Technical Highlights

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conference

Right before Covid-19 appeared, some 15,000 persons involved in all aspects of transportation attended the 99th annual TRB conference in Washington, DC. This massive event provides a wealth of technical information, committee participation, networking, and presentation opportunities for ICPI. The January 2020 conference set the stage for two ICPI staff presentations, each about 30 minutes. One was on ASCE 68-18, a national design standard on PICP, and another on A Permeable Pavement Road Mapthat outlined technical requirements and institutional changes required for broader acceptance and use. ICPI participates as a member in Transportation Research Board committee meetings and attends technical presentations on the latest developments on pavement materials, design, construction, maintenance, sustainability, and resilience, with a view toward applications to segmental concrete pavement systems.

City of New Orleans, Louisiana

Unlike most flat, coastal cities, the City of New Orleans stores and manages stormwater insidetheir roads using permeable pavements. This municipal flood-control system is being expanded with the introduction of more permeable road pavements. Moreover, in September 2019 the City passed an ordinance requiring that all new parking lots on private property be constructed with permeable pavements. These events with previous ICPI staff technical assistance provided the context for two-hour virtual seminar in November 2020 on ASCE 68-18 hosted by City staff responsible for stormwater management. In addition, City staff received a detailed draft maintenance specification to aid in bids for outsourcing permeable pavement cleaning.

The event was supported by ICPI producer members that service the New Orleans market.

American Society of Civil Engineers Low Impact Development Conference

The popular, biennial ASCE LID international conference included a one-hour, in-depth virtual technical session by ICPI staff in July 2020 on ASCE 68-18, a national design standard on PICP. Maintenance received special emphasis. In addition, a 30-minute presentation on A Permeable Pavement Road Mapwas given by the report’s main author, Professor John Harvey, Director of the UC (Davis) Pavement Research Center. That report issued by the Center for Sustainable Transportation was co-authored by ICPI technical staff as a result of a 2017 workshop co-sponsored by ICPI and ICPI Foundation for Education & Research.

Outreach Working Around Covid-19, ICPI members and staff organized high-impact technical presentations on permeable interlocking concrete pavements (PICP) cohosted by national organizations and municipal governments.

FHWA Platform for Sustainable Pavements

Since its inception nine years ago, ICPI staff participates in bi-annual meetings of the FHWA Sustainable Pavements Technical Work Group. A unique mix of ~40 municipal and state DOT representatives, pavement consultants, association technical staff, industry representatives, academics, and FHWA provided opportunities for past ICPI staff presentations and contributions to online guidance documents on sustainable pavements. Meetings in 2020 focused on developing a document on building resilient pavements especially with increased damage from coastal sea rise and higher rainfall across much of the continent. These meetings provide unique opportunities to promote and PICP and ICP as resilience tools.

Canadian Cities Host PICP Seminar

The municipalities of

Calgary AB, London ON and Fredericton NB and

ICPI jointly hosted a wellattended PICP virtual symposium in early

December 2020. The session provided tools to design, specify, construct, and maintain PICP. Session presentations from municipal staff, engineering consultants, researchers, and ICPI staff framed a clear picture of benefits and well as responsibilities that make for successful projects. The event was sponsored by the ICPI Canadian Activities Fund which is supported by Canadian producer and associate members.

New in 2020

ICPI Joins TAC as Member

New in 2020, ICPI became an Association member of the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC). Staff attended the online Spring and Fall Pavement and Soil & Materials committee meetings, as well as the Workforce Development Council meetings. Staff also attended the TAC Online Annual Conference and Trade Show with the plan to submit presentations at future conferences.

Robert Bowers, ICPI Director of Engineering is active on TAC Pavements Committee, Soils & Materials Committee, and the Workforce Development Council.

2020 Projects Move Forward in 2021 to Institutionalize ICP and PICP

ASCE Funds Update of 2015 Permeable PavementsBook

ASCE’s Environmental Water Resources Institute’s Urban Water Resources Research Council and the ASCE Low Impact Development Committee supported updating the 250-page book, PermeablePavements headed by editors Kelly Lindow, P.E. and ICPI’s David R. Smith. ASCE pledged $15,000 for updating the technical drawings and will handle the document’s layout. An ASCE Permeable Pavements Task Committee is being formed to review and update the ten book chapters. ICPI Technical Committee members have volunteered to participate on this committee. This is a two-year project with substantial updates made to the text and graphics.

AASHTO Pavements HandbookCommittee to Review Proposed ICP and PICP Sections

What a difference time makes. First requested in 1992 and again in 2000 with AASHTO, but resulting in declines, ICPI now has an unprecedented opportunity to introduce ICP and PICP to state DOT and municipal road agencies via AASHTO. The opportunity comes by submitting text that, if approved, would appear in an update to the 2015 AASHTO Handbook on Pavement, Design, Construction and Management. Available in e-book format only, this opportunity emerged from an ongoing relationship of ICPI staff with AASHTO’s Subcommittee Chair on Pavement Design. This subcommittee is responsible for updating this 1000+ page manual sold by AASHTO.