Ground temperature in porous pavement during freezing and thawing

Porous pavements are widely used for local disposal of storm water. This pa per presents the results of a full-scale study of ground temperatures in po rous pavement during periods with prolonged freezing conditions and during snowmelt. The pavement construction was situated in a housing area in Lulea in northern Sweden, and it consisted of porous asphalt over an aggregate b ase of macadam. It was found that the cooling of the porous pavement was go verned by variations in ambient air temperature and that freezing of the so il below the subgrade was related to the freezing index. The porous pavemen t was more resistant to freezing than a conventional impermeable pavement d ue to higher water content in the underlying soil, which increased the late nt heat in the ground. Thawing of the porous pavement was a rapid process, which depended on meltwater infiltration. The thawing process in a comparab le impermeable pavement was slower.