This project helped fund two different types of pervious (water soaks in) parking areas at Lake Atalanta Park in Rogers, Arkansas totaling approximately 10,800 square feet.
The more than 4,047 square feet of pavers are supported by layers of coarse, angular gravel which interlocks even when compacted and allows water to pass through it while supporting even the heaviest traffic. The soil below the pervious parking acts as a filter to remove contaminants through natural bacterial action and chemical processes. This pollution includes oils, grease, car fluids, metals and litter which normally washes off of conventional impervious surfaces like roads and parking lots and directly into streams and lakes. Click here for a summary flyer on the pervious pavers.
The University of Arkansas Extension assisted in our outreach to area professionals to offer on-site demonstration of the project as it was being installed. Pervious pavers allow water to soak between the seams and filter though the gravel and soil below rather than run off into local streams carrying traffic-borne contaminants.
Gravel-pave parking areas total 6,757 square feet and are located closer to Lake Atalanta. These areas are bounded by either sidewalk or conventional asphalt driving lanes and delineate the parking spaces using concrete tire stops. Gravel-pave has a similar function in that it also allows rainwater to soak into a gravel bed which is held in place by an engineered, recycled plastic structural grid. The gravel bed and underlying soil then is able to capture contaminants, many of which can be neutralized by soil-borne bacteria and chemical processes, in a similar way as a septic drain field is used to process wastewater from homes. The gravel pave system is designed to transfer the vehicle load directly to the crushed stone base it is placed on, allowing light to heavy vehicular traffic to travel over the road without damage. The honeycomb cell design is what helps prevent particle migration and rutting that would deteriorate a normal gravel road. The gravel pave comes in rolls that are rolled out over the base material which allows for easy installation. Click here for a summary flyer of the gravel-pave.
Another part of this project was a series of weirs to help capture the massive amount of gravel and sediment that’s been moving into this stream with each storm event. The installation of weirs at a location that is often dry, but becomes a swift-moving stream after heavy rains, will allow for retention and periodic removal of the built-up gravel to prevent their transport into Prairie Creek.
Project Purpose
Our purpose for this project is to continue to promote the use of better technologies for removal of pollutants from rainwater in urban areas. The devastating effects on local streams from vast areas of pavement and impervious surfaces associated with urban development is well documented and visible. These tangible effects include the degradation of aquatic life, reduction of spring and stream flow and flash-flooding during storm events as the rainwater is unable to soak into the ground in urban areas and adds more flow to local streams and creeks to the point of overflow during storm events, then become nearly or completely dry during non-storm periods. This in turn erodes the stream banks and, in many places, has flooded homes that had not previously been threatened by flooding and produces an inhospitable stream condition for aquatic life. Since rainwater has not soaked into the soil in highly urbanized areas, there is less water coming from springs and underground sources to feed urban streams during dry periods. This causes the aquatic habitat in urban streams to become unsuitable for aquatic life.
Funding sources
We applied for and received an EPA, section 319 grant from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to help fund this project. The City of Rogers, AR through their restoration of the Lake Atalanta Park system, also included the planning, construction and installation of the pavers and sediment detention weirs as part of their overall park restoration project. Ozarks Water Watch provided grant administration, public education, outreach and case study activities for the project.
Another one of our previous paver projects is located in the Table Rock Lake region of the upper White River watershed in Kimberling City, MO. This project utilized PICP (pervious interlocking concrete pavers) to remodel a badly worn-out 3-acre parking area in the heart of this tourism-based community. The result of a this project is a beautiful, functional parking area that is designed to clean up storm water which used to flow across the old lot picking up pollutants, created puddling and periodically flooded several of the adjacent buildings. In addition, the PICP material is estimated to reduce the pollution loading to Table Rock Lake. See more details about this project Here.
