Porous pavement is a permeable surface composed of open pore pavers, concrete, or asphalt, stone and glue. Permeable pavement catches rain water and surface runoff, allowing it to slowly percolate into the soil below. The most common uses of permeable pavement are parking lots, low-traffic roads, sidewalks, and driveways.

The advantage of using Porous Pavement (Porous Asphalt or Porous Concrete) is that your typical concrete will not allow rain water to pass through the surface. This creates problems at parks and walkways on hills because the water floods into sewers and storm drains creating stoppages and flooding.

By choosing to work with this porous surface, you insert more water into the soil, trees, grass and plants nearby.

Porous Pavement also directly benefits trees because it acts as a protection layer for their roots. The surface is not a dense or rigid as asphalt and creates and cushioned barrier between people and animals walking over the roots. The roots of a tree maintain the structural integrity of a tree and when they are protected, the tree has a better likelihood of survival.

Since water and precipitation seep through the pavement, there won’t be any ice formation on porous pavement. Even in freezing temperatures, the pavement will remain warm and proves to be a safe surface for driving and walking.

Lastly, it can be made using recycled materials helping to create less waste in landfills and promoting cleaner practices across cities.