PERMEABLE PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE: PERMEABILITY AND COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

Abstract

The Portland cement pervious concrete (PCPC) is a cementitious material capable of providing benefits in terms of urban drainage due to its increased permeability. The use of PCPC can mitigate the damages to private property, reduce the risk of diseases, and even avoid casualties related to urban flooding. From the environmental standpoint, the use of PCPC reduces the outflow of rainwater, which allows the filtering of pollution caused by oils, automobiles fluids, and other substances found in urban paving. The aforementioned aspects make the PCPC an alternative solution to address the issues related to urban drainage in a proper environmental and economical manner. In this context, this paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of PCPC, as well as an experimental campaign focused on evaluating permeability and compressive strength of the material. The results show that PCPC is a suitable alternative for the management of urban drainage, although the increased permeability results in a cementitious material with reduced mechanical properties. The use of PCPC can minimize environmental issues arising from soil impermeability caused by conventional paving methods, which eases the access of water to the aquifers. Therefore, the results show the possibility of employing PCPC as a solution to urban drainage by the increase in permeability of the paving.