MnROAD Cell 64 Pervious Concrete: First Year Performance Report

This report evaluates the first year performance of the Pervious Concrete test cell #64 located in the parking lot on the south side of the MnROAD pole barn. Performance measures utilized for this report include examination of stress-strain response through loading from the 80 kip MnROAD truck and Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). The FWD deflection basins were compared to those obtained for normal concrete of similar thickness design. The second performance measure was the vibrating wire strain gauge sensor response. Elastic modulus values were computed from the sensor data. In addition, petrographic analyses of cores taken from the test pad and pavements were performed to determine the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of pervious concrete pavement after the first year. Furthermore, a surface rating of the pavement was performed to corroborate petrographic and freezethaw data in order to ascertain the cause of any structural anomalies within the pervious concrete structure. Overall, the pervious concrete cell #64 is performing well after its first year. Normal sanding and salting operations do not appear to have impacted the pore structure within the pervious concrete to date. However, a more quantitative method of measuring flow through the cell and base materials is needed before a final conclusion can be made about the enduring ability of pervious concrete to pass water. Such a quantitative flow measurement method is currently under development.