To help minimize storm water run-off from highways and parking lots, the Virginia Department of Transportation recently began testing “permeable” or “porous” pavement, which is designed to allow water to pass through the pavement surface into the underlying base material, with the water allowed to seep into the roadway or parking lot’s underlying soil to be discharged via an outlet by way of an underdrain.

A 24-page report conducted for VDOT in June by the Virginia Transportation Research Council concluded that, “depending on the site-specific conditions of a given project, porous asphalt has the potential to be less expensive and/or less intrusive than some other storm water BMP or [best management practice] alternatives, primarily because it can be placed within the footprint of the facility and therefore does not require additional right-of-way for construction.”