Drainage characteristics of porous asphalt block set-up

• Main Authors: Alquiros, Nathanael G., Ocampo, Rafael Luis A., Soto, John David O.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Pavements, Porous; Urbanization > Philippines; Asphalt concrete; Civil Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11306
• Institution: De La Salle University

Rapid urbanization greatly affects the natural rainfall drainage through infiltration. Areas of vegetation and such were replaced by impermeable pavements, thus the ability of the land to drain runoff is greatly reduced. The establishment of buildings, residential houses, roads, pathways, and such, results in a reduced area of permeable surface which promotes natural drainage during occurrences of rainfall. Also, the majority of the installed traditional drainage systems in some cities area already considered as inefficient due to wear and tear. The quality of these drainage systems cannot accommodate the amount of runoff that is being produced by strong rainfall intensities. Permeable pavement systems have been developed and promoted in some parts of the world to allow a larger and more efficient drainage system given the limitations of an urbanized area. This study investigates the drainage characteristic of a porous asphalt setup. The drainage rates per unit time were determined by using an improvised rainfall simulator. Using the theoretical concepts of infiltration and drainage, the infiltration rate of the porous asphalt setup along with the volume of water retained within the layers were also determined. It was observed throughout the study that the infiltration rate of the porous asphalt setup is greatly dependent on the characteristics of the wearing course and the sub-layer configuration. The porous asphalt setup was observed to be efficient since it can allow infiltration of water within a specific span of time until it reaches its asymptotic infiltration rate. The infiltrated water is then expelled out of the system within a reasonable duration.