Laboratory study on the stormwater retention and runoff attenuation capacity of four permeable pavements

Abstract

Hydrological behavior of pervious pavements during rainfall events is a complex process that is affected by many factors such as surface type, nature of aggregates, layer thickness, rainfall height, rainfall intensity, and the preceding dry period. In order to determine the influence of construction materials on the runoff attenuation capacity of pervious pavements, 16 laboratory models were created with four different cross sections obtained by combining two pervious surfaces and two subbase aggregate materials. Successive rainfall simulations were applied over the laboratory models, measuring lag times, retained rainfalls, and times to peak, and peak outflows were registered for the simulated rainfalls. The results obtained were grouped depending on the materials used and statistically analyzed in order to compare their stormwater retention and runoff attenuation capacities. Both surface type and subbase aggregate characteristics were proven to influence the attenuation capacity of pervious pavements. While subbase aggregate materials highly influence the hydrological performance during the first rainfall simulations, the permeable surface affects the hydrological behavior during the final rainfall events and the retention capacity variation over time.