Contractors Embrace Porous Pavements for Sustainability

This article describes how contractors have begun switching to porous asphalt pavements as a solution for storm water management in four states: Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, and Minnesota. When properly designed and constructed, porous asphalt surfaces reduce peak stream flows, reduce the total volume of flow, reduce pollution, and recharge groundwater. Porous pavements allow water to pass through the surface into a stone recharge bed, which stores the storm water while it gradually infiltrates the soil below. Of the four states, Oregon and Minnesota have the most completed projects. The Port of Portland completed a 35-acre porous pavement project in 2006, and the Pringle Creek community in Salem, Oregon has proven that porous asphalt pavements can be used for subdivisions and stand up to heavy construction traffic. Twenty projects have been constructed in Minnesota and all have performed will in that state’s cold climate.