In their new-build projects and projects to restore the permeability of trafficked areas, municipal authorities are increasingly relying on decentralised precipitation drainage instead of the ever more costly conventional approach of diverting rainfall into regional watercourses or sewage plants.
Here, the industry can offer a wide range of paving systems featuring drainage capabilities which meet the specifications of most applications and loads. Most of these systems, however, are not suitable for withstanding strong horizontal and radial stresses such as the braking force and torque associated with motor vehicle traffic.
SF-Kooperation’s VS5 “ECO” paver is the first to be able to claim both attributes: permeability and heavy-duty.
Following short-term trends and flooding the concrete paver market with even more – and admittedly increasingly similar – products is not the reason why SF-Kooperation’s product developers have produced this new paver. The quality standards they have set themselves are high – so much so that the time required from paver design to product maturity can extend over several years. Every prototype has to undergo extensive scientific testing and practical trials before it is ready to face the competition as a well thought-through and mature product.
Not long ago, this was likewise the procedure undergone by the VS5 paving system, which sets new standards in the heavy-duty paving category with its increased shear protection on all four sides and the paver underside (hence the name “VS5”). SF-Kooperation now intends to build on the success of this paving system by adding the VS5 “ECO” model featuring a high permeability.
The appearance of VS5 ECO is harmonious, and the paver looks neither like a typical heavy-duty product nor like an “eco” product. Its big advantages are hidden beneath the visible paved surface.
Compared with other paving systems in its category, the VS5 ECO features unique joints covering approximately 10% of the total paved area, and its interlocking spacers located beneath the visible surface can ensure a strong bond. This makes the VS5 ECO an ideal product for trafficked areas subject to high horizontal stresses such as bends, manoeuvring areas and highly frequented car parks. The paving remains stable even under the heavy loads typical of, for example, a forwarding agent’s premises.
With suitable jointing and bedding material composed of 1/3mm crushed stone and with an appropriately permeable load-carrying layer (kf >/= 5,4 10-5m/s), the VS5 ECO system can gradually drain the average rainfall measured over a five-year period, i.e. 270l/(s x ha), and thus help ease the pressure on the sewerage system.
The VS5 ECO is available as a 225mm paver with nominal thicknesses of 80mm and 100mm, and with its interlocking spacers can be combined with the classical VS5 system in a 300mm modular format without affecting the shear resistance feature of the two systems. Extensive technical information on the product and design software for permeable pavings are available free of charge from SF-Kooperation’s website.