On Site With Pervious Concrete

In a natural landscape, most of the rain that falls on the ground seeps through the soil and replenishes the water table. But when rain hits conventional pavement, it washes off — along with oil and other contaminants — into a nearby municipal storm sewer system or directly into the watershed. Pervious concrete pavement, however, is different: It acts like gravel and allows water to drain right through it into the ground.

Because of its environmental benefits and a regulatory climate that makes strict stormwater regulations likely in the near future, pervious concrete is generating a lot of buzz. So when the time came to pave a private roadway in a small subdivision that I'm building in Lincoln, Neb., I was eager to give it a try.