WSUD Solution for Un-Sealed Road in Armadale
Confronted with a dilemma of installing a hard surface or a gravel surface road in Armadale, residents chose the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), environmentally friendly option, of a porous gravel road.
SCR Landscapes considered the stormwater management challenges if they proceeded with a hard surface. The surface area would yield 5,000 litres of stormwater during a 20mm rain event. The existing strip drains, at the entrances to adjoining downstream properties, would be inundated by such an event. Water would advance into these properties where further stormwater mitigation solutions would need to be implemented.
Local Authorities are now obliged to increase the amount of water, retained & returned to the aquifer, on sites to reduce the volume of water entering the public stormwater infrastructure. One in one hundred year rain events are the benchmark when designing such WSUD solutions.
Another consideration was the residents’ concerns with an unstable gravel surface. The live movement of turning vehicles over unrestrained gravel produces wheel ruts, requiring constant repair & maintenance.
TurfpaveXD was installed over a sub-base of crushed rock and cells were backfilled with Fulton Hogan Tynong Quarry 14mm Screenings. TurfpaveXD helps keep the gravel surface in place.
As you can see from the pictures, the project has been a great success.
A big tick for WSUD and an aesthetically pleasing gravel cul-de-sac leading to a clutch of beautiful Armadale homes.
