Graduation date: 1995

Roads and parking lots make up the largest percentage of manmade impervious surfaces in the world. Large amounts of runoff contribute to wastewater treatment plant overloads and subsequent raw sewage discharges. A high runoff rate reduces the groundwater recharge potential, causes stream bed erosion, and flooding which frequently results in the loss of life, property and /or crop damage. High runoff rates also cause surface pollutants to be washed into storm sewers, streams and other waterways, causing damage to aquatic plant and animal life. Pourous pavements are one of the tools which environmental engineers, landscape architects and planners may use in design for stormwater management to help reduce runoff.Previous investigators have assumed that compressed concrete block unit pavements, on a sand bed and gravel base, with sand joints, become impermeable over time. This study sought to determine the runoff coefficient for a trafficked pavement that has been in use for ten months. A Variable Intensity Portable Rain Simulator was used in 120 tests on nine plots from a pedestrian plaza and three plots from an intersection of a neighborhood outlet and a city street, paved with Unidecor (or Cobble-) Pavers. Three rainfall intensity ranges were tested for each pavement type; 0 to 7 millimeters per hour, 7 to 15 millimeters per hour, and 15 to 30 millimeters per hour. For storms with an intensity level of twelve millimeters per hour average, the runoff coefficient on the plaza was significantly different than that for the intersection. Additionally, it was found that for the three intensity ranges tested the runoff was significantly different for each range.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Thesis (M.S. in civil engineering)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 22, 2010). "Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-102).

Thesis (PhD.)--Purdue University, 2004. / "PCA R&D serial no. 2924."

Flooding is impossible to prevent completely, consequences of excess water can however, be reduced and often avoided via flood risk management. With the increase in impermeable surfaces, approaches that have the intention of imitating natural drainage to manage storm-water are known as Sustainable (Urban) Drainage Systems (SUDS). Pollutants from vehicles have been identified as a concern in the urban environment, with origins including exhaust emissions, engine oil leakage and erosion of vehicle components. Investigation of vegetated parking surfaces (VPS) to limit the impact of pollutants are scarce, therefore this study aims to determine pollution tolerance of grass species for use in VPSs, prior to investigating the effects that vehicles have on a vegetated surfaces and alternative methods in which to analyse them. A pot trial investigated effects of increasing oil concentrations on the growth of four grass species. F. rubra L. was found to tolerate contamination to a higher degree than the other species and L. perenne L. produced more cumulative biomass throughout the investigation. A parallel study determined that Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mo, P and Zn accumulated in grass shoots, indicating that F. rubra L. and L. perenne L. may be suitable for further analysis. field trial focused on a regularly-used L. perenne L.-covered VPS at a local school, analysing the influence of vehicles on vegetated parking bays. Compaction and mean element concentrations increased across the VPS, with distance from the roadside. Use of mineral magnetism as a proxy for geochemical detection did not prove successful as no significant correlation was identified between magnetic susceptibility (χ) and element concentration. Use of GIS provided this study with an alternative method for data presentation. Usually covering large scale analyses, an interactive geovisual map of geochemical dispersal and compaction across the VPS provided a novel method of visualising results from an investigation of this scale.