VDOT Porous Pavement Approved as BMP
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Recently, VDOT was notified of approval by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding the use of porous pavement as a storm water best management practice (BMP). VDOT and VAA have been working together for several years on the development of plans and specifications for porous pavements. The specifications include porous asphalt materials such as PAM-9.5 and PAM-19.0, construction/installation specifications, and typical plan sheets.
While several experimental porous pavements have been built on VDOT projects, this approval by DEQ opens the door for many more projects to use this BMP or be combined with other BMPs to address storm water run-off. The hydrologic evaluation and design must be performed to size the thickness of the aggregate storage reservoir; once known the porous pavement specifications can be used.
Over the next few months, VAA will work with VDOT to finalize the specifications for use on parking lots. They will be available on the VAA website. Also, VAA is working with a national project to develop pavement design standards for porous pavements on lower truck volume roadway facilities. Finally, various porous pavement research projects are being considered or are underway to better understand the structural and functional characteristic of these structures.
