Structural Performance of Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement under Heavy Traffic Loading

Abstract

Although permeable pavements are becoming increasingly common for stormwater management across the world, they are mostly used in parking lots, basic access streets, recreation areas, and landscaped areas, all of which carry very light, slow moving traffic. Very little research has been undertaken on the behavior of permeable interlocking concrete pavement as a surface and structure to support more heavy trucks. To understand how permeable interlocking concrete pavements (PICP) perform under heavy traffic loading, a research project was conducted at the University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) with funding from the interlocking concrete pavement industry. The results of this project were used to develop a mechanistic-empirical (M-E) design method for PICP. This method is based on mechanistic analysis and was partially validated with accelerated pavement testing (APT) results. This paper presents a summary of the structural performance of PICP under heavy traffic loading with a Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS). The results include the rutting performance of PICP sections with three different thicknesses of subbase layer (reservoir layer) under dry, wet, and drained conditions and with different load levels. The rut development with loading repetitions in the surface, base, and subgrade layers is discussed.