Evaluating the Infiltration Performance of Eight Dutch Permeable Pavements Using a New Full-Scale Infiltration Testing Method

Permeable pavements are a type of sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) technique that are used around the world to infiltrate and treat urban stormwater runoff and to minimize runoff volumes. Urban stormwater runoff contains significant concentrations of suspended sediments that can cause clogging and reduce the infiltration capacity and effectiveness of permeable pavements. It is important for stormwater managers to be able to determine when the level of clogging has reached an unacceptable level, so that they can schedule maintenance or replacement activities as required. Newly-installed permeable pavements in the Netherlands must demonstrate a minimum infiltration capacity of 194 mm/h (540 l/s/ha). Other commonly used permeable pavement guidelines in the Netherlands recommend that maintenance is undertaken on permeable pavements when the infiltration falls below 0.50 m/d (20.8 mm/h). This study used a newly-developed, full-scale infiltration test procedure to evaluate the infiltration performance of eight permeable pavements in five municipalities that had been in service for over seven years in the Netherlands. The determined infiltration capacities vary between 29 and 342 mm/h. Two of the eight pavements show an infiltration capacity higher than 194 mm/h, and all infiltration capacities are higher than 20.8 mm/h. According to the guidelines, this suggests that none of the pavements tested in this study would require immediate maintenance.