Comparison of Permeability and Clogging Characteristics of

Porous Asphalt and Pervious Concrete Pavement Materials

by
T. F. Fwa1, Emiko Lim2 and K. H. Tan1
1

Professor and 2Research Engineer

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

National University of Singapore
10 Kent Ridge Crescent
SINGAPORE 119260

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Professor T. F. Fwa
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
National University of Singapore
10 Kent Ridge Crescent
SINGAPORE 119260
Email: ceefwatf@nus.edu.sg

Revised
October 2014

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Comparison of Permeability and Clogging Characteristics of

Porous Asphalt and Pervious Concrete Pavement Materials
Fwa T. F., Emiko Lim and K. H. Tan
ABSTRACT
Porous pavements have been used for many years worldwide because of their unique
functional benefits, including improved wet-weather driving safety, reduced tire-pavement
noise, lower peak flow load of road drainage system, and replenishing of groundwater
supplies. These benefits are derived from the relatively high porosity and permeability of the
porous pavement layers. In the design of a porous pavement, two of the key considerations
are its drainage capacity and its ability to retain the drainage capacity during its service life.
In this research, using permeability coefficient as the drainage capacity parameter, a
laboratory study was performed to examine the drainage and clogging characteristics of two
common forms of porous materials used in porous pavement construction, namely porous
asphalt and pervious concrete. The experimental program considered four target porosity
levels for each of the two pavement materials: 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. Clogging was
created by introducing clogging materials progressively into the porous materials tested. A
constant-head test was employed to determine the permeability coefficients of the porous
materials at different stages of the clogging test, and the clogging performance was
determined by monitoring the reductions in permeability coefficient as clogging developed. It
was found that, for both porous asphalt and pervious concrete, there were significant gains
in permeability and clogging resistance when the porosity was raised beyond 20%. The test
results also showed that, at any given level of porosity within the range of porosity levels
studied, pervious concrete produced higher permeability and better clogging resistance than
porous asphalt.

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INTRODUCTION

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METHODOLOGY OF STUDY

Porous pavements have been used for many years worldwide because of their unique
functional benefits compared with conventional asphalt and concrete pavements (1-7). The
benefits of using porous concrete pavement are manifold. By allowing surface runoff to
drain into the pavement structure, porous pavements are able to maintain high skid
resistance and reduce hydroplaning risk, thus improving wet-weather driving safety. In
addition, there is a marked decrease in splash and spray, reduction in headlight reflection
and better visibility of pavement markings, especially at night. Porous pavements are also
found beneficial in controlling storm water runoff, replenishing groundwater supplies and
reducing water and soil pollution (8-10).
The above-mentioned benefits of porous pavements are derived from the relatively high
porosity and permeability of the pavement materials. While it is important to design a porous
pavement with a high level of porosity and permeability to start with, it is equally important to
ensure that the pores are not easily clogged up during its service so that a sufficiently high
level of permeability can be maintained throughout the service life of the pavement. Thus, in
the evaluation of a porous pavement material, it is relevant to determine its initial
permeability as well as the ability of the material to resist the loss of permeability caused by
clogging.
In practice, the following two common forms of pavement materials have been used to
construct porous pavements: porous asphalt and pervious concrete. Since the type of
binder as well as the mix design principle and concept used in producing the two forms of
mixture are not the same, it is likely that their permeability characteristics and clogging
behaviors would also be different. A porous material that is easily clogged up by dust and
debris is not suitable for porous pavement construction. Therefore it is of interest to study
the permeability and clogging characteristics of the two forms of porous pavement mixtures.
This paper reports a laboratory study conducted to examine the permeability and clogging
characteristics of a porous asphalt mixture and a pervious concrete mixture as a function of
mixture porosity. The experimental program considered four target porosity levels for each
of the two pavement mixture types: 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. This would cover the likely
range of porosity, and hence the range of permeability coefficient (i.e. hydraulic conductivity),
that a porous pavement material goes through in its entire useful service life. The
permeability coefficient was determined by means of constant-head test, and the clogging
performance was determined by monitoring the reductions in permeability coefficient as
clogging developed. The aim of this research is to study how the two types of porous
pavement materials differ in their permeability and clogging characteristics.

The focus of the study was to compare the permeability and clogging characteristics of the
two porous pavement materials. The two porous pavement materials studied were asphalt
mixture and Portland cement concrete. Permeability coefficient (i.e. hydraulic conductivity)
was selected as the drainage parameter to characterize the drainage capacity of the porous
materials. The clogging behavior of each of the porous materials tested was studied by
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introducing clogging materials into the porous materials to create clogging, and measuring
the decrease in permeability coefficient of the test materials at different stages of clogging.

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The test program involved measuring the coefficient of permeability repeatedly at different
stages of clogging test as more and more clogging materials were introduced during the test.
A constant-head test apparatus was fabricated for the purpose of this study. Figure 1 shows
a schematic diagram of the test set-up. There was an upstream inflow reservoir to maintain
a constant upper water level, and a downstream outflow weir to establish a constant lower
water level. The apparatus consists of an open-ended vertical cylinder with an internal
diameter of 150 mm to receive a 150 mm diameter specimen. A submersible pump provides
a constant inflow of water into the inlet cylinder. In the present study, a constant hydraulic
head of 41.5 cm was maintained throughout the test.

Measurement of Permeability Coefficient

The set-up allows a 150 mm diameter test specimen with thickness varying from 40 mm to
200 mm to be tested. In the present study, specimens with thickness of 50 mm were tested
since this is the thickness of porous wearing surface course used in Singapore. A specially
fabricated clamping holder allowed the test specimens to be fitted at the lower end of the
cylinder, and removed for the purpose of measuring clogging materials retained in the
specimen. In the permeability test, the amount of outlet water collected through the entire
test duration is measured, and the permeability coefficient is computed form the following
modified Darcys equation found applicable for porous materials in past studies (11-13),
v = k in

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in which

v=

Q
tA

and

(1)
i=

H
L

where k is the permeability coefficient in mm/s, i the hydraulic gradient, n an experimental

coefficient, L the thickness of specimen in mm, Q the amount of water collected in mm3, t the
test duration in s, A the cross-sectional area of the specimen, and H the constant water head
in mm. Studies by the authors (11-13) have shown that for the given test materials and test
conditions n can be taken as a constant of 0.7 without any errors of practical significance.

FIGURE1 Schematic diagram of permeability and clogging test set-up.

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Measurement of Clogging Behavior

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In the study of the clogging behavior of test specimens, a known quantity of clogging
material in the form of fine-grained soil was brought into each specimen by means of water
that was repeatedly fed through the 150 mm diameter cylinder. A procedure was
established to effectively bring the clogging material into the specimen. In the meantime, to
establish the trend of deterioration in permeability as clogging developed, the permeability of
the specimen was measured at regular stages of the clogging process. This section
describes the selection of the clogging materials and the procedure involved in the clogging
process.

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In Singapore, the soils deposited from dirty wheels of vehicles, or vehicles carrying earth or
construction materials have been the major sources of clogging materials on porous
pavements. Figure 2 shows the gradations of typical residual soils and construction sands
commonly found on Singapore roads. Earlier studies by the authors (11-13) found that of
the various sizes of these clogging materials, the fines smaller than 75 m had insignificant
effect in inducing clogging as compared with the larger size materials, and that the
component with sizes between 600 m and 1.18 mm was the most effective in creating
clogging in porous materials. Hence, this component of the residual soil was employed in
the clogging procedure of the present study.

Clogging Materials

100

Medium-coarse sand

90

Fine-medium sand

Percent Passing (%)

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Fine to coarse sand

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Residual Soil

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50
40
30
20
10

0
0.01

0.1

10

Particle Size (mm)

FIGURE 2 Gradations of common clogging materials on Singapore roads

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Clogging Procedure

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As a main aim of the study was to monitor the deterioration of permeability as clogging
developed, a clogging procedure was adopted to create clogging in stages such that the
permeability coefficient could be measured at the intermediate stages. In order to establish
the deterioration trend of permeability in the process of clogging, clogging materials were
introduced in 10 stages so that a sufficient number of data points (i.e. number of permeability
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coefficient measurements) was obtained before the test specimen was clogged. A series of
trial clogging tests were conducted to determine an appropriate amount of clogging material
to apply at each stage, and it was found that applying 5.3 g (i.e. an application amount of
2000 g per square m) each stage would achieve the aim of the clogging test. The clogging
procedure adopted consists of the following steps:
1. Apply 5.3 g of the clogging material uniformly on the upper face of the cylindrical test
specimen.
2. Secure the test specimen in the holder at the lower end of the constant-head test
cylinder, and fill up the test cylinder with water.
3. Open the valve at the lower end of the constant-head test cylinder to allow water to
flow through the test specimen under the constant head to bring the clogging
material into the specimen.
4. Perform permeability coefficient measurements repeatedly at an interval of three
minutes until the change in the measured permeability value is negligible.
5. Repeat Steps 1 to 4 nine more times.

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PAVEMENT MIXTURES STUDIED

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The asphalt mixtures considered were the porous asphalt mixtures used in Singapore road
construction. Table 1 shows the aggregate gradations and mix proportions of three opengraded/porous asphalt paving mix designs for pavement wearing course in Singapore: mix
PA-13 with porosity (i.e. air void content) ranging from 8 to 12% approximately, mix PA-16
having porosity from 15% to 20% approximately, and PA-20 with porosity from around 20%
to more than 25%. Crushed granite stone aggregate, which was the common type of road
making aggregate in Singapore, was used for the mixes. The asphalt binder used was a
polymer modified binder of grade PG76-22. The porosity of each mix could be varied by
adjusting the binder content within the allowable range of each mix design.

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Pervious concrete is by definition a near zero-slump, open graded material consisting of

Portland cement, coarse aggregates, little or no fine aggregate, admixtures and water (14).
In the present study, the coarse aggregate gradation of the ASTM designation size number
89 (15) was adopted to produce the pervious concrete mix. This gradation is indicated in
Table 2. To produce specimens of the target porosity (i.e. void ratio) levels for the present
study, specimens were prepared using different mix proportions as shown in Table 2. As in
the case of asphalt mixtures, granite aggregate was used for the production of the pervious
concrete. The cementitious material used was ASTM Type I ordinary Portland cement with

The entire test procedure, including the clogging process and permeability coefficient
measurements, took 2 to 2.5 hours per specimen.

As mentioned earlier, the aim of this research was to study how porous asphalt mixtures and
pervious concrete differ in their permeability and clogging characteristics. For each of the
two mixture types, four sets of mixtures were prepared aiming to achieve approximately the
following target levels of porosity: 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. This section presents the
properties of the two mixture types considered in the study.
Porous Asphalt Mixtures

Pervious Concrete Mixtures

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chemical composition and physical properties complying with ASTM C150-07 requirements
(16).

TABLE 1. Aggregate gradation and mix composition of porous asphalt

mix designs studied
Mix Design
Sieve Size
20mm
16mm
13.2mm
9.5mm
4.75mm
2.36mm
1.18mm
600um
300um
150um
75um
Asphalt Binder
Content

Porous Asphalt
PA-20
(% passing)
100
95
85
72
22
18
13
9
7
6

Porous Asphalt
PA-16
(% passing)
100
70
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33
22
16
10
6
4
3

Porous Asphalt
PA-13
(% passing)
100
85
45
30
25
20
13
10
4

% by Weight of
Total Mix
Min: 4.5
Max: 5.5

% by Weight of
Total Mix
Min: 4.5
Max: 5.5

% by Weight of
Total Mix
Min: 4.5
Max: 5.5

TABLE 2 Mix designs of pervious concrete studied

(a) Mix proportions
Water/
Cement
Ratio
0.3
0.3

PC-20

Target
Porosity
Level
10%
15%
20%

PC-25

25%

Mix
PC-10
PC-15

(b) Aggregate gradation

Sieve Size
12.5mm
9.5mm
4.75mm
2.36mm
1.18mm
300um

Cement
[kg/m3]

Water
[kg/m3]

495
400

148.5
120.0

Coarse
Aggregate
[kg/m3]
1560
1560

0.3

367

110.1

1560

0.3

300

90.0

1560

(% passing)
100
95
78
18
5
3
7

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ANALYSIS OF TEST RESULTS

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For the two types of porous materials tested, namely porous asphalt and pervious concrete
mixtures, three specimens each were prepared for the following four target porosity levels:
10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. Each specimen was subject to the following tests:
(i) Permeability test to determine the initial permeability coefficient of the specimen
before the clogging process; and
(ii) Clogging test with intermediate permeability coefficient measurements to determine
the deterioration trend of specimen permeability as clogging developed.
This section presents the results of the tests, and compares the permeability and clogging
characteristics of the porous asphalt and pervious concrete materials studied.

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Table 3 presents the porosity and initial permeability coefficient values of the test specimens
for the porous asphalt mixtures, as well as the corresponding values for the pervious
concrete specimens. These test results are plotted in Figures 3 and 4 for the porous asphalt
and pervious concrete mixtures respectively. These two plots show that, for both the porous
asphalt and pervious concrete mixtures, the permeability coefficient value increases
exponentially with the porosity level, as represented by the following two regression
equations:

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Comparison of Permeability

For porous asphalt

For pervious concrete

k = 0.300e0.131P
k = 0.501e0.133P

R2 = 0.865
R2 = 0.922

(2)
(3)

where k = permeability coefficient in mm/s, and P = porosity in percent.

TABLE 3 Porosity and permeability coefficient values of test specimens

Target
Porosity
Level

10%

15%

20%

25%

Porous Asphalt
Actual
Specimen
Porosity (%)
8.82
11.37
10.78
14.03
16.23
16.42
18.54
18.55
21.64
24.63
23.82
26.64

Permeability
Coefficient
(mm/s)
1.42
1.32
1.20
1.69
1.91
1.83
5.15
4.66
4.58
7.16
6.10
11.2

Pervious Concrete
Actual
Specimen
Porosity (%)
9.95
7.30
7.24
16.23
16.20
15.46
21.61
20.65
19.30
24.06
26.28
26.66

Permeability
Coefficient
(mm/s)
2.49
1.03
0.84
4.66
6.05
5.20
7.75
8.03
7.74
13.9
12.4
13.4

Permeability coefficient, k (mm/s)

12
10

k = 0.3001e0.1305P
R = 0.8648

Porous Asphalt
8
6
4
2
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

Porosity, P (%)

Permeability Coefficient, k (mm/s)

FIGURE 3 Relationship between porosity and permeability coefficient of porous asphalt

studied.

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16
14

Pervious Concrete

k = 0.5024e0.1324P
R = 0.9219

15

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0

10

20

25

30

Porosity, P (%)
FIGURE 4 Relationship between porosity and permeability coefficient of pervious concrete
studied.
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From the test results on permeability coefficient and porosity obtained for the porous asphalt
and pervious concrete mixtures respectively, a detailed analysis of the relationships between
permeability and porosity of the two mixtures can be carried out. Computed in Table 4 are
some parameters that help to identify the different permeability-porosity characteristics of the
two types of porous materials. It is interesting to note from Table 4 the following
observations for the two materials tested:

Pervious concrete had higher hydraulic conductivity (i.e. permeability coefficient)

than porous asphalt at any given porosity level within the range of porosity tested
At the four porosity levels tested, pervious concrete was found to have higher
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permeability coefficient values than porous asphalt, and the difference became
larger as the porosity level increased. As seen from Table 4, the difference
increased from 0.781 mm/s at the porosity of 10% to 5.978 mm/s at the porosity of
25%.
The rate of increase of hydraulic conductivity (i.e. permeability coefficient) with
porosity was higher for pervious concrete than for porous asphalt Table 4 indicates
that for the range of porosity values studied, the rate of increase of permeability
coefficient with porosity varied from 0.204 to 0.751 mm/s per percent rise in porosity
for porous asphalt, and the corresponding rates of increase for pervious concrete
were 0.355 and 1.340. That is, pervious concrete achieved higher gains in
permeability coefficient from increasing mix porosity than porous asphalt.
Conversely, it can be said that for every percent drop in porosity, pervious concrete
would suffer a higher loss in permeability coefficient than porous asphalt.
For both porous asphalt and pervious concrete, since their hydraulic conductivity (i.e.
permeability coefficient) increases exponentially with porosity, it is beneficial to raise
the initial design target porosity as much as practicable. For practical application of
porous pavements, it makes sense to raise the design target porosity to higher than
20% as the gain in permeability is substantial.

From the observations made above, it is of interest to examine statistically the

characteristics of the difference between the permeability properties of the two porous
materials. The two regression equations in the form of k = aebP are characterized by two
regression coefficients a and b. By means of statistical hypothesis testing, it is found that
there are no difference in the values of the coefficient b of the two regression equations at 95%
confidence level. However, the values of the coefficient a of the two equations are
statistically different at the same confidence level.
These conclusions provide the
explanation to the differences in the magnitude of permeability coefficient and variations of
permeability with respect to porosity observed and highlighted in the preceding paragraphs.

TABLE 4 Rates of increase of permeability coefficient with porosity for porous asphalt and
pervious concrete mixtures
Porous Asphalt
Porosity
Level
P%
(1)

Pervious Concrete

Permeability Rate of Permeability Rate of

Coefficient
Increase Coefficient
Increase
k (mm/s)
of k per %
k (mm/s)
of k per %
Rise in P
Rise in P
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

Difference between k
of Porous Asphalt and
Pervious Concrete
(6) = (4) - (2)

10%

1.107

0.204

1.888

0.355

0.781

15%

2.125

0.391

3.665

0.690

1.540

20%

4.081

0.751

7.115

1.340

3.034

25%

7.837

--

13.815

--

5.978

10

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Comparison of Clogging Behaviors

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As explained earlier in the description of the clogging process, in the clogging test of each
specimen, clogging material was added in ten equal amounts of 5.3g each so that the
changes in permeability could be measured and monitored as clogging developed.
Therefore, including the initial permeability value before the clogging procedure began, there
were 11 data points of permeability measurements that defined the permeability
deterioration trend caused by clogging. This section presents the clogging test results and
discusses the findings.
Plotted in Figure 5a are the clogging test results of the porous asphalt mixes studied. For
clarity in presentation and comparison, only the deterioration curve of the mean permeability
for each porosity level is plotted. For each of the four permeability deterioration curves (one
curve for each of the four target porosity levels studied), the range of measured permeability
values at each of the 10 stages of the clogging process is also indicated for each stage. The
corresponding clogging test results of the pervious concrete specimens are plotted in Figure
5b. To provide a direct comparison of the clogging behaviors of the porous asphalt and
pervious concrete studied, the two sets of permeability deterioration curves are plotted in
pairs in Figure 6 for each of the four porosity levels studied.
The permeability deterioration trends of both porous materials can be described by an
exponential relationship as shown by the following regression equations:

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For porous asphalt

(Porosity 10%)
(Porosity 15%)
(Porosity 20%)
(Porosity25%)

k = 1.177e-0.290N
k = 2.478e-0.411N
k = 4.375e-0.293N
k = 8.999e-0.213N

R2 = 0.992
R2 = 0.974
R2 = 0.991
R2 = 0.989

(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)

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For pervious concrete

(Porosity 10%)
(Porosity 15%)
(Porosity 20%)
(Porosity 25%)

k = 1.369e-0.338N
k = 7.065e-0.270N
k = 9.801e-0.311N
k = 12.287e-0.084N

R2 = 0.996
R2 = 0.949
R2 = 0.981
R2 = 0.967

(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)

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where k = permeability coefficient in mm/s, and N = number of clogging cycle.

The following observations and findings can be made from the test results:

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For porous asphalt mixtures, Figure 5a shows that the relative magnitude ranking of
the permeability of specimens of the four target porosity levels remained unchanged
throughout the clogging process. However, the magnitudes of the differences in
permeability coefficients of different target porosity levels decreased as the clogging
process progressed. This is also the case for the test results of pervious concrete
specimens shown in Figure 5b. These results suggest that, for both types of
mixtures, it is always advantageous to begin with a mixture with a higher initial
porosity (hence higher initial permeability) to achieve a higher level of permeability
throughout the entire service life of a porous pavement.

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The permeability deterioration curves in Figures 5a and 5b suggest that, for both
porous asphalt and pervious concrete, there was a significant improvement in
permeability performance in the clogging test when the mixture porosity was
increased from 20% to 25%. This finding appears to provide a strong experimental
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evidence to the common practice of specifying a porosity of more than 20% for
porous pavement materials.

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Based on the permeability coefficient values at different stages of clogging

development, Figure 6 shows that at any given initial porosity level, pervious
concrete always performed better than porous asphalt by maintaining higher
permeability values throughout the entire clogging development period. The
difference between the performance of the two material types was smallest at the
porosity level of 10% (in the order of about 2 mm/s), and largest at the porosity level
of 25% (approximately of the order of 5 mm/s).

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The variation of the measured permeability coefficient values obtained from three
replicate test specimens is represented by the range bars indicated in Figures 5a and
5b. Excluding the only exception of pervious concrete with 20% porosity, it can said
in general that for both porous asphalt and pervious concrete specimens, the higher
the porosity level, the higher was the variation among the measured permeability
coefficient data at a given stage of clogging test. This could be explained by the fact
that a mixture with a higher porosity would have more flows channels within it, and
there would be more possible patterns of clogging development than a mixture with a
lower porosity, thus leading to larger variations in the resulting permeability
coefficient values in the clogging tests of replicate specimens.

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If we define that clogging is reached when the permeability deterioration curve begins
to level off and there are negligible changes in the permeability coefficient values
between successive clogging stages, then the terminal stage of each of the clogging
tests can be estimated from the test results of Figure 6. It can be seen that except
for the porous asphalt and pervious concrete specimens with the initial porosity of
25%, all the test specimens with lower initial porosity levels reached the terminal
clogging state before the 10th stage of clogging. This finding provides another
supporting experimental evidence for the practice by many highway agencies to
require design porosity of more than 20% for porous pavement mixes.
The clogging test results suggest that the pervious concrete mix was superior to the porous
asphalt mix for the test conditions studied. It is not possible to determine from the test
results the reasons or the factors contributing to their differences in clogging resistance
performance. Based on past studies (3, 4, 11-13), the factors that affect the clogging
behaviors of a porous material include (i) type of clogging materials, (ii) gradation of
aggregates in the mixture, and (iii) the type of binder. Factor (i) is ruled out because the
same type of clogging material was used for the clogging tests in this study. As for factor (ii),
the use of large size aggregates is known to improve permeability and clogging resistance,
but is unlikely to be a main reason in the present study since the coarse aggregate gradation
of pervious concrete used was finer than those of the porous asphalt mixtures, although no
fines were used in the pervious concrete mix. The most likely reason is probably the
properties of the binders used. Serving as the walls for flow channels in the porous mixture,
asphalt and concrete would exhibit different flow resistance. Their clogging resistance would
be affected by their adhesion properties with clogging materials. For instance, their Manning
roughness coefficients would be different, thereby contributing to different resistance to flows.
Further research is needed to study in detail the effects of these factors on the different
clogging resistance characteristics of the two porous materials.
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335
12.0

Porous Asphalt with Target Porosity P%

Permeability Coefficient, k (mm/s)

11.0
10.0

P = 10%

P = 15%

P = 20%

P = 25%

9.0
8.0
7.0

6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
0

10

Clogging Cycle

(a) Test results on porous asphalt specimens

15

Pervious Concrete with Target Porosity P%

14

Permeability Coefficient, k (mm/s)

13
12
11
10

P = 10%

P = 15%

P = 20%

P = 25%

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

Clogging Cycle
(b) Test results on pervious concrete specimens
FIGURE 5 Results of clogging tests

13

14
PC 25%

13

Permeability Coefficient, k (mm/s)

12

PA 10%

PA 15%

PA 20%

PA 25%

PC 10%

PC 15%

PC 20%

PC 25%

11

Legend:
PA = Porous Asphalt
PC = Pervious Concrete
Numerical values indicate porosity %

10
9

PA 25%

8
7

PC 20%

PC 15%

5
4
3
2
1

PA 20%
PA 15%
PC 10%
PA 10%

0
0

5
6
Clogging Cycle

10

FIGURE 6 Comparison of permeability deterioration curves of porous asphalt and pervious

concrete mixtures studied.

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341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The results of a laboratory clogging study have been reported and analyzed in this paper.
The study compared the permeability and clogging characteristics of two types of porous
pavement materials at four levels of porosity values: 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%. The two
porous materials studied were porous asphalt and pervious concrete. Three replicate
specimens were prepared at each target porosity level for each of the two test materials. In
the clogging test of each test specimen, a laboratory clogging procedure was adopted to
introduce a fixed amount of clogging material in 10 stages by means of a constant-head
apparatus. This procedure allowed permeability coefficient to be measured each stage and
enabled the permeability deterioration trend to be determined as clogging progressed.
The main findings of the laboratory test program can be summarized as follows:

349
350
351

For both the pervious concrete and the porous asphalt mixtures, the increase of
permeability coefficient k with porosity P can be described by an exponential
relationship of the form k = aebP where a and b are positive regression coefficients.

352
353
354
355
356

For both the pervious concrete and porous asphalt mixtures studied, their
permeability and clogging resistance increased substantially when the mixture
porosity was increased beyond 20%.
These findings provide supporting
experimental evidence to the common practice of specifying a porosity of more than
20% for porous pavement materials.

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358
359

At all four porosity levels studied, the pervious concrete specimens gave higher initial
permeability than the porous asphalt specimens. The difference became larger as
the porosity level increased.

360
361
362
363

For both the pervious concrete and the porous asphalt mixtures, the deterioration
trends of permeability coefficient k as a function of clogging cycles N can be
described by an exponential relationship of the form k = ae-bN where a and b are
positive regression coefficients.

364
365
366
367
368

Comparing the permeability deterioration of pervious concrete and porous asphalt

specimens of the same target porosity level, it was found that pervious concrete
always performed better than porous asphalt by maintaining higher permeability
coefficient values throughout the entire clogging development period. The difference
between the performance of the two material types increased with porosity.

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377
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400

REFERENCES
1. Made, A. M. and Rogge, S. Development of High Quality Pervious Concrete
Specifications for Maryland Conditions, Maryland Department of Transportation, Project
number SP009B4F, Final report, 2013, pp 1- 110.
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Concrete and Porous Asphalt Road Pavements. Proceedings 10th International
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Orlando, FL, 1990, 57pp.
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Asphalt Pavement with 10 Years Experience in Japanese Expressways. Proceedings
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EURO-NOISE, Munich, Germany, 1998.
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Asphalt. British Standards Institute, London, UK, 2006.
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1990, pp. 1-8.
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Portland Cement Association Skokie Illinois and National Ready Mixed Concrete
Association, Maryland: Silver Spring, pp. 1 32.
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Concrete with High Strength. Proceedings 8th international Symposium on Concrete
Roads, Lisbon, 1998, pp. 171 177.
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12. Fwa, T. F., Tan S. A. and Guwe Y. K., Laboratory Evaluation of Clogging Potential of
Porous Asphalt Mixtures. Transportation Research Record, No. 1681, 2002, pp. 43-49.
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16

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE:

Table 1 Aggregate gradation and mix composition of porous asphalt mix designs studied.
Table 2 Mix designs of pervious concrete studied.
(a) Mix proportions
(b) Aggregate gradation
Table 3 Porosity and permeability values of test specimens.
Table 4 Rates of increase of permeability with porosity for porous asphalt and pervious
concrete mixtures.
Figure 1 Schematic diagram of permeability and clogging test set-up.
Figure 2 Gradation of residual soil.
Figure 3 Relationship between porosity and permeability of porous asphalt studied.
Figure 4 Relationship between porosity and permeability of pervious concrete studied.
Figure 5 Results of clogging tests
(a) Test results on porous asphalt specimens
(b) Test results on pervious concrete specimens
Figure 6 Comparison of permeability deterioration curves of porous asphalt and pervious
concrete mixtures studied.

17