True North Permeable Driveway In Elizabethtown PA

This award-winning permeable driveway in Lancaster PA all began with one phone call from Jim and Michele. Because of their property’s prime location near the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the entire surrounding community is required to have permeable driveways. The majority of these driveways are asphalt. However, permeable asphalt has some limitations, such as having no method of cleaning when clogging occurs. 

Jim and Michele found themselves in this exact situation. Their driveway was completely clogged up, and they were looking for a low-maintenance and beautiful driveway that would remain fully permeable while adding some extra parking to their property. They also wanted to ensure that the driveway would be capable of supporting heavy delivery trucks.

We were happy to deliver on all of these requests! With over 4,000 square feet of work, this permeable driveway remains one of the largest projects we’ve tackled. We dubbed this project “True North” as the compass does indeed point towards the true north. True North won first prize in the Permeable Paver category in the 2020 Hardscape North America Awards!

While the original driveway had a fairly straight approach the the home, we added some width and graceful curves to create more visual interest to the property. The focal point of this project is the custom compass rose that is thirty feet wide. There is a thirty-six-inch elevation change from the street to the lowest point of the parking area, which required multiple dikes and overflow systems to be installed. With an infiltration rating of 400+ inches per hour through the pavers and the capability to store 3-4 inches of rainfall, this permeable driveway allows huge amounts of water to infiltrate into the aquifer rather than contributing to local flooding.

Thanks, Jim and Michele, for the opportunity to build True North for you! It truly was a pleasure working with you, and this remains one of our favorite projects!

Fun fact: With a one-inch rainfall, this permeable driveway in Elizabethtown PA collects 2,600 gallons of water!