IJBTT

Permeable Concrete Block Paving Applications in the United Arab Emirates

	International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT)
	© 2014 by IJETT Journal
	Volume-16 Number-5
	Year of Publication : 2014
	Authors : James Eyre , Prakash Bhalchandra
	10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V16P247

Citation 

James Eyre , Prakash Bhalchandra. "Permeable Concrete Block Paving Applications in the United Arab Emirates ", International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), V16(5),227-236 Oct 2014. ISSN:2231-5381. www.ijettjournal.org. published by seventh sense research group

Abstract

Permeable Concrete Block Paving (CBP) solutions are well established and widely implemented throughout the USA and Europe, although only recently applied in the Middle East and Asia. The concept of permeable CBP originated in Germany in the early 1980’s and has seen rapidly increasing acceptance by engineers and landscapers globally (see [1] for further details). Permeable CBP is a Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) recognised source control component of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). An increased focus on SuDS for urban drainage schemes initiated from their identification as a promising ‘means of implementation’ of the United Nations Agenda 21 action plan on Sustainable Development (1992), [2] and in response to subsequent global trends following the introduction in the USA of regulations requiring the control of run-off for major projects. This paper investigates the application of permeable CBP to SuDS schemes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in detail, the world’s largest and first application in the Middle East of the Hanson Formpave®, Aquaflow system, covering an area of 196,200m2 in Dubai (referred to throughout this paper as ‘the project’). Considering a pre-constructed, ‘eco-signature’ developed golf-course, a sustainable scheme incorporating a residential roads solution offering dual use of space and no additional land take was highly beneficial, ultimately leading to the selection of the Formpave® Aquaflow system by the client. The result is a significant reduction in the environmental and economic impacts of an alternative, dedicated surface-water drainage network with its associated requirements for multi-stage pumping stations across a highly contoured site. Key areas of this study include structural and hydrological design criteria and the selection of an infiltration system over a combined, conventional paving and storm-water drainage design concept. Further evaluation of the systems long-term infiltration/ water permeability performance considers regional design adaptation, including the effects of entrainment of mineral and organic fines, construction detailing, sequencing and installation methodologies on service life of the completed road network.

References

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Keywords
Permeable, Aquaflow, infiltration, run-off, entrainment.