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Progression of clogging in a permeable pavement parking lot
Citation:
OConnor, T. AND M. Borst. Progression of clogging in a permeable pavement parking lot. EWRI International Low Impact Development Conference 2020, Bethesda, Maryland, July 19 - 22, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
Stormwater control measures such as permeable pavements require periodic maintenance so that runoff continues to infiltrate into the ground. This current research indicates that clogging in the permeable pavement surfaces occurs predominantly in areas of concentrating flow of runoff. Targeting these areas of concentrating flow for more frequent maintenance may be a more cost effective to keep permeable surfaces infiltrating than waiting to clean the whole surface based on greater loss of infiltrating surface performance.
Description:
The EPA’s Office of Research and Development has monitored a permeable pavement demonstration site at the Edison Environmental Center, NJ since 2010. This site originally had three different permeable pavements including: permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP); pervious concrete; and porous asphalt. The permeable pavements are limited to parking spaces with adjacent impermeable-asphalt driving-lanes draining to the permeable surfaces. Previous infiltration testing of the original permeable surfaces from December 2009 through August 2012 indicated that clogging occurred from the upgradient edge of the permeable pavements adjacent to the driving lanes. Because of severe deterioration of the porous concrete parking spaces, it was replaced in July 2016 with a second PICP that had smaller gaps between pavers. Limited infiltration sampling of the second PICP had a slower infiltration rate than the original PICP but had a faster infiltration rate than the original PICP in place for more than a year and located along the upgradient edge. The results of the testing on the new PICP led a to new infiltration sampling effort beginning in April 2017. While the original infiltration sampling effort was based on a random sampling of the three pervious surfaces, the infiltration testing effort on the new PICP targeted the upgradient edge to predict and track the clogging progression. Infiltration testing sites for the new infiltration sampling effort were chosen based on a high-resolution survey (HRS) of the parking lot performed in December 2014. Initial results indicate that low lying areas identified by the HRS along the driving lane immediately upgradient to the new PICP concentrate surface runoff leading to accelerated clogging at these points.