Why Permeable Pavement?

As cities have become increasingly dense and paved with impermeable surfaces, managing stormwater runoff during rain events has become increasingly challenging. At the same time, urban trees are often starved of water early in life and succumb to the hot Australian summer.

Permeable pavement is one possible solution to these challenges. By allowing rainwater to run through the pavement and into the natural layers underneath, stormwater is absorbed back into the groundwater tables, preventing potentially contaminated run-off from reaching our waterways.

While permeable pavement has been around for decades, it is increasingly on the radar of planning authorities and with the development of high-tech permeable materials (such as Porous Lane) the applications are wider than ever before, including footpaths, tree pits, bike paths and even load-bearing uses such as driveways and car parks.

Permeable pavement is also key to the health of urban trees, which will be critical for keeping cities cool as our summers become ever hotter. Ensuring a permeable surface around a tree means the roots can easily access water and prevent the roots from seeking condensation underneath footpaths and roads, leading to cracking. It is especially important for young trees, too many of which don’t survive their first summer.

Permeable pavement is also a key product for WSUD (water sensitive urban design), and has the advantage that it doesn’t require any additional infrastructure or excavation and simply replace asphalt or concrete.

We believe the use of permeable materials will continue to grow globally with initiatives like New Zealand’s sponge cities leading the way.

Longer term, we dream of the day where our cities are cooler, have more tree cover and our children can swim in the rivers and bays without fear of contaminated run-off.