Stormwater Characterization from Roadways with Open Graded Friction Course Surfaces

Land-intensive best management practices (BMPs), such as bioretention basins and dry detention basins, have been installed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in high-value water supply and nutrient sensitive watersheds as part of the agency's statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. These BMPs often require additional and costly right-of-ways (ROW) and would most likely saddle NCDOT with long-term maintenance costs. Recently, NCDOT proposed that asphalt porous friction course (asphalt-PFC) can be a viable BMP option, which could provide multiple cost savings in design, installation, and maintenance. Asphalt-PFC can be easily integrated within the linear environment of the roadway system and acts to prevent pollutants from being generated in storm water. Additionally, asphalt-PFC would also improve motorist safety during storm events. A research team from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) proposes to initiate a 2.5-year study in order to assist NCDOT to evaluate such a design-related BMP that could be shown to be effective at reducing pollutant loads from roadway runoff. Goals of this proposed project are as follows: (1)To document the types and locations of existing asphalt-PFC in North Carolina and perform literature review of the effectiveness of asphalt-PFC as a viable BMP; (2) To perform a life expectancy analysis and cost comparisons of asphalt-PFC with conventional or concrete highways. Other types of asphalt-rubber and polymer-asphalt open graded fraction course surfaces (Anderson, 1987) may exist in the state and, if so, we will include these types of roadways for evaluation; (3) To conduct a field monitoring study to quantify the pollutant loads (TSS, TN, TP, NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P, DOC) from NC asphalt-PFC roadways in comparison to conventional roadway surfaces, and; (4) To assess the potential of integrating asphalt-PFC with roadway ROW vegetation coverage as a sequential treatment train for roadway runoff control.

• Record URL:
  https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/Projects/Research/ProjectInfo.aspx?ID=2606

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $201048.00
• Contract Numbers:

  2011-16

• Sponsor Organizations:

  North Carolina Department of Transportation

  Research and Development
  1549 Mail Service Center
  Raleigh, NC  United States  27699-1549
• Project Managers:

  Kirby, John

• Performing Organizations:

  University of North Carolina, Charlotte

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  9201 University City Boulevard
  Charlotte, NC  United States  28223-0001
• Principal Investigators:

  Wu, Jy

• Start Date: 20100816
• Expected Completion Date: 20130215
• Actual Completion Date: 20130215
• Source Data: RiP Project 28939

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Design; Detention basins; Friction course; Right of way (Land); Runoff; Vegetation control; Watersheds
• Identifier Terms: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Porous friction course
• Geographic Terms: North Carolina
• Subject Areas: Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01463333
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: North Carolina Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 2011-16
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 2:21PM