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Permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) can help mitigate stormwater and reduce flooding, according to the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, which recently hosted a demonstration of the products. PICP can ensure compliance with national, state and municipal stormwater regulations.
"For people in our state, particularly in this part of the state where we have been growing so much, the words permeable and impermeable have been in our vocabulary for quite some time," Congressman Price says. "We think of them every storm, particularly in my case when I look out my door and see the creek swelling and know that it has to do with the impermeable pavement upstream and the way development has proceeded for many, many years.
"There is a need for a better way. Not only to mitigate damage from a particular storm, but also to build to better standards to mitigate damage in the future. This (permeable pavement) is part of a bigger picture that has to do with everything from the way we pave, to the way we construct housing, to where we put our wetlands and parks. But, it (permeable pavement) is a big part of the picture."
Among the attendees were design professionals and government officials, including U.S. Representative David Price (D-NC).Congressman Price is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the ranking member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee. The demonstration, which took place at The Greens at Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University, was led by Fred Adams, Fred Adams Paving, Dr. Bill Hunt, and professor William Neal.
ICPI says that PICP can provide the best of all worlds: facilitate robust construction, economic development and jobs, but in a way that will not add to stormwater runoff, will reduce flooding and improve water quality. These are critical public policy imperatives at all levels of government. PICP is recognized by EPA as a Best Management Practice for stormwater mitigation, a means for creating low-impact development and meeting growing construction mandates to build without adding to flooding.
