Water Sensitive SA

Permeable pavement carpark from recycled tyres

Permeable pavement carpark from recycled tyres

16 August 2019

L-R Preparing the site. The finished permeable paved area. Permeable paving demonstration, 13 August 2019. Permeable paving water runoff demonstration, 13 August 2019 Source: City of Mitcham

The carpark at St Marys Park in Laura Avenue, St Marys is the site of a major field trial in sustainable urban drainage design.

It is the first time that a permeable pavement made from 50% used tyres has been installed in a full-scale trial and tested under various traffic loads.

The permeable asphalt surface includes approximately four tonnes of recycled tyre rubber, the equivalent of 500 used passenger tyres, and is capable of soaking away on site up to a 100-year storm. The recycled rubber content is up to 80% of the pavement product (by volume, depending on the application).

This innovative trial hopes to provide many benefits to the environment, including harvesting water to help water nearby trees and gardens, increase groundwater recharge, reduce surface runoff, decrease the risk of flash-flooding and help with the treatment of storm water.

Cutting edge equipment has been installed below the surface of the parking bays to monitor the performance of the pavement as well as record the surface temperature of the different pavement colours.

The trial will investigate the product performance of the Waste Tyre Permeable Pavement as part of more comprehensive irrigation and storm-water management solutions for urban areas, an important consideration for South Australia as one of the driest states in the country.

The trial will also monitor the quality of water passing through the pavement structure and evaluate its efficiency in reducing contamination of resulting waterways.

This is an exciting project that is helping to close the loop on product recycling and delivering a benefit to stormwater management.

More information about the pavement trial is in the Permeable pavement carpark at St Marys Park story on the City of Mitcham’s website.

The University of Melbourne’s article Turning old tyres into new roads provides a great overview of the project.

Water-testing the permeable pavement carpark at St Marys Park

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