permeable paving system - truegrid permeable mid city new orleans

A Comparison between TrueGrid® Permeable Pavers and Traditional Paved lots in New Orleans

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What causes stormwater runoff? It’s a simple question but a complex problem.

Stormwater runoff occurs when rain flows over the ground. Impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, and streets prevent stormwater runoff from naturally soaking into the ground, which is where this water belongs.

Why is this important, and what can we do about it?

Stormwater runoff is a major problem — most especially in urban areas. Stormwater picks up debris, chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and flows into a storm sewer system which  leads directly to our lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands, and oceans. Anything that enters a storm sewer system is discharged untreated into the waterbodies we use for swimming, fishing and providing drinking water.

Stormwater is a major cause of urban flooding. This inundation of land or property in a built-up environment caused by stormwater overwhelms the capacity of drainage systems, and quite simply water backs up into our streets and sits on property. Flooding is costly and it has broad impact on communities.

Urban flooding has significant economic implications. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency almost 40 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors following a flooding disaster.

Traditional paving doesn’t allow water to soak into the ground. Permeable pavement systems allow rain to soak through, decreasing stormwater runoff. Scroll through the images below to see how effective permeable paving is at reducing stormwater runoff and protecting your property.

These photos, made over the course of three days in New Orleans, show TrueGrid permeable pavers in action. With the remnants of Hurricane Patricia merging head on with a large storm system moving east out of Texas, South Louisiana encountered more than 9 inches of rain fall in a 24-hour period.

Traditional parking lots and the streets around them experienced flooding during the event and in the immediate aftermath, while the TrueGrid lots experienced no standing water. As such, the streets around these areas had less of a load on their system thanks, in part, to TrueGrid’s ability to allow percolation of stormwater through the surface into the soil below where the water is naturally filtered, where pollutants are removed, and where it trickles into the natural soils through time, rather than running into streets, and placing a burden on New Orleans already overworked flood controls.

In this series of photos we show two parking lots in New Orleans that have installed the TrueGrid permeable paving system. Theese lots were photographed during the rain event, immediately after, and a day after the event. Meanwhile, asphalt and concrete lots were shown in the same period. The results are clear: parking lots built with TrueGrid permeable pavers do not hold water, and they universally reduce stormwater runoff. Asphalt and concrete lots encourage stormwater runoff, but they also end up holding water in small pools where ground seepage occurs — the same happens to an even larger degree with open rock or shell lots.

See the difference between TrueGrid permeable pavers and traditional parking

This photo shows a parking lot at Jackson Ave. and Chippewa Street in New Orleans. This property was developed by MTM & Associates.

MTM & Associates deployed innovative building practices, and held a keen eye for sustainable eco-friendly development on this historic renovation.

The photo was made during a rain event which lasted more than 24 hours. This, after 8 inches of rain had already fallen on the area. Even during the storm, the TrueGrid parking lot remains dry, and there is no stormwater runoff happening to effect the street.

By comparison, asphalt, concrete and open rock parking lots all contributed to stormwater runoff, and all of them also held standing water — some for as long as two days after the rain event.

One day after the rain event, TrueGrid pavers are bone dry at Parkway Bakery in New Orleans. TrueGrid permeable pavers provide business owners and homeowners with an eco-friendly way to reduce stormwater runoff, and safely protect property from problems associated with gushing water runoff, standing water, and stormwater pollution.