Suggested Citation:
Kayhanian, Masoud, Peter Weiss, John S. Gulliver, Lev Khazanovich (2015) NCST Policy Brief: The Application of Permeable Pavements in Highways and Urban Roads. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-15-50

Currently, the majority of the successful permeable pavement installations are related to parking lots and other commercial areas with low speed and light traffic load. During the past two decades tremendous progress has been made with regards to the application of permeable pavements with issues related to structural design, hydrologic design, water quality, and surface clogging. However, several important research questions remain unresolved and must be addressed before permeable pavements are fully integrated and implemented in urban roads; especially in highways with higher speeds and loads.

This policy brief is drawn from a research report which focuses on successful application of permeable pavement design and performance with special emphasis on stormwater management, water quality benefits, and identification of knowledge and data gaps.  The paper provides a summary of the current practice and design methods, discusses the potential application of permeable pavement for highway environment, summarizes the research progress documented in the literature related to mixed design, hydrologic performance, maintenance, water quality benefits, identifies knowledge gaps and unresolved issues, and explores the future direction in permeable pavement application.