Gone are the days of sloppily waddling your way through a waterlogged sidewalk or waiting for sewers to lazily drain excess water on the streets. With the advent of permeable concrete, water-logging woes have been solved.
The idea of liquid-absorbing construction material is not a recent innovation. In fact, the first permeable pavements were implemented in the 1800s. However, due to their low-durability factor, they were not as popular back then. Several cement manufacturers have since tried to come up with different versions of the concrete that could hold up heavy traffic without compromising its permeability without success.
Topmix Permeable Concrete, a creation of Lafarge Tarmac, can drain water at a rate that has never been seen before. Reportedly, this concrete tippler can drink 600 litres of stormwater in one minute without waiting to catch its breath. If you were to see this revolutionary phenomenon in action, it would be like witnessing the greatest magic show the world has ever encountered. And remarkably, like the earth’s biggest filtering machine, this concrete does not allow other impurities like oil residue seep through.
While the Topmix concrete has perks aplenty, there is one major flaw that every pervious pavement suffers from – it cannot handle extremely heavy loads. However, Lafarge Tarmac has attested that though the product cannot be used for highways and traffic-strewn roads, it can safely be implemented over pavements, parking lots, jogging tracks, medium-sized driveways, alleyways, and even roads with moderate traffic. In other words, you can now walk or ride a bike in the fiercest storms without a struggle.
Topmix Permeable Concrete could have significant real-life implications, especially as we combat global warming at an unprecedented rate. Rapid urbanization means more of the earth being covered in non-water absorbing surfaces; Topmix could be the life-saving factor in urban flash-floods. It’s not only entertaining to watch in action, but is also a true necessity in today’s world.