Case studies for permeable pavement

This page contains interesting stories about permeable pavement. If you have a good story, send us a link using the Comment box and we will consider including it on this page.

Green Infrastructure: Permeable pavement can be an important tool for retention and detention of stormwater runoff. Permeable pavement may provide additional benefits, including reducing the need for de-icing chemicals, and providing a durable and aesthetically pleasing surface.

Caution: Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

There are hundreds of permeable pavement applications in Minnesota. Examples will be updated as more information is gathered. For now, here are a few examples:

A bike lane in St Paul MN

• The City of St. Paul constructed two way, off street bike trails along portions of Jackson Street, Kellogg Boulevard, St. Peter Street, 9th Street and 10th Street using porous asphalt.
• The City of Shoreview has 5 permeable pavement installations. The Dale Street Alley has 12 foot wide pervious concrete; the intersection near Shamrock Park has porous asphalt; the Woodbridge Neighborhood has pervious concrete; the public works facility has pervious concrete and the Oakridge Avenue project uses a 20 foot wide permeable concrete block system (PaveDrain). For information on any of these projects, contact Shoreview City Public Works Director, Mark Maloney at mmaloney@shoreviewmn.gov. The City of Shoreview has additional information about permeable roadways on their web site.

Permeable Pavers at Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District. Photo Courtesy of Paige Ahlborg

• Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District office has 2 permeable pavement installations. Porous asphalt was installed at the District Office in 2005. For details about this application, go to the Watershed District's web site. Additionally, in 2014, the District installed a PaveDrain system on an acquired portion of their existing property. PaveDrain permeable pavers are a relatively new product and the District was interested in using them as a demonstration project.

• The City of Waconia has two permeable concrete block (PaveDrain) systems in place. One is located at Fountain Park and the other is at the Iron Tap Brewery. For more information, contact Craig Eldred, City of Waconia Public Works Director at celdred@waconia.org

• The City of Maplewood has three permeable pavement systems: Maplewood Public Works parking lot, Geranium Park parking lot and Maplewood Nature Center.

• City of Plymouth porous pavement and reinforced turf

• The Effectiveness of Permeable Pavers on page 22 of the November edition of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association newsletter.

• Holey pavement–it excites me