Pervious concrete, also known as porous or permeable concrete, is basically a mixture of cement, coarse aggregate, water, and admixture, which contains no or little amount of fine aggregates in order to create enhanced amount of interconnected voids that let water and air pass through the material. The idea of pervious concrete was initially used in 1852 by Richard Langley to build two concrete houses on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Around 80 years ago, Europe had begun using pervious concretes for roads.

What differs pervious concrete from conventional concrete is that pervious concrete has an open voided surface. When pervious concrete is used for paving, it can reduce and purify stormwater runoff quickly, reduce flooding potential, traffic noise, and heat, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, contribute to improved plant health in urban areas, and cut down the number of accidents on the road due to slippery surface. However, researchers have found that pervious concrete has less tensile and flexural strength than conventional concrete. That’s why it is generally not used for concrete pavements for high traffic and heavy wheel loads. It is best applied for low-volume pavements, residential roads, alleys and driveways, sidewalks, pathways, and functioned best in urban areas with high rainfall intensity, for example Jakarta. Researchers stated that Jakarta’s condition is worsened by its poor drainage system and impermeable asphalt. After recognizing the value of pervious concrete as a sustainable flood management system, local researchers from Tech Prom Lab developed pervious concrete made from coal waste called PoreBlock. Local researchers suggested to take advantage of pervious concrete’s characteristics to minimize flood risk in the future.

REFERENCES

Selvaraj, R., & Amirthavarshini, M. (2016). Some Aspects on Pervious Concrete. International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS), 3(1).

Malik, Ankur, M P Bhopal, and M P Bhopal. 2016. “Engineering Pervious Concrete Payal Bakshi Ahtesham Ahamad.” (2277).