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Pervious Pavements for Homeowners

Sustainable design isnt about doing something neat, its about doing something right.
Definition
An engineered stormwater facility that you can drive or walk on,
which preserves perviousness to decrease environmental impacts
of conventional impervious pavements.
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The Water Balance Model
Before
9.5 interflow
(infiltration)
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The Water Balance Model
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Types of Site Constraints
Water Quality: When ground or surface waters may be degraded
Water Quantity: When infiltrating water may cause a problem(for
pure pervious pavements, not really an issue, these can anywhere a
lawn is going)
Other
Infiltration & Water Quality
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Infiltration & Water Quality
Soil underneath properly installed pervious pavements is alive
because it hasnt been compacted and is open to the air and water
through the pores in the entire system.
Extent of water quality in raingardens is determined by retention
time (how long the runoff spends somewhere) in living soil.
As retention time (in soil) increases, water quality increases therefore:
Clay soils are poor infiltrators, but are great for water quality
Sandy soils are great infiltrators, but provide less water quality
treatment (Amend 24 of sandy soil with clay and compost to
reduce infiltration rate to 10in/hour or less.)
Water Quality Constraints
Not in areas of high bedrock
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Water Quality Constraints (cont.)
Not in areas of high groundwater
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Water Quality Constraints (cont.)
Dont use on
Slopes > 5% slopes
In swelling soils
Areas where contamination of groundwater could occur:
Septic fields
Where spills are likely
In contaminated soils (brownfields)
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Other Constraints
Must be hydraulically isolated. This means there shouldnt be runoff
coming fromanywhere else on to the pavement.
Where infiltration testing performed in the native subgrade is less than
0.1 in/hour. (Thats not a typo! Pervious pavements work in soils that
have at least 0.1 in /hour . Most of our clays test at 0.5 in/hour.)
Courtesy of Cahill Associates
Other Constraints
Should not be located in fill placed within the last 5 years. Fill has
been compacted and has the runoff characteristics of concrete. It will
not infiltrate.
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Uncompacted native subgrade
Uncompacted native subgrade
This is the natural soil on your property.
This is not fill, which is soil thats has been brought in from
somewhere and compacted.
Your contractor will probably want to compact the soil. DO NOT let
your contractor do this. Just assure your contractor that you went to
a presentation on pervious pavement and you learned that the
depth of rock has already been increased to provide the structural
stability needed to support the loads without compacting the
subgrade.
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Construction Considerations
Protect infiltration area from compaction throughout the
construction process. Excavate from the side.
Construction Considerations
Compacted soils can be loosened by turning the soil.
Runoff should not be coming from other places during construction
or afterwards.
For vehicular areas, an overflow of some sort should be provided for
large storms. Having excess rainfall come back up through the
pavement is not ideal and could compromise the stability of the
pavement.
Pavements should still be sloped at a minimum of 2% (1/4 drop per
horizontal foot) away from buildings in case they clog
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Pervious Pavement Surface Types
that can be installed by anyone
Homemade pavers Grass-crete
Flexible Pavements
(GrassPave )
Commercial pavers
Boardwalks/decks Wood chips
(pedestrian only)
Gravel
Pervious Pavement Surface Types
that should only be installed by a professional
Courtesy of MGH Associates
Asphalt Concrete
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Pervious Pavement Sections
Homemade pavers Grass-crete
Commercial pavers
Gravel
Pervious Pavement Sections
Courtesy of Fortis Construction
Flexible Pavements
(GrassPave )
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Pervious Pavement Sections
Courtesy of Fortis Construction
Flexible Pavements
(GrassPave )
This is what the
flexible pavement
looks like before you
add a pavement
surfsace (turf, gravel,
pavers). Good to
reduce excavation
needed to save trees
or provide structural
support for overflow
areas that need a
very high loading
performance (fire
trucks!)
Filter fabric for french drains
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Filter fabric for french drains
You can get this at home depot if you ask for it like this. Just make
sure that it allows water to pass through it.
Mirafi is a common manufacturer but there are lots of others.
Should be placed on sides, too.
Keeps the native soils from migrating up into your storage rock (aka
clean, washed uniformly graded aggregate)
Clean, washed uniformly graded aggregate
Aka rock or storage
aggregate
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Clean, washed uniformly graded aggregate
Extremely clean (so as not clog filter fabric): not just washed from the
quarry, but washed on-site if necessary
I mean it: NO DIRT, a little rock dust is OK
All the rock is the approximately the same size. This provides a 40%
void ratio (ratio of solid rock to voids). Gradation examples:
5/8 rock
1 1 rock
Its not synonymous with drain rock, which is also called three-
quarter minus or you might see it as -0
Pedestrian: pea gravel is OK, but not ideal. Crushed rock is best.
Vehicular: use crushed gravel only (never rounded rock like pea
gravel) because only angular rock locks together sufficiently to give
us the structural stability we need.
Clean, washed uniformly graded aggregate (cont.)
Depth of rock needed for structural stability in wet, uncompacted
clay:
Pedestrian only
Vehicular
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Clean, washed uniformly graded aggregate (cont.)
Installation
Wash it on-site if necessary
Lay it in 6 lifts (aka increments)
Compact it lightly by driving a truck over it, or by tamping (for
pedestrian applications) but NEVER with vibratory equipment.
Typical Pavement Section
Pedestrian only applications
Wood chip (mulch) path Gravel path
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Relative costs for Pervious Pavements
that can be installed by anyone
$-$$ Homemade
pavers
$$$ Grass-crete
$$$ Flexible Pavements
(GrassPave )
$$$ Commercial
pavers
$$ Boardwalks/
decks
$ Wood chips
(pedestrian only)
$ Gravel
$ Less expensive
$$ Moderate cost
$$$ Highest cost
Cost Comparison to
Conventional Impervious Pavements
Regardless of type, pervious pavement cost is offset by:
Infrastructure: typically needed for impervious pavements: pipes,
detention ponds, water quality facilities, catch basins, manholes,
and excavation
Value added amenity
Lower stormwater fees (Clean River Rewards)
Increased durability compared to impervious pavements
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Water Quality Comparison
between Impervious and Pervious Pavements
Impervious Pavements:
are dead.
turn rainfall to run off that
scours and concentrates
pollutants
Pervious Pavements:
are alive. Being open to the air,
microorganisms live in the
pavement section and eat
any pollutants that might end
up in the pervious pavement
areas..
allow rainfall to infiltrate where
it falls to be treated by the
microbes in the soil.
Water Quality Comparison
between Impervious and Pervious Pavements
Impervious Pavements:
increase runoff temperature as
it passes over the pavement,
which increases temperatures
of receiving streams
discourage healthy tree
growth by cutting off the flow
of air and water and through
accidental compaction during
their construction
Pervious Pavements:
Allows water to pass through
it, so theres not much
opportunity for it to heat up
and then they infiltrate water
so it has plenty of time to cool
as it passes through the
ground before it seeps out
again to become stream flow
encourage healthy tree
growth by allowing air and
moisture to get to the roots
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Water Quantity Comparison
between Impervious and Pervious Pavements
Impervious Pavements:
increase runoff volumes from pre-
developed conditions
degrade stream habitat. Increased
runoff volumes and lengthened
flows (caused by detention facilities)
scour stream banks.
increase the cycle of downstream
floods & upstream droughts by
piping runoff as quickly as possible
from the upstream to the
downstream
Pervious Pavements:
have no increased runoff
protect stream habitat by preserving
pre-developed runoff patterns so
volumes dont increase downstream
allow rainfall to infiltrate where it falls
to replenish groundwater.
Thank You!
Sustainable design isnt about doing something neat, its about doing something right.