Green Infrastructure Design for Pavement Systems Subject to Rainfall–Runoff Loadings

Abstract

Impervious surfaces alter hydrology while affecting the chemical balance of water resources. Even though historical flooding remains an issue, chemistry, loads, and aesthetics are companion concerns. Recently, total maximum daily loads have spread across the United States. Additionally, Florida has promulgated no net load increases for runoff and constituents and now has numeric criteria for nutrients. As trends move toward low-impact development and green infrastructure, urban retrofit design practice entails hydrologic restoration, reuse, and source control. Site redesign can provide a means to manage hydrologic and constituent load, with no net increase for long-term loadings. The proposed design retrofitted an existing surface parking facility with a series of design elements. A biofiltration area reactor was lined with clay for management of the water table and denitrification. A linear infiltration reactor of cementitious permeable pavement provided infiltration and evaporation, filtration, and adsorption. Street sweeping provided source control. In addition, load credits have been established in Florida for nutrients recovered from street sweeping. Continuous simulations with climate and site data indicated that redesign could result in no load increase. Estimates demonstrated that the cost of redesign was comparable to conventional construction costs while incorporating a Florida-friendly landscape. Also, design options cost less per nutrient load treated than did conventional Florida best management practices.