Proper Design & Construction of PICP

Off-Road Benefits of Permeable Pavements

Life-cycle costing can be used to benchmark pavement type options such as permeable and conventional pavements to determine which is the most cost effective.  Traditionally when performing a life-cycle cost analysis between permeable and conventional pavements, only the standard capital costs for initial construction and maintenance and rehabilitation costs for each pavement types are considered. However, to truly evaluate compare permeable and convention, the analysis should take into account the benefits associated with permeable pavements such as a reducing stormwater runoff volume (and facilities), reducing stormwater runoff peak flows, reducing surface ponding, reducing stormwater pollutant load, decreased downstream erosion and increase groundwater recharge, etc. This presentation describes the development of a comprehensive tool to determine both the pavement and off pavement benefits of permeable pavements.

In the Spring of 2018, the American Society of Civil Engineers published a standard guideline for the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement (PICP).  This standard is the culmination of over 4 years of work by the PICP Standards Committee consisting of 28 pavement and stormwater professionals. The standard captures best practices for the design, construction and maintenance of permeable pavements.  It includes a world’s first mechanistic-empirical pavement structural design system based on accelerated load testing of full scale permeable pavement constructed at the University of California Davis Pavement Research Center.  This presentation provides and overview of the standard and highlights lessons learned and best practices for PICP including project suitability, structural and hydrologic analysis, key design considerations, water quality benefits, construction steps, maintenance guidelines and guide specifications.

David Hein is a Principal Engineer and Vice-President of Transportation of Applied Research Associates, Inc in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Hein has extensive experience with the design, evaluation and management of permeable pavements. He is chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) committee that developed a standard for the design, construction and maintenance of permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP). He has developed design, life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) comparison methods for permeable pavements including both roadway costs and off-road benefits such as the reduction of stormwater facilities and wastewater treatment plant operating costs as well as water quality improvement. He is also the designer of the Permeable Design Pro software application for the structural and hydrological design of PICP.