Permeable Concrete Driveways for a Housing Unit Project
Several homes. One driveway. Not much spare ground on a block like that to take a downpour. On this residential unit complex, we poured Permcon across the shared driveway, the paths beside it and the communal areas between the homes: one connected surface instead of three separate jobs.
How permeable concrete driveways perform on a shared site
Rain passes through Permcon at 8,000 to 10,000 mm/hr. That's faster than any storm can deliver it, so residents aren't dodging puddles on the way to the car. Underneath, a typical driveway profile stores 37 to 42 litres per square metre and lets it soak away slowly. Strength doesn't give way for any of this: Permcon runs 25+ MPa, the same mix that goes down on car parks, with a 10-year structural warranty on every driveway. For the developer, that driveway now counts toward the permeable area a planning permit asks for, cutting the pipework and detention the site would otherwise need.
What the job needed
A unit development crowds a lot of hard surface onto one lot: the shared driveway, the paths running beside it, precious little ground left to soak up rain. Dense concrete would have sent that water into the gutters and pits, or into a detention tank the developer then has to squeeze in somewhere. Here the ask was simpler. Keep the driveway and paths draining through heavy rain without handing the body corporate a maintenance headache once the homes are occupied.
What we poured
Permcon, our permeable concrete, went down across the connected driveway, path and communal areas as one continuous surface. Standard thickness on the driveway: 125 mm, over a base of clean screenings underneath.
- Shared driveways between the units
- Pedestrian paths alongside them
- Communal areas between the homes
One pour means no joints to rock loose over time. Bedding sand isn't part of the build, so nothing washes out underneath. And there's no gap for weeds to use.
Where the ground beneath won't take water fast enough, an under-drain lets it out at a controlled rate instead of banking it up. Unit developments and shared driveways are a large part of what we do. Our permeable concrete driveways page covers thickness, finishes and what's in a quote. We're happy to look over a site plan before any of the drainage design gets locked in.