Abstract
Pervious concrete pavement systems may have many environmental benefits including the mitigation of heat island impacts. This mitigation is a complex combination of pervious concrete‟s insulating capability and its ability to store water which may provide evaporative cooling. However, the introduction of water may also bring heat into the system, where the system is the pervious concrete pavement layer over an underground aggregate bed for retention and/or detention of stormwater. This study involved three different mix design placements in southern Brazil on a hot sunny summer day. The experiment had a control section and two test spots where controlled artificial rain events were introduced at two times during the afternoon for each of the three placement types. The „rain‟ initially brought heat from the surface into the pervious concrete layer. Subsequent evaporation cooled these interior pavement layers to levels similar to the control locations. This introduction of water into pervious concrete with very hot surface temperatures in the heat of the day is expected to be a severe condition for adding heat to the system through the flow of water. If water additions are made at different diurnal times, such as nighttime rain, they may provide similar evaporative benefits with less heat transfer into the system via the water phase, and thus even more cooling of the system. These experiments reinforce the conclusion that pervious concrete may be a cool pavement during summer conditions, even under extreme conditions when surface heated stormwater enters the system. Keywords: pervious concrete pavement, stormwater, heat island
Highlights
Pervious concrete is an alternative pavement that provides not just a structured surface for vehicular and pedestrian purposes, but it has many other benefits, notably its use for stormwater management and the added benefit that it may provide for mitigation of the urban heat island
These experiments reinforce the conclusion that pervious concrete may be a cool pavement during summer conditions, even under extreme conditions when surface heated stormwater enters the system
It has been shown that the porous nature of the permeable pavement layer can serve as an insulating layer, preventing additional heat transfer deeper under the pavement during hot summertime conditions [6], or in the colder months, restricting heat transfer out of the pavement resulting in shallower frost depths [7]
Summary
Pervious concrete is an alternative pavement that provides not just a structured surface for vehicular and pedestrian purposes, but it has many other benefits, notably its use for stormwater management and the added benefit that it may provide for mitigation of the urban heat island. The heat island effect occurs when manmade materials such as pavements and buildings store daytime heat, causing elevated temperatures in the urban area as compared to nearby natural areas [1]. The entire system may aid in mitigating the heat island effect with the porous aggregate storage bed under the pervious concrete layer serving as an insulating layer for the ground below, with the system behaving similar to more reflective traditional concrete [8, 9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
