The Benefits of Permeable Pavement

Permeable pavements, let every raindrop to infiltrate

Managing stormwater in urban areas, roads, car parks, logistic areas, truck parks, private car garage roads, construction sites and service stations raises many challenges for engineers, landscape architects, and planners. As urbanization grow, the number of impervious surfaces—those that do not allow water to infiltrate into the ground—increases. Asphalt roads, concrete sidewalks, parking lots, building roofs, and areas of highly compacted soils are widely built. The stormwater runoff produced by these impermeable surfaces is often very polluted and can have negative effects on nearby surface waters. When waters do not infiltrate the soil, the stormwater management system, consisting of stormwater structures and pipes, quickly directs them to streams, rivers, and lakes. Such increases in stormwater runoff can have critical effects on lands receiving streams resulting in flooding, peak flows, groundwater or stream baseflow reductions and pollution.

One management solution is to reduce runoff by increasing infiltration through the use of permeable or pervious pavement. Water percolates through the pavement and infiltrates the soils locally, reducing runoff.