Hydraulic design of pervious concrete highway shoulders

Abstract

Stormwater drainage has been a factor in roadway design for years. Now stormwater quantity and quality are also becoming regulated for roadways. As regulations of stormwater management continue to increase so does the need for more viable and effect management practices. The research presented and discussed in this thesis presents the option of using pervious concrete in highway shoulders as a best management practice for stormwater management. Research focused on the hydraulic response of pervious concrete pavements exposed to sheet flowing water. Pervious concrete samples were placed in a hydraulic flume to determine capture discharges, infiltration rates, and by-pass flowrates for a broad range of void contents, across a broad range of pavement cross slopes. The results demonstrate that the capture discharge and infiltration rates are inversely related to the cross slope of the pavement. Results also showed the infiltration rate of the permeable pavement exposed to sheet flowing water, in the model, is significantly lower than the measured infiltration rate. Pervious concrete samples were also tested to determine hydraulic response when exposed to clogging associated with sand used in roadway de-icing. The results of the clogging of the permeable pavements followed similar trends as the unclogged samples, with the only difference being a more significant reduction in infiltration rates at higher applications of sand. Preliminary discussion of a design methodology is included with a design example.