Alleenfeld newbuild housing development paved with Stuttgarter Sickerstein

When a new housing area is developed in Germany, the roads often initially consist of loose crushed rock and are mostly completed only after a major part of the building construction works has been implemented. The evident reason for this is that the just-completed roadway must be protected from damage by heavy construction vehicles. This benefit comes at the expense of the residents who must live with considerable dirt and dust.

In the Freudental municipality, in the rural district of Ludwigsburg in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, a housing estate is currently being developed where the roads and sidewalks were paved from the very beginning, before final completion of the construction work. The roads and sidewalks have stood up well despite the heavy traffic loads imposed on them. At the same time, precipitation around the built-up area can infiltrate into the ground.

Ecological and clean from the beginning

On a site of approximately three hectares, construction is currently underway at the new Alleenfeld housing estate, which consists of 38 single-family houses, three multi-family dwellings and 14 units in duplex and row houses. Construction of the substructure and part of the pavement were already completed by the end of 2021. The circular residential street around the estate was asphalted and the connecting roads, a few intersection areas, a playground and the sidewalks were surfaced with special concrete block pavement. Ann-Kathrin Meilicke of Modus Consult Gericke GmbH & Co. KG from Karlsruhe describes the construction work as follows: “We decided for optical reasons to pave all areas where it was possible with concrete blocks.”

The planner searched for a paving with attractive coloring that would visually enhance the road space. At the same time, particular technical requirements were placed on the paving. These resulted from the heavy loads imposed by construction vehicles and later, after completion of the construction phase, by loads from refuse collection and delivery trucks. Furthermore, two other aspects were important for the planner: “On the one hand, we were searching for a regional supplier for the area of 2,900 m² to be paved. On the other, we had to observe the specification of the municipality to infiltrate precipitation as closely as possible to the built-up area.”

Good experience with the permeable Stuttgarter Sickerstein

Since the Freudental municipality had already had very good experience with the permeable Stuttgarter Sickerstein supplied by the concrete plant Betonwerk Adolf Blatt at nearby Kirchheim am Necker, this concrete plant was first choice. The planner from Modus Consult explained: “The permeable Stuttgart paving block from Adolf Blatt permits precipitation to infiltrate directly through the permeable block.” This paving block was installed in the format 24 x 16 cm and in thicknesses of 8, 10 and 14 cm.

Made of porous concrete, the blocks easily satisfied the specifications: water permeability at least 540 liters per second per hectare. This is twice the designed-for rainfall and means that there will be only negligible surface drainage even in case of heavier rain events. The planner continues: “Although the block-paved and the asphalted surfaces are connected to the sewer, the major part of the water would infiltrate the blocks into the basecourse.” The small joints of the block pavement represent another advantage. The permeable Stuttgarter Sickerstein, unlike other permeable systems, is installed with a relatively narrow joint width of 3 to 5 mm, minimizing in this way, as a side effect, the growth of invasive weeds.

Sandstone-yellow pavement creates a beautiful ambiance

Does the newly installed block pavement resist loads imposed by construction vehicles? For the sidewalks, blocks of 10 cm thickness were installed and, for the mixed-traffic surface blocks, even up to 14 cm. Laid in elbow pattern, the result is a very stable surface, although the blocks were made of porous concrete. And the appearance of the paved areas is also optically impressive: the sidewalks in sandstone yellow and especially the playground paved in this shade of color create a beautiful ambiance in the new housing area. For the  the road surface, the decision was made to use Novita – a trendy shell limestone color shade.