Increasing urbanization coupled with climate change and poor urban drainage management can lead to several water-related problems, such as flooding, polluted stormwater runoff, groundwater contamination, and heat-island effect. Low Impact Development techniques as Permeable Pavements (PP) are adaptation/mitigation measures that can alleviate some of these impacts. PP can be retrofitted on impervious surfaces such as parking lots, roads, and sidewalks, which makes them a technique well suitable for highly urbanized areas. PP design are typically defined by local guidelines based on design storms. The long-term performance of PP are a function of rainfall flow regime and maintenance to prevent potential clogging of the pavement surface.

The purpose of this article is to develop a PP multi-objective optimization approach to assess near-optimal solutions in terms of long-term month averages of (i) treated volume, (ii) evaporated volume, and (iii) reservoir cost, including the porosity as a function of clogging and maintenance. The framework evaluates different designs decision variables for reservoir depth, number, and diameter of underdrains. The simulation approach combines the PULS reservoir routing method to solve the surface water balance equations, with an adapted Thornthwaite model to estimate evaporation. The optimization framework assesses the following objective functions: treated water volume (mm.month-1), evaporation (mm.month-1), and capital and maintenance costs ($.m-2). The framework was tested in a case study located in San Antonio, Texas. The results characterize the tradeoffs between the PP long-term effectiveness and costs. The framework can be used to enhance PP design and evaluate performance under changing conditions such as urbanization and climate change.

Access the Conference Proceedings Paper on ASCE Library

Increasing urbanization coupled with climate change and poor urban drainage management can lead to several water-related problems, such as flooding, polluted stormwater runoff, groundwater contamination, and heat-island effect. Low Impact Development techniques as Permeable Pavements (PP) are adaptation/mitigation measures that can alleviate some of these impacts. PP can be retrofitted on impervious surfaces such as parking lots, roads, and sidewalks, which makes them a technique well suitable for highly urbanized areas. PP design are typically defined by local guidelines based on design storms. The long-term performance of PP are a function of rainfall flow regime and maintenance to prevent potential clogging of the pavement surface.

The purpose of this article is to develop a PP multi-objective optimization approach to assess near-optimal solutions in terms of long-term month averages of (i) treated volume, (ii) evaporated volume, and (iii) reservoir cost, including the porosity as a function of clogging and maintenance. The framework evaluates different designs decision variables for reservoir depth, number, and diameter of underdrains. The simulation approach combines the PULS reservoir routing method to solve the surface water balance equations, with an adapted Thornthwaite model to estimate evaporation. The optimization framework assesses the following objective functions: treated water volume (mm.month-1), evaporation (mm.month-1), and capital and maintenance costs ($.m-2). The framework was tested in a case study located in San Antonio, Texas. The results characterize the tradeoffs between the PP long-term effectiveness and costs. The framework can be used to enhance PP design and evaluate performance under changing conditions such as urbanization and climate change.

**[Access the Conference Proceedings Paper on ASCE Library](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466.103)**

Permeable Pavement Hydrological Model to Assess the Long-Term Efficiency of Maintenance using High-Resolution Temperature and Rainfall Data

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) is the recognized leader within ASCE for the integration of technical expertise and public policy in the planning, design, construction, and operation of environmentally sound and sustainable infrastructure impacting air, land and water resources.

[Paper Proceedings](https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466)

Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.26226/m.6329c39b68fb0e00131f77d2