Experimental simulation of rapid clogging process of pervious concrete pavement caused by storm water runoff

ABSTRACT

Pervious concrete pavements have good drainage capabilities; however, storm water runoff during extreme events can cause the pores clogging in permeable pavement. This study aims to preliminarily reveal the mechanism of sediment clogging in the pores of the pervious concrete pavement under storm water runoff. An innovative continuous permeability measurement system combined with the electrical conductivity measurement is developed. Laboratory simulation tests are conducted with this system to demonstrate the effects of four factors on the permeability reduction. The tests indicate that the pore clogging process generally includes three phases, i.e. quick clogging, temporary mitigation of clogging and progressive clogging. The clogging is more prone to occur in specimens with large porosity. Meanwhile, the variation of electrical conductivity of pervious concrete can accurately reflect the clogging process of pervious concrete. A rapid clogging model has been developed and validated. Research results obtained are important in optimising the design and evaluation of pervious concrete pavement.

KEYWORDS:

• Pervious concrete pavement
• storm water runoff
• clogging
• permeability
• pore structure

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the National Program on Key Basic Research Project of China (973 Program) [grant number 2015CB058101]; the Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Shandong Province (No. JQ201416), the Natural Science Foundations of China [grant number 51,479,105], [grant number 51279094], [grant number 51308324], [grant number 51379115]; the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China (NCET-13-0340), the Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University [grant number 2014YQ013]; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant number 2014M561761] and the Natural Science Foundations of Shandong Province of China [grant number ZR2013EEQ025]