Urban Runoff Mitigation by a Permeable Pavement System over Impermeable Soils
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15, Issue 6
Abstract
The respective runoff from a permeable pavement test site and an adjacent conventional asphalt road catchment in Auckland, New Zealand, was monitored concurrently between 2006 and 2008. Despite installation over relatively impermeable subgrade soils, and on an atypically high slope (6.0–7.4%) and active roadway, the overall hydrologic performance of the permeable pavement was exceptional. Measured discharge from the permeable pavement underdrain demonstrated peak flow (81 storms) comparable to or below modeled predevelopment conditions for most storms, regardless of antecedent conditions, including a 10-year, 24-h annual recurrence interval event. For large events (5% exceedance), underdrain discharge volume was comparable to predevelopment conditions, but it was substantially less than asphalt runoff for all events up to approximately 70% exceedance. The distributions of peak flow and volume were statistically different between the asphalt catchment runoff and the permeable pavement underdrain discharge (0.05 level of significance). Runoff coefficients ranged from 0.29–0.67 for underdrain discharge (10th–90th percentile events), and from 0.41–0.74 when permeable pavement comprises about one-half of an otherwise impervious catchment. Underdrain lag time and hydrograph duration were reminiscent of a vegetated area. Spearman correlation indicated influences of rainfall depth, intensity, and duration on runoff parameters from both catchments, while antecedent moisture condition was correlated to underdrain discharge lag time. Surface infiltration measurement at four permeable pavement sites revealed that surrounding land uses likely have more influence on pavement clogging than does traffic load. Permeable pavements should be given strong consideration as an low impact development source control, and can also mitigate conventional large design storm flows, but care must be taken during installation to ensure proper function.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the North Shore City Council, the Auckland Regional Council through the Storm Water Action Plan, Maunsell, Ltd. (now AECOM), and TechNZ. Viewpoints expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not reflect policy or otherwise of the funding agencies. Special thanks are extended to David Kettle and Steve Crossland for technical support, and Miriam Ortheil and Matthias Sindern for conducting the 2008 site survey. Emily Voyde contributed substantially to the formatting of the final paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15 • Issue 6 • June 2010
Pages: 475 - 485
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 12, 2009
Accepted: Feb 18, 2010
Published online: Mar 12, 2010
Published in print: Jun 2010
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