With the approval of an ordinance to the New Orleans city code back almost a year ago, pervious pavements are becoming the norm for new developments in the city and surrounding parishes, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Amanda Hult. The staff at the Concrete & Aggregates Association of Louisiana (CAAL) along with NRMCA’s Local Paving Team members Hult and Ken Justice have been working to educate and promote the use of pervious concrete as the solution to the ordinance.
“CAAL has met with owners, contractors and ready mix suppliers to ensure a properly designed, delivered and installed product. For the owners, CAAL has provided information on testing and maintenance of the installed pervious concrete. For the contractors and suppliers, CAAL has conducted two pervious contractor certification classes over the past year and have additional classes scheduled,” said Hult.
Pervious concrete on Union Street (seen here), one of several pervious concrete projects slated in New Orleans, was placed in December 2019. The city needed a way to slow stormwater runoff to stem overflow to the existing drainage system. The pervious concrete system consisted of a layer of pervious concrete in the 8 foot wide parking lane placed on an aggregate base with an embedded perforated pipe. The pipe would eventually connect to the existing drainage system. NRMCA and CAAL member LafargeHolcim provided the concrete for this project and Hard Rock Construction was the contractor.
Click here for more information on the Union Street project or contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association