An Overview of Pervious Concrete Applications in Stormwater Management and Pavement Systems V.R. Schaefer1, M.T. Suleiman2, K. Wang3, J.T.

Kevern4 and P. Wiegand5

Abstract Recent interest in the use of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete (PCPC) for pavements has been very high, due primarily to the Federal Clean Water Act mandate that government agencies and private entities manage stormwater runoffboth quantity and quality. Such pavements are full depth and are currently being placed primarily in parking lot applications and areas of limited truck traffic. Pervious pavements provide a path for water movement from pavement surfaces and provide increased skid resistance. In addition, PCPC has great potential to reduce roadway noise, either in full-depth applications or as a wearing course. A PCPC mix design must meet the competing criteria of sufficient permeability to allow water to flow through the section while maintaining adequate strength and durability under site-specific loading and environmental conditions. To date, two key issues that have impeded the use of PCPC in the United States are that compressive strengths of PCPC have been lower than necessary for required applications and the freeze-thaw durability of PCPC has been suspect. In this paper a summary of recent research efforts on PCPC mix designs for cold weather applications, reduction of road noise, stormwater management and constructability issues is discussed. In addition, the efforts to develop a comprehensive and integrated study for full depth and wearing course applications under the auspices of the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center at Iowa State University are discussed. Introduction The Federal Clean Water Act mandate that government agencies and private entities manage stormwater runoffboth quantity and qualityhas driven recent interest in the use of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete (PCPC) use for pavements in the United States. This stormwater runoff interest in PCPC has been primarily in parking lot applications and areas of limited truck traffic. In such applications the pavements are full depth and provide a path for water to percolate through the pavement to an underlying base course or subgrade material, and ultimately to the underlying groundwater system or a collection system. The need to either store the water or to provide movement to a
Professor, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, vern@iastate.edu 2 Lecturer, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, suleiman@iastate.edu 3 Assistant Professor, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, kejinw@iastate.edu 4 Research Assistant, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, kevernj@iastate.edu 5 Engineer, National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, pwiegand@iastate.edu
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drainage and/or collection system necessitates a system approach to the design of the pavement system. Overseas, primarily in Europe and Japan, PCPC has been used in highway pavement applications to reduce noise and increase skid resistance. In such applications the PCPC is often a wearing course, a few inches in thickness. Whether used in a full-depth pavement or a wearing-course application, a PCPC mix design must meet the competing criteria of sufficient permeability to allow water to flow through the section while maintaining adequate strength and durability under site-specific loading and environmental conditions. Additionally, ancillary issues of system drainage and storage must be addressed. To date, two key issues that have impeded the use of PCPC in the United States are that compressive strengths of PCPC have been lower than necessary for required applications and the freeze-thaw durability of PCPC has been suspect. There is great interest in PCPC for use in pavement applications for both stormwater management and in highway applications such as noise reduction and skid resistance purposes. This paper provides an overview of PCPC applications for stormwater management and highway use. Recent research related to mix designs for cold weather applications is discussed and research needs and issues related to PCPC use for stormwater management, reduction of road noise, and constructability are touched upon. Increased use of PCPC pavements will provide benefits through improved stormwater quality and management, and quieter and safer roadways. At present, additional information is needed to allow designers to properly design full-depth and wearing course overlay PCPC pavement sections. Applications Pervious concrete pavement has been in use for several decades in various applications, ranging from minimizing runoff to improving irrigation to reducing roadway noise. PCPC has been used in parking lots, streets and local roads with minimal heavy truck traffic. A wide range of PCPC applications is summarized in Table 1. With 15-20% air voids, the pervious concrete pavement stays cooler and allows water to filter through to replenish the water table. Pervious concrete pavements also help to reduce flash floods by trapping storm-water runoff and help to improve water quality by filtering oil and chemical pollutants. PCPCs ability to retain storm-water also has positive effects on plant growth. By using pervious concrete, less land can be set aside for detention basins and irrigation requirements can be reduced. Numerous examples and pictures of applications to stormwater management are available in recent literature (Tennis et al. 2004, Ferguson 2005, and others) and through internet searches and are thus not shown herein. PCPC has widespread use in Europe and Japan for roadway applications as a surface course to improve skid resistance and reduce traffic noise (Beeldens 2001 and Kajio et al. 1998). The open-structure of pervious concrete pavement surfaces has three distinct advantages: the surface provides for reduced noise, reduced water spray, and enhanced skid resistance in wet conditions. Road noise from pavements has become an increasingly important issue in U.S. highway construction and the recent Concrete Pavement Roadmap identifies

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pervious concrete as a promising technology for developing safe, quiet and smooth concrete pavements (Ferragut et al. 2005). PCPC has been used as a surface layer on top of standard concrete pavement or as a fulldepth pavement layer (Beeldens et al. 2003 and Ferguson 2005). At the present time the focus in the U.S. is full-depth design for parking lots and low volume roads, while surface course designs are primarily used in Europe and Japan as a surface layer for roadways. Since PCPC does not necessarily behave like traditional PCC pavements, empirical designs have dominated construction practices (Tennis et al. 2004). When used as a surface layer on top of standard concrete pavement a 1.5 inch layer of PCPC placed using a wet-on-wet method produced a good bond between the PCPC and PCC and a durable pavement (Beeldens et al. 2003). The wet-on-wet method places a thin layer of fresh PCPC over a thicker layer of fresh normal concrete.

Table 1. PCPC Applications (after Tennis et al. 2004, Ferguson 2005 and others) PCPC Applications Low-volume pavements Residential roads, alleys, and driveways Sidewalks and pathways Parking lots Low water crossings Tennis courts Subbase for conventional concrete Foundations/floors for greenhouses, fish pavements hatcheries, aquatic centers, and zoos Artificial reefs Slope stabilization Well linings Tree grates in sidewalks Patios Hydraulic structures Pavement edge drains Groins and seawalls Noise barriers Walls (including load-bearing) Concrete overlays for highway pavements Curb and gutter Noise reduction Increased skid resistance Hydroplaning reduction

Noise Reduction. The open structure of the pervious pavement causes a difference in arrival time between direct and reflected sound waves as shown in Figure 1. This difference causes the noise level to have a lower intensity causing pervious pavements to absorb sound (Olek et al. 2003), which has drawn the interests of many researchers to create quiet pavements (Kajio et al. 1998; and Olek et al. 2003). Kajio et al. (1998) compared the noise levels produced from pervious concrete and dense asphalt pavements containing two different sizes of aggregate (i.e., 1/4-inch and -inch) at different vehicle speeds and showed that for both sizes of aggregate the noise was reduced using pervious concrete compared to asphalt. Small size aggregate generally produced a quieter response ranging from 3% to 10% lower noise level, with a maximum difference of 8 decibels (dB).

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(a)

(b)

Figure 1. Reflection of sound waves resulting from moving vehicles, (a) Wave reflection from a dense surface, (b) wave reflection from a porous surface (Olek et al. 2003) Olek et al. (2003) measured noise reduction levels of PCPC using the Tire-Pavement Test Apparatus (TPTA). PCPC was placed around a 12.1 feet diameter vertical drum. Once cured a stationary vehicle tire contacts with the rotating drum. The tire is outfitted with an array of microphones to determine the average noise value of the pavement. Three mixes of PCPC were tested against three mixes of Portland cement concrete. Two of the PCPC mixes were finished using a vibratory screed to smooth the surface and the other was allowed to have random surface aggregate orientation. Frequency was measured at speeds of 10, 20, and 30 mph with as similar trend in frequency for each speed. As the frequency increased the PCPC became quieter than the standard concrete pavement with a maximum of 5 decibels (dB) (Olek et al. 2003). Advantages of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete In stormwater management applications the key advantage that PCPC has is that of allowing surface water to easily flow through the pavement structure. The relative high permeability (often in the 100s of inches per hour) provides for almost complete percolation of surface water into the pavement, with little to no resulting runoff from the pavement surfaces. This ability to reduce peak runoff from storm events and reduction in storage detention basins are key uses driving the high interest in PCPC applications. The caveat in such applications is that the underlying base course and/or the subsurface soils must have sufficient permeability to handle the water flow through the pavement structure. Additionally, the filtering action of the pervious concrete provides some particulate and contaminate removal from stormwater. Other advantages are reduction of splash, prevention of ice formation on pavement surface, reduction of roadway noise, less absorption and storage of heatcooler pavements, and increased skid resistance. The surface characteristics of PCPC have great potential in highway applications, in both full depth and wearing course (overlay) applications. Challenges of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete While PCPC has seen tremendous growth in use recently, primarily in the southern United States, challenges remain. A number of failures have occurred in use of PCPC, thus presenting challenges to its use. Among the key challenges are strength and durability issues, maintenancemost importantly clogging, constructability issues,

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restrictions on heavy vehicles, and cost. Premature failures that affected the industry can often be linked to a substandard mix designthe mixes were deficient in the amount of cementitious materials in the mix. Additionally, the use of PCPC in northern climates was hindered by the lack of a viable freeze-thaw resistant mix design. Hence, overcoming these challenges necessitates rational approaches to development of design, construction, and maintenance strategies. Design. In the design area a systems approach is necessary in which the entire pavement section in considered as a whole. This is true whether one is considering full depth or wearing course applications. In Figure 2 is shown an idealized section of a PCPC system. The PCPC pavement layer is just one part of the entire system, albeit a very important part, and is discussed more fully later. Below the pavement layer is the reservoir system, which may have several pieces including filter layers at the top and bottom of the reservoir layer. The reservoir system may be sized to store and retain given design storm events or may simply act as a conduit for the water to flow to the underlying soils or to be move out through drainage pipes. Thus hydrologic considerations play a key role in the system design through the reservoir system, and are more fully developed in Tennis et al. (2004) and Ferguson (2005). The subgrade underlies the reservoir section, and may be separated by a geofabric layer. Not all of these layers/parts are present in most applications, but each serves a function in such an idealized section.

PCPC Layer Filter Layer Base Course Reservoir Filter Layer Filter Fabric Subsoil
Figure 2. Idealized cross section of a PCPC pavement section, NTS.

Proportioning of the mix design plays a key role in the success of any concrete pavement and PCPC is no different. Recently, the authors completed a study of mix designs primarily for freeze-thaw resistance (Schaefer et al. 2006), with preliminary results reported in Kevern et al. (2005) and additional results reported in companion papers to this conference, Wang et al. (2006) and Suleiman et al. (2006). The key findings of this work can be seen in Figure 3, which shows the relationship between 7-day compressive strength, void ratio and permeability of several trial mixes. From Figure 3 it can be seen that as the void ratio changes, strength and permeability change in an inverse relationship

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to one another. As shown by the dashed lines, void ratios between 15 and 20% provides a range in which the strength is above 3000 psi and the permeability remains several hundred inches per hour. Additionally, freeze-thaw test results on several trial mixes resulted in a mix design which is resistant to some 300, completely saturated, freeze-thaw cycles. Clearly additional work remains to be conducted on developing mix designs to be durable for a variety of conditions.

4000 7-day compressive strength (psi) 3500 3000 2500 2000

Strength(psi) = 4316-85*(Void Ratio) Permeability (in./hour) = 15.93 (Void Ratio) 0.1445

2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Strength Permeability

1500 1000 500 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Void ratio (%)

Figure 3. Relationship between strength, void ratio and permeability for several trial mixes of PCPC.

Construction. At the present time, the construction of PCPC systems remains quite labor intensive due to the viscous nature of the mixes. Past and present construction practices are discussed in more detail in the companion paper to this conference by Kevern et al. (2006). Construction practices are key emerging issues in the future use of PCPC in both full depth and wearing course applications. To become more cost effective and to allow large projects and highway applications to be constructed, mechanized placement and finishing will be required. Several manufacturers are working to develop such machinery. For overlay applications two lift paving machinery holds great promise. Maintenance. The overriding maintenance issue in PCPC pavements is that of clogging. There has been much discussion and concern about the clogging of pervious concrete pavement sections, with much of it conflicting. Reports abound of clogged pavements that do not allow water to pass. At the same time there are reports of pervious pavements along the beaches of Florida which are unaffected by the abundant sand washed onto the surfaces. Due to the high permeability of PCPC, much small sized material will pass through the concrete section. The clogging and unclogging of PCPC

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Permeability (in./hour)

sections needs further study. In northern climates, consideration of potential damage to the concrete surface due to snow removal operations may be of concern. Comprehensive and Integrated Study of Pervious Concrete The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center at Iowa State University is currently developing a research program aimed at developing PCPC mix designs for both full depth sections and wearing course sections in pavement applications. There is considerable overlap in the information needed for both full-depth and wearing course sections; however, there will be some information specific to each also. For the full depth sections strength, durability, and environmental issues will be of paramount importance and for the wearing course sections the issues of noise and skid resistance will predominate (assuming adequate strength and water movement capacities). The constructability issues may also be different for the two sections. At present the construction of full depth sections is quite labor intensive. It is of paramount importance for the research to determine techniques for construction that utilizes existing pavement equipment. The use of PCPC as a wearing course entails construction of a concrete overlay in rehabilitation efforts. In new construction two-lift construction is a possibility. Thus a two-track research program is envisioned, one track focused on full-depth sections and one track on wearing course sections. Where possible information will be interchanged between the two tracks; for example, mix design strength and permeability requirements for the two applications will be similar. A comprehensive study will require many partners to study the many facets of PCPC pavements. Common to Both Tracks. Studies on mix designs providing adequate strength, void ratio, permeability, durability and constructability will be common to both full-depth pavement sections and wearing-course sections. Such studies need to consider various aggregate types and mix proportions used across the United States and determine the basic requirements for aggregate quality, aggregate gradation, concrete and admixture proportions to produce the proper strength, porosity, permeability and freeze-thaw resistance of PCPC. Recent studies at Iowa State University have indicated that compaction methods can have significant effects on the resulting properties of PCPC, see the companion paper to this conference by Suleiman et al. (2006). Full Depth Pavement Track. In addition to mix design considerations, placement techniques and design thicknesses for various applications will need to be studied and developed. At the present time the placement of PCPC in parking lot applications is particularly labor intensive. To see expanded use, improved construction techniques that reduce labor and/or make use of existing or new construction machinery will need to be developed. Design thickness requirements for parking lot applications under various conditions and for highway applications will need to be evaluated and determined. Expected outcomes are energy requirements for proper PCPC and the relationship between compaction and porosity, strength, and permeability, recommended site compaction and construction methods, recommended PCPC thickness designs for fulldepth pavement sections, the effect of clogging on PCPC properties, and construction techniques that utilize existing equipment.

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Much of the mix design efforts will be in laboratory trials. Field trial sections will need to be constructed to evaluate in-place PCPC properties and the effects of construction methods on the in-place properties. Expected outcomes will be correlations between field concrete properties and laboratory test results, evaluation of the durability of PCPC under various environmental conditions in field use, the effectiveness of maintenance on performance (particularly permeability), and the effectiveness of PCPC with respect to noise and skid resistance. Particular to the full-depth track for parking lot and similar applications is the evaluation of drainage, water quality and freeze-thaw resistance of PCPC pavement systems. Investigation and evaluation of the water purification abilities of PCPC systems, including the pavement section, the base and the subgrade, will be necessary in both laboratory and field trials. The effectiveness of various drainage systems with PCPC in laboratory trials using scaled models and in field trials will be necessary. Expected outcomes include the minimum porosity and permeability required for the base and subgrade layers to provide sufficient drainage for given design storms, the effectiveness of PCPC systems in water purification, optimum system design for the PCPC system to achieve multiple objectives, and an understanding of the behavior of PCPC systems in frozen conditions. Wearing Course Pavement Track. Key issues related to overlay and wearing course sections is evaluation of noise and skid resistance in the laboratory and the field; determination and evaluation of wearing course thickness design, constructability, and longevity; and field trials of promising sections. A recent study at Purdue University (Olek et al. 2003) has shown that PCPC (termed enhanced porosity concrete in the Purdue University study) can reduce tire-pavement interaction noise. Tests conducted in Purdue Universitys Tire-Pavement Test Apparatus (TPTA) showed reduced noise levels above 1000 Hz and some increase in noise levels below 1000 Hz. The increased porosity of PCPC increased mechanical excitation and interaction between the tire and pavement at frequencies below about 1000 Hz and at frequencies above about 1000 Hz, the air pumping mechanics that dominate at such frequencies are relieved by the increased porosity leading to decreased high frequency noise levels. Several PCPC pavements have been constructed in Europe and PCPC has been shown to be promising in reducing tire-pavement noise and wet weather spray (Descornet et al. 1993; Gerharz 1999). Expected outcomes of studies on noise and skid resistance include the minimum porosity and permeability required for surface characteristic enhancement, the effectiveness of PCPC systems in noise and skid resistance, PCPC mix designs for optimal surface characteristic properties, correlations between laboratory concrete properties and surface characteristic measures, evaluation of clogging and its effect on surface characteristic performance. Investigation and evaluation of the necessary thickness and construction methods needed to provide sufficient strength and environmental properties for use of PCPC as an overlay wearing course or constructed as a two-lift concrete will be needed. Overlay applications will require evaluation of the bonding between overlay PCPC and underlying concrete

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and appropriate methods of water removal for overlayed PCPC layers. Expected outcomes will be design thickness requirements for PCPC wearing course layers, drainage requirements for PCPC wearing course layers, and recommended construction methods for PCPC wearing course overlays or two-lift construction. Such recommendations will need to be studied and evaluated in field trial sections that examine the surface characteristics, the constructability, and the structural and environmental performance of in-place PCPC pavement sections. Summary A review has been provided of recent interest in the use of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete (PCPC) for pavements for stormwater management and wearing course applications. The advantages of PCPC in such applications have been discussed and the challenges facing PCPC use from design, constructability and maintenance points of view have been elaborated upon. Results of recent work at Iowa State University in mix design development and related freeze-thaw durability was reviewed. Finally, a research program aimed at a comprehensive and integrated study of the factors affecting the use of PCPC in full-depth and wearing course applications was outlined and discussed. References Beeldens, A,. Van Gemert, D., and Caestecker, C. (2003). Porous Concrete: Laboratory Versus Field Experience. Proceedings 9th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Istanbul, Turkey. Beeldens, A. (2001). Behavior of Porous PCC Under Freeze-Thaw Cycling. The Tenth International Congress on Polymers in Concrete, Honolulu. Ferragut, T.R., Harrington, D. and Brink, M. (2005). Long-term Plan for Concrete Pavement Research and TechnologyThe Concrete Pavement Road Map: Volume I, Background and Summary. Office of Infrastructure Research and Development, Federal Highway Administration, Report No. FHWA-HRT-05-052, September, 119 pp. Descornet, G., Fuchs, F. and Buys, R. (1993). Noise reducing concrete pavements. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Concrete Pavements and Rehabilitation, Purdue University, Vol. 2, pp. 93-98. Gerharz, B. (1999). Pavements on the base of polymer-modiifed drainage concrete. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physiochemical and Engineering Aspects, Vol. 152, pp. 205-209. Ferguson, B. K. (2005). Porous Pavements. Taylor and Francis Group. New York. New York. Olek, J., Weiss, W.J., Neithalath, N., Marolf, A., Sell, E. and Thornton, W.D. (2003). Development of quiet and durable porous Portland cement concrete paving materials. Final Report SQDH 2003-5, Purdue University, September, 172 pp. Kajio, S., Tanaka, S., Tomita, R., Noda, E., and Hashimoto, S. (1998). Properties of Porous Concrete with High Strength. Proceedings 8th International Symposium on Concrete Roads, Lisbon, pp. 171-177.

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Kevern, J., Wang, K., Suleiman, M.T. and Schaefer, V.R. (2005). Mix design development for pervious concrete in cold weather climates. Proceedings of the 2005 Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium, Ames, Iowa, August, on CD-Rom. Kevern, J., Wang, K., Suleiman, M. T., and Schaefer, V. R. (2006). Pervious Concrete Construction: Methods and Quality Control. Submitted to Concrete Technology Forum-Focus on Pervious Concrete, National Ready Mix Concrete Association, Nashville, TN, May 23-25. Schaefer, V.R., Wang, K., Kevern, J., Suleiman, M.T. (2006). Mix Design Development for Pervious Concrete In Cold Weather Climates. Research Report, Center for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Suleiman, M. T., Kevern, J., Schaefer, V. R., and Wang, K. (2006). Effect of Compaction Energy on Pervious Concrete Properties. Submitted to Concrete Technology Forum-Focus on Pervious Concrete, National Ready Mix Concrete Association, Nashville, TN, May 23-25. Tennis, P.D., Leming, M.L., and Akers, D.J. (2004). Pervious Concrete Pavements, Special Publication by the Portland Cement Association and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Wang, K., Schaefer, V. R., Kevern, J., and Suleiman, M. T. (2006). Development of Mix Proportion for Functional and Durable Pervious Concrete. Submitted to Concrete Technology Forum-Focus on Pervious Concrete, National Ready Mix Concrete Association, Nashville, TN, May 23-25.

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