Date: November 9, 2007

Chaney Enterprises Donates Pervious Concrete to SERC

Chaney Enterprises donated eco-friendly pervious concrete to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, MD, providing a “green technology” to help manage storm water runoff at the campus.

Tuck Hines, director of SERC, is enthusiastic about this opportunity. “The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is very pleased to work with Chaney Enterprises and Severn Associates to install a pervious concrete walkway and parking area at our Education Building to apply new ‘green technology’ that will reduce storm water runoff and improve environmental conditions in the Bay. I believe that this is an important step forward and will become a common integrated part of a new strategy for reducing runoff,” related Hines.

To complete this project, Chaney Enterprises partnered with Severn Associates General Contractors of Annapolis, MD and PCM Construction’s Concrete Division out of Beltsville, MD. “Severn Associates recognizes the importance of conservation efforts and forward-thinking construction practices that will help protect the environment---and to that end we are happy to be a part of this project and donate our time and resources in the form of this joint venture gift to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center,” said Morris Lewis, President of Severn Associates General Contractors. “We feel that pervious concrete will be an integral part of smart development in the future and we feel its application should be among the strongest of our core competencies moving forward,” he added.

The research center’s main campus encompasses 2,800 acres along the Rhode River, a sub-estuary of the Chesapeake Bay, and includes forest, cropland, pasture, freshwater wetlands, tidal marshes, and estuaries. The research center serves as a natural laboratory and a focal point for long-term monitoring programs and research projects.
Pervious concrete has been successfully used for low-volume streets, driveways, sidewalks, golf cart paths, retaining walls, slope protection, and French drains. It can also be utilized for a variety of paving projects.

Although first used in 1852, pervious concrete is receiving renewed interest, partly because of federal clean water legislation. The high flow rate of water through a pervious concrete pavement allows rainfall to be captured and percolate into the ground, reducing storm water runoff. This quality can offer a solution for construction that is sensitive to environmental concerns, and assist owners with EPA storm water compliance.