Environmental Sustainability: Permeable Concrete In Houston

Callista Wilson
Mr. Roddy
GPHC
20 September 2018

Environmental Sustainability: Permeable Concrete In Houston  
The city of Houston is a place filled with opportunity, diversity, culture-- and concrete. According to The Houston Chronicle, three-hundred and sixty thousand buildings were constructed between 2000 and 2015. Correspondingly, paved parking areas and walkways have also been created to support these buildings. As The Greater Houston Area constantly continues to expand, it is in the best interest of the city as a whole to compensate for constant development through the implementation of infrastructure which can adapt to the city’s environmental needs. Demographically, the city of Houston resides close to sea level, within close proximity of the Gulf of Mexico, and the land itself is fairly flat. For these reasons, it is nearly impossible to avoid encountering major tropical storms and hurricanes, however, it may be possible to mitigate the effects of future events of mass rainfall by installing permeable concrete in replacement to existing (non-permeable) concrete.
For starters, when a city experiences flooding due to mass rainfall, pollutants and other chemicals from around the city are carried through the water and dispersed amongst the city’s  remaining vegetation. Further, as the sea level continues to rise due to the melting of glaciers (caused by excess heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere), the city of Houston becomes more vulnerable to experiencing the full wrath of tropical systems, which may affect the overall environment of the city in terms of whether or not it is fit to be lived in. For these reasons, it is necessary that Houston aims to prevent environmental damage due to flooding, and permeable concrete can certainly help to accomplish this. Topmix Permeable a product created by Tarmac (a company based in the United Kingdom) is a great example of what can be used in the city of Houston. This concrete is designed with small connecting air pockets, so that water can be absorbed by this concrete, and can later allow the ground to become saturated with water which would otherwise be filling non permeable streets and spreading pollutants. As the City Mayor, I propose that all future roads which are either built or reconstructed in the city of Houston be comprised of permeable concrete.

Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/31/us/houston-harvey-flooding-urban-planning/index.html     

Comments

Mr. Roddy said…
Hi Callista,
Interesting post! I wonder what the obstacles to permeable concrete have been such that there isn't much on roads currently?
September 26, 2018 at 2:25 PM
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