SU Receives ACI Award for Usage of Environmentally Friendly ‘Pervious Concrete’
Pervious Concrete Reduces Potential for Sediment and Storm Water Runoff Into Nearby Abrams Creek
Professor of Environmental Studies Woodward Bousquet pours water on the pervious concrete of the Suzanne White McKown Plaza. According to Bousquet, the porous texture of the concrete enables water to slowly percolate into the gravel base and back into the water table.
Shenandoah University recently received a 2008 Excellence in Concrete Award for its use of pervious concrete in the construction of the Suzanne White McKown Plaza from the Virginia Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) of Richmond, Va. The university will officially dedicate McKown Plaza on Tuesday, April 28, at 11 a.m.
The McKown Plaza, located behind the Brandt Student Center, is an elevated leisure, performance and learning space with a view of the university’s soccer field and trees surrounding Abrams Creek. The circular plaza is enclosed by decorative brick, attractive landscaping and patio seating with an armillary sundial at its center.
Design-built by H&W Construction of Winchester, McKown Plaza is named for Trustee Emeritus Suzanne McKown, a generous supporter of the university who served on the board of trustees since 1990, was an active member of the board’s Building and Grounds Committee, and who currently co-chairs the university’s Landscape Committee.
For a variety of reasons, construction of McKown Plaza was challenging for the university. Previously a steep, grassy hill behind Shingleton Gymnasium, the elevation of the plaza site was lower than the Brandt Student Center, which opened in June 2008. As a result, the university needed to consider sustainability options for how best to handle water drainage, how to channel water runoff, and how to make the final solution aesthetically pleasing.
Two solutions were initially discussed. The first was to consider building a retention pond below the plaza to collect water runoff. This would solve the problem of drainage but would not provide an aesthetic option. The second solution was to utilize pervious concrete, a permeable material that would allow the water to drain through the concrete and gravel substrate and filter through the soil to collect in aquifers, where it could naturally flow into the nearby Abrams Creek.
According to the National RediMix Concrete Association Web site (www.perviouspavement.org), pervious concrete pavement is a singular and effective means to address important environmental issues while supporting environmentally friendly, sustainable growth. By capturing storm water and allowing it to seep into the ground, the porous concrete recharges groundwater, reduces runoff and meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) storm water regulations. Use of pervious concrete is considered one of the best management practices recommended by the EPA—and by other agencies and geotechnical engineers across the country—for the management of storm water runoff on a regional and local basis. This pavement technology creates more efficient land use by eliminating the need for retention ponds, swales and other storm water management devices.
According to Professor of Environmental Studies Woodward Bousquet, one key to improving water quality is the reduction of the sediment carried into Abrams Creek by storm water runoff.
“Most people don’t think of concrete as a green solution, but Shenandoah University embraced this technology to solve their challenges and created an award-winning project,”said Crider & Shockey’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager Jack Drumheller.
“Abrams Creek and Opequon Creek do not meet the standards set by the Clean Water Act and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality,”said Bousquet. “A major reason is that rainstorms wash soil particles, sand and other types of sediment from the land into the creeks. Paved surfaces and turf grass with more than a two percent slope don’t hold storm water. Water pools then quickly drains downhill. As it rushes to find level ground, it picks up sediment on its way.
“Abrams Creek doesn’t have the numbers and kinds of aquatic life—insects, clams and worms—that it should, primarily due to sediment,”he explained. “These small particles clog fish gills and smother aquatic life that lives in the gravel of creek beds. It blocks sunlight essential for aquatic plant growth. Sediment also acts like sandpaper, scrubbing away stream banks. A sediment-filled stream meandering through neighborhoods where we work and live can provide a home for potentially harmful bacteria.”
According to Bousquet, pervious concrete enables water to slowly percolate through the concrete into the gravel base and back into the water table. This process mimics what happens in nature.
“Most people don’t think of concrete as a green solution, but Shenandoah University embraced this technology to solve their challenges and created an award-winning project,”said Crider & Shockey’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager Jack Drumheller.
Shenandoah University’s Director of Physical Plant Gene Fisher and Project Manager Jeff Davis led the project, working with Crider Shockey Inc. of Winchester, H & W Construction Company Inc. and Ozark Concrete Corporation of Strasburg, Va.
“The use of pervious concrete gave Shenandoah University the opportunity to preserve valuable land, replace water back into the ground aquifers, maintain a project that was aesthetically pleasing while continuing to move forward with their ‘Green Initiative,’”said Crider & Shockey’s Area Sales Manager Duane Laughlin. “The team of H & W Construction and Ozark Concrete certainly deserve accolades for the construction of McKown Plaza, a truly unique project worthy of statewide recognition.”
According to Laughlin, several aspects of the project presented unique construction challenges. First, the pervious concrete needed to be placed in a radius pattern. Under most circumstances, it is usually poured in blocks or strips. Second, due to the elevation of the site, mixer trucks were unable to gain access to the plaza. As a result, the pervious concrete was placed using a TeleBelt conveyer system from below the plaza. Third, a tan/buff color was added to the pervious concrete, so that the plaza floor matched the colors of the rest of the university buildings and retained a natural-looking appearance.