Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is an important material in construction. The main properties desired in concrete are that it
should have high strength, low permeability and good workability etc. Raising population coupled with
urbanization has resulted in unprecedented problems in our cities. The major one that effect most of cities is
water scarcity. Due to urbanization, large area is being converted from bare land to covered for the construction
of buildings, roads, parking areas etc. This is compounded by unmindful paving of roads, platforms and areas
around the buildings by impermeable pavements, which results in run-off which occurs more quickly with
greater peak flow which causes flooding, choking of sewerage line because drainage systems are generally not
designed for such condition. Frequent flooding results in high maintenance cost of infrastructure. Though strict
rainwater harvesting measures have been implemented by a few Governments, these measures have some
drawbacks. So there is need to have concrete with more porosity having adequate strength so that lesser runoff is
generated from areas paved with concrete.
The latest in runoff control is pervious concrete, though its earliest application dates back to 1852
(Tennis et al 2005). Pervious concrete is also known as permeable concrete, porous concrete, gap grade concrete
and no fines concrete. The compressive, tensile and flexural strength of pervious concrete tend to be lower than
conventional concrete due to the high void ratio and lack of fine aggregate. Pervious concrete has 15-25 % void
structure, allowing for 120-130 litres of water per minute to pass through each square, with typical flow rate of
3.4 mm/s(200 L / m2 / min) or more. This flow rate is greater than generated during any rain event, allowing
water to flow through it. Depending upon the void content, compressive strength of 3.5 to 28 MPa and flexural
strength of 1 to 3.8 MPa have reportedly been obtained (Anonymous 2006). Pervious concrete is a concrete
mixture comprised of cement (Ordinary Portland cement or blended cement), controlled amounts of water,
uniformly graded coarse aggregate, little or no sand and sometimes other additives. The aggregates for pervious
concrete need to be of sound quality, free from clay or dust. The uniform coarse aggregate in combination with
low water cement ratio (0.25 to 0.35) makes concrete with void contents ranging from 11% to 35% (Putman and
Neptune, 2011).This type of concrete is also referred to as porous concrete, permeable concrete, no-fines
concrete, gap graded concrete and enhanced porosity concrete. (Aggarwal________). Although not a new
technology, pervious concrete is receiving renewed interest in the USA, partly because of Federal Clean Water
Legislation. (Obla 2010)
Pervious concrete pavement is a unique and effective means to address important environmental issues
and support green, sustanaible growth.For pervious concrete pavement, permeability of 120 to 320 l/m2/min had
been reported (Anonymous 2006). This allows for high water and air permeability. The quantity of water in such
concrete is critical as too much water in the mix causes the pores to collapse. Therefore, the water content in

such concrete needs to be controlled. The use of supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash, ground
granulated blast furnace slag, calcined clay, pozzolana etc. is also found advantageous. Further depending on
requirement, chemical admixtures like retarders, air entraining agents may also be used to achieve the desired
result. It has been observed that the compressive, tensile, and flexural strength of pervious concrete mixtures
tend to be lower than conventional concrete due to the high void ratio and lack of fine aggregate. The advantages
of pervious concrete pavements is that it reduces (or even zero) peak storm water discharges from paved areas
and helps to mitigate flooding and at the same time increases ground water recharge, and tree growth (Chusid
and Paris 2006 and Chusid and Miller 2008) . Thus, when pervious concrete pavements are used, storm water
percolates into the ground beneath, recharging the natural water table instead of running off and causing erosion
(Subramanian 2008).
Low drying shrinkage and thermal conductivity are other beneficial properties of the pervious concrete.
The low level of drying shrinkage can be attributed mainly to lower paste content in the mix. The property of
low thermal conductivity could be fruitfully exploited for thermal insulation in building.

For pavement

application, concrete can be placed either with slip form or fixed form paver. With the use of pervious concrete,
property owners can reduce the cost of developing real estate as reduced runoff from built-up and paved areas
minimize the need for separate storm water sewers.
The high permeability of pervious concrete creates the ability to significantly reduce storm water runoff;
therefore, it had been considered as one of the best option for storm water Best Management Practice (BMP).
Pervious structure allows both water and air to percolate through the matrix into the subsoil beneath. Because of
the interconnected pores, pervious concrete not only reduces runoff, but also performs the role of a filter for the
degradation and entrapment of contaminants (e.g. oils and debris) on and within the pervious concrete structure.
The size of these pores is affected by the gradation of aggregate, type of the aggregate in the mix and the
quantity of water-to-cement and the level of compaction. More recently, pervious concrete has the potential of
being certified for construction projects by the US Green Building rating agency Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design because of its environmental benefits. Urban areas tend to enclose large areas of
impervious pavements, which add to the level of heat. The concentrated heat wave can be reduced by the open
structure of pervious concrete that allows air to flow through it. This had been exhibited in limited studies of
pervious concrete pavement applications. Among other stipulations the municipalities are required to develop
and implement strategies which include a combination of structural and/ or non-structural best Best Management
Practices (BMPs). Pervious concrete pavements is recoganised as a Structural Infilteration BMP by EPA for
providing first flush pollution control and storm water management.
Footpath or walkways in some of the Indian metropolis and other big cities are usually paved with kota
stone, interlocking tiles/blocks or simply blacktopped. These are similar as pervious concrete pavements. Such
pavements can not only help in replenishing the ground water table locally but would also transfer both water

and air to root systems allowing trees to flourish. A saving of 20% in cement and 30% in aggregates had been
reported using pervious concrete (Anonymous 2006). Pervious concrete pavements qualifies for LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs) credits and is therefore sought by owners desiring high
LEED certification. Pervious concrete can be successfully used in India in applications such as parking lots,
driveways, gullies/sidewalks, road platforms etc. over next 20 years there is expected to be a significant amount
of housing construction in India. The roads around the apartments/homes and the surfacing inside the compound
can be made with pervious concrete. Another significant advantage in India as compared to Western countries is
the significantly lower cost of labor. Much of the pervious construction is manual and can be done without heavy
equipment and therefore pervious concrete can be placed at the lower cost even in rural areas.
From above it is clear that pervious concrete is a simple technology and needs a serious consideration
from the engineers and architects for a variety of application like parking areas and pedestrian walkways etc. In
future with increased urbanization, diminishing ground water levels and focus on sustainability, technologies
such as pervious concrete are likely to become even more popular in India as well as other countries.

The runoff coefficient from an impervious area is more as compared to agricultural or bare land.
As such the runoff has increase many fold from such urban areas. In addition the runoff is available
immediately from these area and give higher problem. So the urban discharge system generally fails to
cope with increase runoff and higher discharge. As the result, there is flood in of the roads and other areas
in the cities during even small rainfall. Due to this , there is lot of inconvenience to the people lives in
these area. The frequent flooding result in high maintenance cost of urban infrastructure particularly
roads. The maintenance cost of transport system also increase due to frequent flooding. This problem can
be tackled if our urban discharge system is properly designed and the runoff coefficient of the urban area
can be decreased. Pervious concrete is one of the possible material for the decreasing runoff coefficient.
Pervious concrete is the material which have high pores in it and have higher value of coefficient of
permeability. Due to its property, the water flowing over it infiltrate to the subgrade soil.

REFERENCES:
Aggarwal S (.). Pervious concrete pavement for sustainable development. Journal of Engineering
Science and Management : 113-121.
Chusid M and Paris N (2006). Decorative applications for pervious concrete. Pervious Concrete Dcor
Vol. 5, No. 6, pp 3.
Chusid M and Miller H S (2008). Controlling run-off beautifully. CE News, Vol. 20, No. 6. Pp 33-35.
Obla K (2010). Pervious concrete- An overview. The Indian Concrete Journal : 9-18.
Subramanian S (2008). Pervious concrete- A Green material that helps reduce water run-off and pollution.
The Indian Concrete Journal. Pg 16-33.
Tennis P D, Leming M L and Akers D J (2005). Pervious concrete pavements, EB 302, Portland Cement
Association, Skokie, IL and NRMCA, Silver Spring, MD, pp. 36.