---
title: "Pervious Pavement"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/pervious-pavement/"
id: "ELM-PVP-22"
description: "A load-bearing paving surface (permeable concrete, porous asphalt, or permeable interlocking pavers) engineered to allow stormwater to infiltrate directly through the pavement surface into a stone reservoir base below, rather than running off."
updated: "2026-09-26"
---

# Pervious Pavement

`ELM-PVP-22`

Situational / Discouraged Element

Pervious Pavement

A load-bearing paving surface (permeable concrete, porous asphalt, or permeable interlocking pavers) engineered to allow stormwater to infiltrate directly through the pavement surface into a stone reservoir base below, rather than running off.

## Why this pattern exists

Applied across a full-width surface (a parking lot, a full travel lane, a plaza), pervious pavement addresses runoff at a larger scale than a pervious strip while still functioning as a normal load-bearing driving or walking surface. This pattern exists to document its own structural and maintenance requirements, which differ meaningfully from conventional pavement.[1]

## Key considerations

-   Requires periodic vacuum-sweeping or similar maintenance to prevent surface clogging from sediment, without which infiltration capacity degrades over time
-   Structural design (reservoir base depth, subgrade condition) must be engineered for the expected load, not treated as a simple material swap over standard pavement
-   Not appropriate in all climates or soil conditions; freeze-thaw cycles and poor native drainage both affect performance and should be evaluated before specifying[2]

## Related patterns

[Pervious Strip](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/pervious-strip.md) (ELM-PVS-21) (a related, lower-scale treatment); [Surface Parking Lot](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/facilities/surface-parking-lot.md) (FAC-SPL-04) (Facility pattern where this often applies)

## References

1.  Legal / regulatory [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Menu of Best Management Practices, "Permeable Pavements" fact sheet.](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-11/bmp-permeable-pavements.pdf)
2.  Precedent-based [National Association of City Transportation Officials, _Urban Street Stormwater Guide_, "Pervious Pavement."](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/street-design-elements/stormwater-management/pervious-pavement/)

_"Legal / regulatory" here refers to the EPA guidance that municipal NPDES stormwater permits are legally built around, not a single mandatory design spec like MUTCD or PROWAG._