Mitigating Stormwater Runoff In Urban Business Districts Using Aqua-Pores

An optimal aggregate size, shape and placement of Aqua-Pores was identified and half scale models of road sections were built based on construction specifications developed. The stormwater runoff mitigation of the final assembly was then evaluated using the Environmental Site Design Unified Stormwater Sizing Criteria as well as a fully-integrated stormwater modeling software called HydroCAD. The performance in various site and soil conditions was evaluated on selected sites throughout the country.

Calculation results verified the effectiveness of the design in intercepting the first 0.75" of runoff. The final device was found to supporting groundwater recharge, reducing peak runoff volume and increasing the time of concentration. A Life-Cycle Cost Analysis compared the device with a completely permeable road section and found it to have a substantially lower cost.

The result is a roadway profile that channels, attenuates and infiltrates through its profile stormwater from 80% storms and mitigates runoff from larger storms. Future works may include developing the reconstruction profile for that generates revenue through conduit fees under sidewalks that breaks transportation agency finance dependency.