Jorge Rodríguez Hernández

Design and construction of an experimental pervious paved parking area to harvest reusable rainwater

Pervious pavements are sustainable urban drainage systems already known as rainwater infiltration techniques which reduce runoff formation and diffuse pollution in cities. The present research is focused on the design and construction of an experimental parking area, composed of 45 pervious pavement parking bays. Every pervious pavement was experimentally designed to store rainwater and measure the levels of the stored water and its quality over time. Six different pervious surfaces are combined with four different geotextiles in order to test which materials respond better to the good quality of rainwater storage over time and under the specific weather conditions of the north of Spain. The aim of this research was to obtain a good performance of pervious pavements that offered simultaneously a positive urban service and helped to harvest rainwater with a good quality to be used for non potable demands.

The influence of paving-block shape on the infiltration capacity of permeable paving

This paper reports on an investigation into the effects of the shape of concrete paving blocks used in permeable pavements. It describes a series of hydraulic performance tests on blocks with different drainage slot geometries, in order to determine their influence on infiltration capacity. Paving samples were tested in a purpose-designed laboratory rig consisting of a variable-gradient testing frame, rain simulator and water-collecting chambers. The apparatus allowed for slope variations and two inputs of water: input runoff and direct rainfall over the surface. Four differently shaped slotted concrete blocks were tested under three different clogging states and four gradients. The results obtained lead to initial conclusions about the influence of block geometry on the hydraulic performance of paving which have implications for pavement design.