-
Apr 29, 2008 5:42 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Porous Concrete Combats Dreaded Potholes, Flooding
DURHAM, N.H. (WBZ) ―
It's raining, it's pouring, water is puddling and rolling across every paved surface around the University of New Hampshire campus. Every paved surface but one. Pummeled by the same rain that's ponding on the adjacent blacktop, Lot E on Williamson Road is almost bone dry.
"In the last 24 hours, we've had two inches of rain," said Robert Roseen of the UNH Storm water Center. "The pavements are washing rapidly. But this lot won't see any standing water."
That's because it's made of pervious concrete, a porous surface paving a thick layer of gravel and an even thicker layer of sand. Water drains from the surface instantaneously and filters through the soil. Typical storm water runoff on blacktop, on the other hand, picks up surface contaminants as it rushes into storm drains. It's the number one contaminant of coastal waters, Roseen points out.
UNH researchers installed the porous parking lot as an experiment. While the surface is more environmentally friendly than asphalt, there were questions about how it would weather the rigors of a New England winter.
The answer? "Very well," according to Roseen. "And this was a very hard winter on pavement."
The result? Almost every day, Roseen says he's fielding phone calls from municipalities and developers around New England, as they look for ways to ease flooding and comply with stricter groundwater regulations.
"It helps them build on an area with impaired waters nearby, and not have any negative impact on those waters."
The experimental lot has had an immediate impact on its surroundings. Roseen says the hillside around it used to flood in heavy rains, and that hasn't happened.
Pervious concrete costs more to install than asphalt, but it typically lasts twice as long.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)