Permeable pavement monitoring underway in Marda Loop, Calgary by Mount Royal University

Posted on May 17, 2026 in Monitoring, Research, Permeable Pavement, RAM Working Group

Dr. Jian “Jay” Huang and his team at Mount Royal University are advancing research on the Marda Loop permeable pavement installation in Calgary. The project is evaluating performance over time through four main objectives: surface infiltration, runoff mitigation, water quality, and modelling.

 

Preliminary surface infiltration testing has been underway since September 2024 and is helping track how infiltration capacity changes over time, including the potential effects of clogging and maintenance activities such as street cleaning or vacuum/power washing. Discussion during RAM highlighted the importance of understanding whether there is a practical “target” long-term infiltration rate, how quickly performance degrades, and how maintenance can restore or sustain function.

 

The runoff mitigation component will assess whether the system is primarily reducing runoff rate, volume, or both. Members also discussed the potential value of flood testing or controlled loading to better understand how water moves through the system and how much of the storage volume is effectively used.

 

The water quality component will include field and laboratory work to assess pollutant removal. Constituents of interest include TSS, nutrients, metals, and potentially traffic-related pollutants such as tire and particle wear compounds. RAM discussion emphasized that pollutant removal in open-joint, aggregate-based permeable pavement systems may rely heavily on filtration/straining of solids and colloids, while dissolved constituents may depend more on biological processes such as biofilm development. Questions were also raised about sediment deposition beneath pavers, aggregate depth, and how maintenance practices may influence water quality interpretation.

 

The modelling component is intended to support future engineering design by integrating field infiltration data, runoff response, water quality information, and maintenance effects. The team is currently using analytical tools such as Python/MATLAB, with RAM members also raising questions about potential linkages to commonly used municipal modelling platforms such as PCSWMM.

 

Key discussion questions from RAM included:

• How should long-term infiltration performance be interpreted, and is there a meaningful target rate?
• What role do maintenance practices play in sustaining or restoring infiltration capacity?
• Should runoff mitigation be evaluated by rate reduction, volume reduction, or both?
• Which water quality constituents are most relevant for permeable pavement systems?
• How should sediment deposition, biofilm development, and aggregate depth be considered?
• Would flood testing or controlled loading help validate design assumptions?
• How can modelling outputs be made useful for municipal design, review, and implementation?

 

Overall, the Marda Loop research has strong potential to improve local understanding of permeable pavement performance, maintenance needs, runoff mitigation, and design assumptions in urban retrofit contexts. It also appears well aligned with broader ALIDP/RAM interests in monitoring interpretation, practical design guidance, and knowledge transfer.

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