The permeable city – a resilient city capable of managing the resource sustainably

Figure: Cerib

Rainwater retention basin - Portes des Alpes - Saint-Priest

Figure: Cerib

Porous concrete paving blocks, …

Figure: Cerib

… widened joints concrete pavements …

Figure: Cerib

… and permeable slabs “concrete grass grids”

Figure: Cerib

Modular precast concrete products for surface runoff infiltration structures: technical specifications [1]

Figure: Cerib

Figure: Cimbeton

Schematic diagram of a porous structure

Figure: Cimbeton

Figure: Hydrocyl

Example of a porous structure (Hydrocyl)

Figure: Hydrocyl

Figure: Cerib

Realization of a retention structure by assembling prefabricated elements

Figure: Cerib

Mechanical strength test on concrete pipe for certification

Figure: Cerib

Handling on site

Figure: Cerib

Sophie Jacob

Eng. Civil, Cerib - Precast Concrete Industry Study & Research Centre, Head of Civil engineering department, Èpernon, France

Elisabeth Sibeud

Eng. Civil, Metropole de Lyon – Head of studies and works – Water and waste direction, Lyon, France

The „Permeable City“ project of the Lyon metropolis started in 2015, ending in 2017. It consisted of a technical and financial evaluation of alternative storm water management achievements on more than 20 sites in the metropolis, and have lead to a guide to design and management of storm water in urban development projects.

Since 1995, the management policy at the source of rainwater has allowed the creation of new floodplains of very high quality (like the lake in the photo below) and the emergence of „alternative“ techniques that are essentially aimed at infiltrating rainwater closer to where they fall.

Today, even if only 15 % of the metropolitan area of Lyon has a separate rainwater collection network, 50 % of the runoff water is managed “in situ” (on the plot, by wells, ditches, ponds) and which directly join the streams or the groundwater to renew them without altering their quality.

The „Permeable City“...