Sneak Peek of Boeddekker Park- A Tenderloin gem
The Grand Opening of Boeddeker Park is on December 10, 2014 from 1-4pm. The park is located in the Tenderloin at 246 Eddy Street in San Francisco.* Why are we so excited about this park? Because most of the hardscape is our Fine Grain Pervious Concrete! And it looks gorgeous!
We hope you swing by to check it out, either on the 10th or sometime after. It has exercise equipment for adults, play equipment for children and seating and grass for general playing. It is a lovely open oasis in the middle of the Tenderloin. For more information about this park click here to go tot he SF recreation department page on the celebration.
When it dries out a bit, we will be posting more photos, so come on back!
*Screen cap of a map below
White Hill Middle School Gets a Brand New Courtyard!
The finishing touches were just getting completed as teachers were prepping classrooms in anticipation of classes starting. It was very exciting!
We were able to get this fantastic design installed with the help of a dedicated team of design professionals. Joel Williams and Pauline Souza from WRNS Studios were invaluable as design advocates for pervious concrete from the beginning of the project. Mike Hastings, from Sherwood Engineering, was the civil on the project, and his collaboration and cooperation on the technical aspects enabled us keep momentum going. We look forward to working with both of these firms in the future, for more pervious concrete projects!!
And here is our favorite shot - a close up of the nice tidy finish, and the subtle color variations in the polished finish the school administrators were looking for.
More Photos of the Valley Oak Co-Housing Project
Tell us what you think! Do these look like livable hardscapes to you? Honestly, I just want to pet that puppy! 
Commodore Park in San Jose is now ready for a Frisbee!
If you head out there, please send us photos of you enjoying the park! We will post them here!
UC Berkeley's newest path is pervious
This is where the path is adjacent to Optometry Lane.
Sausalito Fairytale: Harrison Park
Have you been? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below:
NRMCA Technician Training in Truckee- A Success!
Pervious Concrete Technician Course offered in Truckee!
Pervious Patios at the Hyatt Regency
The Hyatt wanted a new look and feel for two areas on either side of a walkway that connected the north entrance and the parking garage. They wanted to rip out the existing plants and replace it with a usable patio space. They also wanted pervious concrete - so they called us!
We came in and removed the existing plants and material, making room for the drain rock base and the pervious concrete.
After we installed the Polished Pervious® concrete, we scored it, completing the look. The Hyatt put out this sleek and modern furniture, turning this previously unusable corner into a nice place to take a break! Below is the larger area, to the east of the pathway. Beneath that is the smaller area, to the west.
If you have a before and after job for us, let us know- contact us or leave a comment below!
Stormwater Sleuthing - Episode 1
What did you think? Do you have a Stormwater Sleuthing location (in the Bay Area) that you would like David to investigate the next time it rains? Let us know in the comments below or contact us here. Thanks!
I Spy Videos and Pervious Concrete
We have created an ISPY video on the World's Longest Driveway! Can you find all of the items listed below? Feel free to send this link to the keenest eyes you know. Use the full screen option, to catch all the great details! It took me 3 tries to catch everything - how many did it take you? A list of the items is below the video.
Egg carton, Buzz Lightyear toy, V8 bottle, Clipboard, Rubber rat, Hammer, Talking lizards, Santa hat, Manila envelope, Wall-E figurine, Hackeysack, Tennis shoe, Hardshell glasses case, Blonde doll in a pink dress (polly pocket), Rubber chicken, Stack of CDs, Newspaper, Pliers, Roll of tape, Magnifying glass, Padlock and key, The Lost World paperback book, Stuffed animal monkey, Spray bottle & Bar Simpson doll
How many objects did you catch the first time?
Pervious Concrete Protects Trees!
Normally, it is inadvisable to pave inside the drip line* of a tree. Depending on the size and age of a tree that can be a fairly sizable area. This can be problematic when traffic or use requires paving close to the tree. When traditional impervious pavements are installed near older established trees, it can spell the end of the tree. Is that true of pervious concrete?
It turns out there are two students at Texas A&M are doing this very research! Their recent work reveals pervious concrete does, in fact, enhance the growing conditions of established trees relative to traditional concrete. They poured traditional concrete around a few established trees, pervious concrete around a few established trees and left a few trees with no cover for the control, and measured tree health for a little over a year. The results: the trees surrounded by the pervious concrete had more trunk growth during the year then the trees surrounded by the traditional concrete!
What does this mean for you? The good news is that you can integrate pervious concrete paving into plant friendly parking lots and hardscape design, knowing that you are not compromising tree health. This also may open previously impossible parking or other paving possibilities due to the ability to extend the pervious concrete closer to the tree, well within the drip line. Yes, it can make installation tricky, but it can be done!
The takeaway is that pervious concrete is great for protecting mature trees. As you can see above, our clients think so too!
*If you are like me, you may have never heard of a tree's drip line before. The drip line refers to the outermost point of the tree's canopy where rain water runoff drips onto the ground below. With a large tree, that may extend many feet out from the trunk. Here is where I found this out.
Volder, A. & Watson, T. (in preparation). "Effect of porous concrete on diameter growth and gas exchange of mature American sweetgum (Liquidamber styraciflua) trees".
Pervious Concrete at Capp Plaza!
This time for the Capp Street Plaza, near the Mission Street and Cesar Chavez intersection. Someday soon more pervious concrete will be in San Francisco! If you would like a bid, or more information on the project, please contact us soon! Bids are due tomorrow at 2:30pm!
Bay Area Pervious Concrete
650 273 6073
questions at bayareaperviousconcrete dot com
The Greenest Mix - Pervious Concrete can get GREENER!
Guest post, written by David Liguori
I wanted to give you a quick update on one of the more significant developments we’ve achieved lately.
In our continuing quest to further improve the performance of pervious concrete we have developed an “ultra-green” mix design for which we have recently received test data. The mix contains only 245 lbs. of cement, vs. 5-600 lbs. for regular concrete, and 245 lbs. of supplementary cementitious materials (scm). The scm consists of a combination of fly ash and slag, both industrial waste products.
We used this mix this past January on a 2,000 ft. long (by 10’ wide) driveway in Palo Alto(photo above) and 3 months ago on a 5,000 sqft. driveway in Los Altos Hills (photo below). They are both performing quite impressively. Absolutely no surface raveling, all of which typically takes place in the first month or two if it’s going to happen, water infiltration rates of 700-1,200” per hour and compressive strengths above 3,000 psi.
As I am sure you know the addition of the scm’s slows down the rate of early strength gains but ultimately results in higher overall strength. In the case of the ultra-green mix our 28 day numbers are in the 2,600 – 2,900 psi range and to our delight the recent 90 day test came in at an outstanding 3,520psi. These type of results and data continue to increase our confidence in pervious concrete as viable long term stormwater management solution.
If you would like more details, contact us here and we will get in touch!
This is the video from the longest (and greenest) pervious concrete driveway in the world!
2 Symptoms of Failed Pervious Concrete - Raveling and Sealing
Recently it has come to our attention that there appears to be a discrepancy in what a high-quality pervious concrete jobs looks like, and what has been passed off as high quality but in fact is not at all quality.
Failed installations have 2 main features: raveling and sealing.
Raveling is when the aggregate comes off of the slab as cement coated gravel. That can be an indication of poor mix design, poor installation technique or even misunderstand the weather's impact on the day of the pour.
Sealing is when the water pools and does not go through. It is possible to have sealing at the top, where it looks blotchy, or just beneath the surface such that the finish looks appropriate but does not drain. This is an indication of poor mix design. An experienced pervious concrete installer understands how critical the proper mix is and works closely with his ready-mix partners to get it right.
As we at BAPC have said before, pervious concrete is a tricky material and only those who are qualified, experienced and show a commitment to ongoing learning about techniques and mix designs are able to install and place pervious concrete with a consistent high quality.
We have created this video, complete with an amazing sound track, to illustrate what failed pervious concrete looks like, and what successful pervious concrete looks like. If you would like us to come out and evaluate your slab, or better yet, if you would like it done well the first time, please contact us.
Bunyan Pervious Roast 2012 - hot days in the desert!
Out in the Nevada desert, outside of the Vegas we know is a far dustier affair known as the Pervious Roast. Dave Mitchell and team put together a spectacular 3+ days of speakers, pervious pours and food, which by all accounts was very informative and fun.
Our own David Liguori spoke at an un-scheduled moment to go over what goods and the not-so-good installations look and sound like. The video will be posted in an upcoming blog post. There were also presentations from Scott Erickson of Evolution Paving, and Jereme Montgomery.
BAPC's Rob Estrada was able to snag a picture with Matt Offenberg, of bell-ringing fame. You can see how glad they are to head into the (air conditioned) NRMCA meeting.
~ Update: Lauren Wray
- Photo Credits: Robert Estrada, David Liguori, Lauren Wray
RC Ready Mix - Sample Slab with Decorative Pervious
We teamed up with RC Ready Mix to do a sample pour over in their yard, with their aggregate. They wanted to see how it went down, and we wanted to see how our mix design would work with their rocks. Not only did the installation turn out REALLY WELL, but Rob Estrada was able to really show us all a few MORE possibilities for decorative pervious concrete!
The first question is always ‘how well does it drain?’ Check out the video below to watch the front end loader dump a bucketful of water on the slab!
We agree with the driver, thumbs up! A few days later, Rob went over there to try some designs to see how they could look. We are well known for our Polished Pervious™, which you can see below, next to the Classic Pervious Concrete.
Then he added some designs. There are arc-like flagstone shapes on the left, and more rustic stone shapes on the right.
To get a closer look at the great texture, we took a close up. You can see the Polished Pervious Concrete ™, and then set into the pervious a pattern that was added well after the plastic was pulled up.
And here is where Rob really let loose! As Rob added these layers of color and texture to the Pervious Concrete, you can see the window that RC Ready Mix installed when they were framing. That allows one to see the water going through the layers of the Pervious Concrete System.
Here is most of the slab - you can see the suns and the moon and the gorgeous colors that were used!
If you would like to see this in person, it will only be in the yard for a limited time. Contact us or RC Ready Mix in Livermore for more information.
Pervious in Paradise 2012
Bay Area Pervious Concrete went to the US Virgin Islands for the Pervious in Paradise conference. David Liguori attended, because well, someone had to!
It was a great meeting with a small group with most of the attendees presenting content over the 2 days of speaker and 2 days of break outs. David presented on the Bay Are Pervious Concrete decorative finishes. We have a downloadable deck of our decorative finishes here.
The final day everyone gathered at a local school to pour a driveway with a local contractor. The concrete truck had to take a ferry to get to the island from the batch plant an island over. The mix was 2 hours old before it even arrived on the site! Fortunately, we had had many, many qualified folks to help offer guidance, work, shovel and supervise.
See you next time!
Tweet comments with @BayAreaPervious and @NPCPA #PerviousinParadise
A new parking lot at the Beth Abraham Temple
Monday we poured pervious concrete in the parking lot of the Temple Beth Abraham. Above is the finished first of 2 slabs. Below you can see the pervious pavers and pea gravel they had installed before:
And here is the after:
As you can see there is still a drainage system, an artifact from the previous installation. It gets an early retirement, and the water will now infiltrate back into the native soil. And in the below, you can see our truck!
Our most recent pour: Los Altos Hills
Location: Los Altos Hills
Size: 103 yards
Job: pervious concrete, with decorative finish to be completed in 2 weeks
walkway, driveway, hardscape as part of full remodel
It was a gorgeous day to be completing the pour in Los Altos Hills Monday. Here you can see our crew carefully finishing the pour. The last of the concrete heading to the curb of this almost complete remodel, just before the last of it was covered in plastic while it cures.
We will be posting more pictures of the finished job in the coming weeks. Check back soon! In the meantime, if you would like a free estimate, contact us today!
Redwood Avenue - Driveway
The client had flooding in the back and front of the house due to an uneven grade of the lot and excessive roof runoff.
Why Pervious Concrete?
He initially wanted a pervious concrete driveway because of impervious ground cover limitations in his city.
The Solution:
We designed a pervious concrete driveway and side yard that is also the retention pond for all of the roof and yard runoff.The pervious concrete water retention system captures 100% of their runoff from the roof AND the lot. They now have a dry front yard, back yard and they can grill just off the kitchen without puddles!
