Structural and Design Aspects of Porous and Permeable Block Pavement
Date
2007
Authors
Beecham, S.
Myers, B.R.
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Journal of the Australian Ceramic Society, 2007; 43(1):74-81
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Pavements are an intrinsic, seldom-thought-about part of life, particularly in urban areas. However, for developers, industrial facilities, and local authorities addressing stormwater and associated water quality guidelines and regulations, pavements stay very much at the forefront of planning issues. This is because impervious surfaces such as pavements have a major impact on water quality and on the health of natural ecosystems. In response, Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) strategies, such as permeable and porous pavements, have been developed to reduce the environmental footprint of new growth. Porous and permeable pavements are becoming more prevalent as a stormwater management tool. For example, in NSW, Parramatta City Council is implementing deemed-to-comply development conditions for stormwater management, including consideration of porous and permeable pavements as a standard WSUD option. 'Porous' and 'permeable' paving are technologies that allow the ingress of stormwater. They provide an ability to infiltrate stormwater on site, or harvest stormwater for fit-for-purpose reuse using geomembrane sealed subsurface 'tanks'. Porous pavements are those that allow for the ingress of water through the structural material itself. Permeable pavements however refer to pavements constructed from conventional impervious materials designed with 'gaps' for water ingress. Research at the SA Water Centre for Water Science and Systems at the University of South Australia is underway investigating the reuse potential of water harvested using porous and permeable pavements. Design and construction of a carpark-sized test of the concept model is complete, and research is being undertaken on the water quality effects of the storage mechanism This investigation builds upon existing research within the centre which has studied the infiltration rate, structural properties, lifespan and physical filtration efficiency provided by permeable block paving. Another research program being developed at the University of South Australia will investigate the strength properties of porous concrete pavements. One of the major inhibiting factors on the use of porous pavement materials is the lower strength properties resulting from the porosity of the concrete. During 2006, a study was carried out on the laboratory development of new permeable pavement base course materials using recycled aggregates. The objective was to investigate the permeable pavement base course material and to develop new cement-treated materials that can carry higher traffic loads. Cement-treated permeable base courses consist of specially formulated mixtures of Portland cement, uniform open-graded coarse aggregate and water. The amount of cement to achieve the balance between high void space and adequate strength of material was extensively investigated to make sure that only sufficient cement to coat the aggregate was used. More than 20 mix designs were conducted and some preliminary results were obtained on both the strength and fluid transport properties of the concrete. As recycled aggregates have much higher water absorption ratios, tests were performed under both soaked and un-soaked aggregate conditions. In addition, the microstructure of the testing samples has been investigated using manning electron microscopy (SEM), an image analysis technique.
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