Assessing maintenance techniques and in-situ pavement conditions to restore hydraulic function of permeable interlocking concrete pavements

Ian M Simpson; Ryan J Winston; R Andrew Tirpak

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112990

Assessing maintenance techniques and in-situ pavement conditions to restore hydraulic function of permeable interlocking concrete pavements

J Environ Manage. 2021 Sep 15:294:112990. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112990. Epub 2021 Jun 17.

Authors

Ian M Simpson¹, Ryan J Winston², R Andrew Tirpak³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 590 Woody Hayes Dr., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. Electronic address: simpson.725@osu.edu.
² Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 590 Woody Hayes Dr., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2070 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
³ Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 590 Woody Hayes Dr., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.

PMID: 34146932
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112990

Abstract

Permeable pavements are increasingly implemented to mitigate the negative hydrologic outcomes associated with impervious surfaces. However, the hydraulic function of permeable pavements is hindered by clogging in their joint openings, and systematic maintenance is needed to ensure hydraulic functionality throughout the design lifespan of these systems. To quantify the effectiveness of various maintenance measures, surface infiltration rates (SIRs) were measured before and after five different maintenance techniques were applied to five permeable interlocking concrete pavements (PICPs) in central Ohio, USA. Three maintenance techniques, the Municipal Cleaning Vehicle (MCV), the Rejuvenater, and a pressure washer and the Rejuvenater performed in series, significantly improved median SIRs from 16 to 26, 5 to 106, and 11 to 37 mm/min, respectively. However, pressure washing alone resulted in no significant difference to PICP SIR (median SIRs increased from 8 to 20 mm/min). Regenerative air street sweeping significantly worsened SIRs when performed during wet weather (median SIRs decreased from 19 to 4 mm/min) but had no significant impact on SIRs during dry weather (median SIRs decreased from 21 to 18 mm/min). This work captured the maintenance effectiveness of two techniques for the first or second time, namely the Rejuvenater and MCV, to investigate their use as a suitable maintenance technique. Further, the maintenance techniques were tested on multiple PICPs, thus the effect of in-situ pavement conditions had on hydraulic improvement via maintenance could be addressed. Differences in general upkeep, traffic, and runoff routed to a PICP affected the depth of clogging below the pavement surface, which forestalled hydraulic improvement. Though shown to improve the SIR of PICP systems, results indicate that the maintenance techniques were not capable of restoring pavement hydraulics to initial conditions. These results demonstrate the need for regular, routine maintenance and topping up of joint aggregate before clogging migrates deeper into the pavement profile.

Keywords: Clogging; Maintenance; Permeable pavement; Porous pavement; Restoration; Surface infiltration rate.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Hydrocarbons*
Hydrology
Ohio
Water Movements*

Substances

Hydrocarbons