Landscape Architect Articles

Alternative to Porous Pavers Surface Combines Recycled Rubber and Aggregate07-30-15 | News

Alternative to Porous Pavers Surface Combines Recycled Rubber and Aggregate

For the home's driveway and front walkway, 1,600 square feet of Porous Pave XL was poured at a 2" depth. The material is half stone-aggregate and half one-quarter-inch size rubber chips (recycled tires) with a binding agent.

Lake Andrusia, 10 miles east of Bemidji (pop. 13,431) in northwest Minnesota offers 9.25 miles of forested shoreline and rolling hills. Nice spot to build a home, but the local building codes limit the total amount of impervious surface on residential properties to 50 percent.

That presents a problem when that 5,000 sq. ft. home has a 1,600 sq. ft. driveway, and another 1,600 sq. ft. of walkway, patio and pool surround. As the township gave only a 50 percent credit for permeable pavers, another option was required. The solution for the homeowner was Porous Pave, a surfacing combining recycled rubber and aggregate, engineered with 29 percent void space to infiltrate through a compacted aggregate base.

For the pool surround, patio and walkways, a softer, slip-resistant porous formulation (XLS) was poured"?u1.5" over an aggregate base course of 4-6."

The porous flexible pavement is mixed on site and poured-in-place like concrete. It takes 24 hours to cure. A two-man crew installed an aggregate base course of 14-20 inches for the driveway to maximize retention, then poured 1,600 square feet of two-inch-deep Porous Pave XL for the driveway and front entry.

The softer, slip-resistant porous formulation (XLS) was poured-in-place for the pool surround, patio and walkways"?u1.5" over an aggregate base course of 4-6", covering another 1,600 sq. ft.