160 Business View - November 2015
recharge our aquifers, but it also allows for storm water
filtration; it filters some of the pollutants in the runoff from
our urban environment.” In addition, the city also included
a method for determining how well the pavers would work.
“We have a fairly robust water quality and monitoring pro-
gram. We were able to install a pressure transducer in the
permeable interlocking concrete paver base and we’re
able to evaluate that system to see how well it’s perform-
ing,” he adds.
Another benefit, according to Ballard, was the use of “Silva
Cells,” the suspended pavement system that the city em-
ployed when redeveloping the streetscape. Suspended
pavement is a general term for any technology that sup-
ports the weight of paving, thereby creating a void space
underneath. The Silva Cell is a modular suspended pave-
ment system, composed of frames and decks. Each frame
holds about 10 cubic feet of soil and they can be stacked
atop one another before being topped with a deck in order
INFRASTRUCTURE
