Reader's Response with Summary on Porous Asphalt Is King of the Road (Draft 2, 10102020)

 

In the article “Porous Asphalt Is King of the Road”, PaveGreen (n.d.) claims that porous asphalt is the best pavement surface. The world sees a need to fight pollution and are doing all they could to slow down the rate of global warming as our climate is changing faster than predicted. Porous asphalt pavement is one way to improve safety, reduce erosion, and mitigate water pollution. What makes porous asphalt different is, under the pavement is a “recharge bed” built of stones with spaces between them allowing water to flow through. Rainwater sinks through the pavement into the recharge bed and filtered out into the earth. This concept is also used on superhighways for safety purposes. It sharpens the visibility during rainstorms. During winter, it helps to reduce the need for de-icing. The writer also mentions that adopting the use of porous asphalt is a cheap solution for going green considering that the cost is similar to typical asphalt. 



Porous asphalt should be used instead of conventional asphalt as it helps to slow down the rate of global warming by allowing naturally filtered water to return to the environment.

In the last 50 years, heavy downpours have increased in frequency and intensity as greenhouse gas emissions and the temperature of Earth continues to rise (Kennedy, 2014). With heavy downpours, in many contexts is welcomed as water is provided and necessary for agriculture and human use.

It is also responsible for deadly and destructive flash flooding (Schumacher, 2017). Flash flood starts rapidly as a result of heavy downpours, particularly on urban road networks. The issue happens when the road surfaces are not permeable, where water will not have a place to go. This is followed by water to building up due to the drainage system exceeding their capacity. On the other hand, debris blockage can also affect the rate of drainage thus forming a flood.

According to (Abraham, 2018), the increasing temperature of Earth is causing the “ice sheet” in Antarctica to melt thus increasing the sea level. For every year, the sea level increases by another 3.2mm (Nunez, n.d.). The increase in sea level can result in destructive erosion, agricultural soil contamination with salt and create an imbalance in the runoff and ocean evaporation cycles leading to heavy downpours and floods.

Floods can pose danger to the environment especially when certain hazard content like motor-vehicle oil, antifreeze, and pesticides are released (Floods: Minimizing pollution and health risks, n.d.).  Floods that happen on the road networks are contaminated with toxic chemicals from vehicles and soil. They are then washed into the river, residential and agricultural areas (Freiman, 2014).

To combat this situation, porous asphalt should be used in urban road networks instead of the conventional asphalt. Porous asphalt is constructed by an “all-nature material using rocks glued together with asphalt cement (PaveGreen, n.d.)”. Permeable pavements are particularly useful in urban road networks as it catches rainwater and reduces the impacts of urban runoff. Furthermore, the rainwater it catches will undergo filtration by the layers of rocks, stones, and soil and does not have to be transported to a storm drains and eventually main waterways. Once filtration is completed, the now ‘clean’ rainwater will then be returned to our earth.

With the environmental benefits that porous asphalt brings, it is also more cost-effective. Without the need for a stormwater runoff system as porous asphalt reduces demand on the storm sewers, it eliminates the need to implement a management solution such as a retention pond. This will help to save cost by using porous asphalt (Mrugacz, 2017).

In conclusion, I feel that porous asphalt should be used in urban road networks and be implemented in the city areas as well because of its natural filtration mechanism to reduce water pollution. It can also prevent flash flood from occurring which will help slow down the rate of global warming.

 

(645 words)

 

References

Abraham, J. (2018, May 9). Global warming is melting Antarctic ice from below. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/may/09/global-warming-is-melting-antarctic-ice-from-below

Floods: Minimizing pollution and health risks. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.pca.state.mn.us: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/waste/floods-minimizing-pollution-and-health-risks

Freiman, A. (2014, Sep 19). Microbial and chemical contamination during and after flooding in the Ohio River—Kentucky, 2011. Retrieved from NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5629288/

Kennedy, C. (2014, March 4). Heavy Downpours More Intense Frequent Warmer World. Retrieved from Climate.gov: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/heavy-downpours-more-intense-frequent-warmer-world

Mrugacz, J. (2017, May 2). Porous Asphalt Paving - Cost And Environmental Benefits. Retrieved from wolfpaving,com: https://www.wolfpaving.com/blog/bid/55431/porous-asphalt-paving-cost-and-environmental-benefits

Nunez, C. (n.d.). Sea level rise, explained. Retrieved from www.nationalgeographic.com: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/#:~:text=When%20sea%20levels%20rise%20as,fish%2C%20birds%2C%20and%20plants.

PaveGreen. (n.d.). Porous Asphalt Is King of the Road. Retrieved from PaveGreen: http://www.pavegreen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58:king-of-the-road&catid=35:porous-asphalt&Itemid=110

Schumacher, R. S. (2017, March). Naturalhazardscience. Retrieved from Oxford Research Encyclopedias: https://oxfordre.com/naturalhazardscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.001.0001/acrefore-9780199389407-e-132

 

 

 

 


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