Measurement of Permeability and Comparison of Pavements

Abstract

Permeable pavements have the ability to reduce surface runoff by allowing water to infiltrate into the underlying soil. The potential of permeable pavements to assist in managing stormwater and improve water quality has gained attention as an option, other than conventional impermeable concrete for paving purposes. This study examined the permeability of three different pavement systems, including the JW Eco-technology pavement (JW), which has not previously been installed or studied in the U.S., standard impermeable concrete (IC), and pervious concrete (PC). Each pavement type was installed in triplicate. Devices based on the ASTM C1701/C1701M and ASTM C1781/C1781M constant-head methods, the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) falling-head permeameter, and two new square frames, SF-4 and SF-9, modified to fit the JW pavement, were utilized for permeability measurement on several locations of each pavement system. The results showed that the JW Eco-technology pavement had comparable permeability to the commonly used PC pavement in each method used. In addition, there was a strong correlation between the permeability measurements of NCAT method and SF-4, and between the ASTM standard and SF-9. The square frames used in this study showed their effectiveness and efficiency in performing permeability measurements. It was also found that the permeability obtained had a pronounced difference in values between the falling head and the constant head methods, with an average ratio ranging from 4.08–6.36.