Rainfall runoffmitigation by retrofitted permeable pavement in an urban area

Abstract

Permeable pavement is an effective low impact development (LID) practice that can play an important role in reducing rainfall runoffamount in urban areas. Permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) was retrofitted in a tremendously developed area of Seoul, Korea and the data was monitored to evaluate its effect on the hydrology and stormwater quality performance for four months. Rainfall runoffwas first absorbed by different layers of the PICP system and then contributed to the sewage system. This not only helps to reduce the runoffvolume, but also increase the time of concentration. In this experiment, different real rain events were observed and the field results were investigated to check the effectiveness of the PICP system for controlling the rainfall runoffin Songpa, Korea. From the analysis of data, results showed that the PCIP system was very effective in controlling rainfall runoff. Overall runoffreduction performance from the PCIP was found to be around 30-65% during various storm events. In addition, PICP significantly reduced peak flows in different storm events which is very helpful in reducing the chances of water-logging in an urbanized area. Research results also allow us to sum up that retrofitted PICP is a very effective approach for rainfall runoffmanagement in urban areas.