Water Quality of Drainage from Permeable Friction Course
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
An overlay of porous asphalt known as permeable friction course (PFC) is an innovative roadway material that improves both driving conditions in wet weather and water quality. Placed in a layer 25–50 mm thick on top of regular impermeable pavement, PFC allows rainfall to drain within the porous layer rather than on top of the pavement. This paper presents water quality measurements for PFC and conventional pavement collected over six years near Austin, TX and two years in eastern North Carolina. The data show that concentrations of total suspended solids from PFC are more than 90% lower than from conventional pavement. Lower effluent concentrations are also observed for total amounts of phosphorus, copper, lead, and zinc. The combined data sets show that PFC’s benefits last through the design life of the pavement, that results in Texas are consistent with those from North Carolina, and that both are consistent with earlier studies from France, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The Texas research was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation under Project TXDOT0-5220. Special thanks are due to Gary Lantrip of TxDOT’s Austin Division for his interest in and enthusiasm for PFC. The assistance of Tina Stanard, Remi Candaele, Patrick Frasier, and Brandon Klenzendorf in collecting the Texas samples is greatly appreciated. The particle size distribution shown in Fig. 5 was measured by Robert Pitt and Noboru Togawa at the University of Alabama. The North Carolina research presented herein was made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, managed by Mr. Matthew Lauffer. Initial monitoring design was completed by Mr. Jason Wright, formerly with North Carolina State University (now Tetra Tech), and water quality samples were collected by Mr. Shawn Kennedy, currently with North Carolina State.
References
Aneja, V. P., Chauhan, J. P., and Walker, J. T. (2000). “Characterization of atmospheric ammonia emissions from swine waste storage and treatment lagoons.” J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 105(D9), 11535–11545.
Barrett, M. E. (2003). “Performance, cost, and maintenance requirements of Austin sand filters.” J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 129(3), 234–242.
Barrett, M. E. (2005). “Performance comparison of structural stormwater best management practices.” Water Environ. Res., 77(1), 78–86.
Barrett, M. E. (2008). “Effects of a permeable friction course on highway runoff.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 134(5), 646–651.
Barrett, M. E., Kearfott, P., and Malina, J. F. Jr. (2006). “Stormwater quality benefits of a porous friction course and its impact on pollutant removal by roadside shoulders.” Water Environ. Res., 78(11), 2177–2185.
Barrett, M. E., and Shaw, C. (2007). “Water quality benefits of a porous asphalt overlay.” Transportation Research Record 2025, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Bean, E. Z., Hunt, W. F., and Bidelspach, D. A. (2007). “Evaluation of four permeable pavement sites in eastern North Carolina for runoff reduction and water quality impacts.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 133(6), 583–592.
Berbee, R., Rijs, G., de Brouwer, R., and van Velzen, L. (1999). “Characterization and treatment of runoff from highways in The Netherlands paved with impervious and pervious asphalt.” Water Environ. Res., 71(2), 183–190.
Brattebo, B. O., and Booth, D. B. (2003). “Long-term stormwater quantity and quality performance of permeable pavement systems.” Water Res., 37(18), 4369–4376.
Capitol Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO). (2010). “TxDOT 5 county AADT counts maps 2005–2009.” 〈http://www.campotexas.org/programs_rd_traffic_counts.php〉 (Sep. 25, 2010).
Charbeneau, R. J., Klenzendorf, J. B., and Barrett, M. E. (2011). “Methodology for determining laboratory and in situ hydraulic conductivity of asphalt permeable friction course.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 137(1), 15–22.
Collins, K. A., Hunt, W. F., and Hathaway, J. M. (2010). “Side-by-side comparison of nitrogen species removal for four types of permeable pavement and standard asphalt in eastern North Carolina.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 15(6), 512–521.
Greenberg, A. E., Clesceri, L. S., and Eaton, A. D. (1992). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 18th Ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
Hunt, W. F., Smith, J. T., Jadlocki, S. J., Hathaway, J. M., and Eubanks, P. R. (2008). “Pollutant removal and peak flow mitigation by a bioretention cell in urban Charlotte, N.C.” J. Environ. Eng., 134(5), 403–408.
Karamalegos, A. M., Barrett, M. E., Lawler, D. F., and Malina, J. F. (2005). “Particle size distribution of highway runoff and modification through stormwater treatment.” Online Rep. 05-10, Univ. of Texas at Austin Center for Research in Water Resources, Austin, TX, 〈http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/reports/pdf/2005/rtp05-10.pdf〉 (Jan. 27, 2012).
Line, D. E., and Hunt, W. F. (2009). “Performance of a bioretention area and a level spreader-grass filter strip at two highway sites in North Carolina.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 135(2), 217–224.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). (2009). “Construction and maintenance practices for permeable friction courses.” Rep. 640, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
North Carolina Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT). (2006). Specifications book. Division 6: Asphalt pavements, Sections 610 and 650.
North Carolina Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT). (2008). “Johnston, Sampson, and Duplin county average daily traffic maps.” 〈http://www.ncdot.org/travel/statemapping/trafficvolumemaps〉 (Jan. 27, 2012).
Pagotto, C., Legret, M., and le Cloirec, P. (2000). “Comparison of the hydraulic behaviour and the quality of highway runoff water according to the type of pavement.” Water Res., 34(18), 4446–4454.
Passeport, E., and Hunt, W. F. (2009). “Asphalt parking lot runoff nutrient characterization for eight sites in North Carolina, USA.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 14(4), 352–361.
Passeport, E., Hunt, W. F., Line, D. E., Smith, R. A., and Brown, R. A. (2009). “Field study of the ability of two grassed bioretention cells to reduce storm-water runoff pollution.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 135(4), 505–510.
R Development Core Team. (2010). : A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. 〈http://www.R-project.org〉 (Jan. 27, 2012).
Roseen, R. M., et al. (2009). “Seasonal performance variations for storm-water management systems in cold climate conditions.” J. Environ. Eng., 135(3), 128–137.
Rosselot, K. S. (2006). “Copper released from brake lining wear in the San Francisco Bay Area. Process profiles, Calabasas, California.” 〈http://www.suscon.org/bpp/pdfs/BrakeSourcesReportFinal01-30-06a.pdf〉 (Jan. 27, 2012).
Stotz, G., and Krauth, K. (1994). “The pollution of effluents from pervious pavements of an experimental highway section: First results.” Sci. Total Environ., 146–147, 465–470.
Texas Dept. of Transportation (TxDOT). (2004). “Item 342 permeable friction course (PFC) standard specifications for construction and maintenance of highways, streets, bridges.” Austin, TX, 312–328.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (1983). “Methods of chemical analysis of water and waste.” EPA-600/4-79-020, Cincinnati.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • February 2012
Pages: 174 - 181
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2010
Accepted: Jul 29, 2011
Published online: Jul 30, 2011
Published in print: Feb 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.