In Situ Permeability Determination Device for Porous Pavement Systems

Porous pavement systems allow for the percolation of rainwater through the system to the underlying subsoil, which results in reduced runoff and pollutant transport. Several devices have been proposed and/or developed to determine the infiltration rates of the porous pavement systems. However, most of the devices only provide the infiltration rate of the pavement system surface layer, or are destructive techniques such as pavement coring for laboratory testing. The objective of this study was to develop and test the efficacy of a new testing device, called the embedded ring infiltrometer kit (ERIK), for field determination of the in situ permeability of porous pavement systems. The ERIK device provides a means to measure the pavement system’s surface course percolation rate as a maintenance indicator and the entire pavement system to evaluate a recovery time throughout the service life. Performance evaluation of the ERIK device showed good reproducibility with a coefficient of variation equal to 7% and repeatability at a 95% confidence interval. The results suggested that the ERIK device is a viable option for field determination of in situ permeability of porous pavements.