GEOPAVE® Gravel Pavers Meet Stormwater Regulations

Project Name: GEOPAVE Fleet Car Porous Gravel Parking

Project Location: Mercedes Benz Dealership, Brooklyn, NY

Gravel Pavers Meet Requirements for Permeability, Stormwater Retention

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Hurricane Sandy devastated the Atlantic coast in 2012—causing significant damage to coastal communities in many of the Mid-Atlantic States. During the hurricane, wind and water surges breached barrier islands and coastal protection causing unprecedented flooding which destroyed businesses, homes, trees, power lines, and pavements.

A luxury car dealership in Brooklyn, NY lost a protective bulkhead and land, sustaining significant damage to their asphalt vehicle parking area from the storm’s flooding. Total pavement reconstruction was necessary.

However, stringent new regulations put in place after Hurricane Sandy for flood-prone areas eliminated a completely asphalted surface as an option. New pavements were required to be designed so that all sheet flow was captured on-site using stormwater detention systems.

Presto Geosystems’ representative Bill Ragen, Ragen Associates, worked with the dealership’s project engineer and contractor to design and construct porous pavements with GEOPAVE aggregate pavers.

REGULATORY APPROVALS

Glenn Peden, Project Superintendent with the general contractor, Eastman Cooke Construction, visited a similar site where GEOPAVE pavement had been in use for 4 years with no maintenance. With both the owner and contractor convinced that the GEOPAVE system was the right solution for this site, Glenn worked to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals. The GEOPAVE system met all regulatory requirements and was approved by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

STORMWATER RETENTION & INFILTRATION

A deep base of 18 inches of varying-sized aggregate was designed under the GEOPAVE pavers for maximum stormwater storage. The bottom layer consisted of 12 inches of 3/4 in aggregate, followed by a middle layer of 4 inches of 1/2 in and the top 2 inches was a leveling layer of finer grainstone. Infill in the GEOPAVE units consisted of 0.375 in. to 0.5 in. aggregate with minimal fine content.

PROJECT RESULTS

The porous pavement was installed to align with the existing asphalt pavement at the interface of the two pavements.  Drive lanes and more than 150 parking spaces (51,000 sq ft) were installed for the new porous pavements and delineated by white paint lines.