specifications for pervious concrete pavement have been prepared by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 522. ACI 522R-10: Report on Pervious Concrete provides technical information on pervious concrete’s application, design methods, materials, properties, mixture proportioning, construction methods, testing, and inspection. ACI 522.1-13: Specification for Pervious Concrete Pavement covers materials, preparation, forming, placing, finishing, jointing, curing and quality control of pervious concrete pavement. Provisions governing testing, evaluation and acceptance of pervious concrete pavement are included. Both ACI 522R-10 and ACI522.1-13 are available through the American Concrete Institue at www.concrete.org

Hydrological Design of Pervious Concrete: a description of the fundamental hydrologic behavior of pervious concrete pavement systems and a demonstration of the basic design methodologies appropriate for a variety of sites and circumstances. The limitations of these methodologies will also be briefly discussed.