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Transportation
There are a number of transportation scenarios that can make effective use of permeable paving
materials. The photographs above demonstrate the use of soil and grass-filled concrete blocks for
an emergency access cut-through in the median of Interstate 40 north of Wilmington, North
Carolina, as well as the successful use of interlocking concrete block pavers for sections of
the street that are designated as roadside parking.1
One residential subdivision in Waterford, Connecticut, made substantial use of
permeable pavers in developing their transportation infrastructure. More details
on this innovative community in the Jordan Cove Watershed can be found on the
low density residential permeable pavers page.
The subdivision, which incorporates a number of Best Management Practices (BMPs),
boasts a permeable, reduced-width access road from which permeable driveways extend.
This creative housing project also applied other Low Impact Development (LID)
practices to its roadways. For example, the access road, which is a cul-de-sac, was
not only constructed using permeable interlocking concrete pavers but was also
designed to encircle a bioretention area.2
Another type of permeable paver that has proven successful in transportation applications is
that of grass and soil-filled plastic cells. This type of paving provides the drainage and
natural beauty of grass, while still easily supporting light or infrequent traffic loads.
Manufacturers have even demonstrated the successful use of these systems in locations where
heavy vehicular loads are occasionally expected, such as for fire access lanes. The GEOBLOCK®
system was field tested in Michigan under less-than-ideal installation conditions for a
thirty-ton fire truck operating its ladder with a concentrated surface load of 51,000 pounds.
As a result of this test, the use of soil and grass-filled permeable pavers was approved for
fire access lanes in the City of Kentwood, Michigan.3
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Similar soil and grass-filled permeable pavers have been used in firelanes
throughout the country, such as the ones shown here at the Microsoft Campus
buildings in Redmond, Washington (left)4 and at the
Portland Trailblazers Basketball Facility in Tualatin, Oregon
(right).5 |
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