Friday, April 25, 2008

Sources for permeable pavement information

Last night a student came to the desk and said she had been having trouble finding information on permeable pavers. She said we didn't seem to have anything on it.

When her search was changed to permeable pavement, a newer type of pavement in which water goes through it, rather than making big puddles on the surface or resulting in run offs that led to flooding, (a very simplified explanation), there were numerous articles in ENR (Engineering News Record), Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, Science Direct and Business Source Premier.

There were a number of studies found on the web site of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. Other keywords to search were permeable asphalt pavement, porous asphalt pavement and pervious concrete (not the same material as asphalt, but a similar material made of concrete). Porous pavement can be either asphalt or concrete or other materials.

A Google search lead to many companies and other studies with this product. At the end, the student said it was a search for her job and she was very happy to get this help as she had spent a lot of time looking for permeable paver.

Some other students who have assignments related to environmental or sustainability opportunities might be interested in this topic. A number of cities are using this type of pavement now, or considering it. It has been used in the Netherlands for a number of years. (I learned this from a Dutch friend during a traffic jam one day when I commented on how dry the roads seemed after a rain storm.)

The student also said, at the beginning of the inquiry, she had attended library workshops on finding business information and advanced searching and found them helpful.

1 comment:

Stephen Francoeur said...

Chicago has been much in the news the past few years for its efforts to repave alleys in the city with permeable pavement. These alleys are frequently referred to as "green alleys" or "permeable alleys." Here's a site with some background info on the green alleys project in Chicago.