Observations
★WRA Reflection
Diane│Sean│Demi│Kevin│Iris│Ian│Gordan│Philip│Ariel│Kathleen
Diane Wang
The pavement was made using plastic, and it was able to bear the weight of a car and two people combined.
The visit to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian was different from our previous ones. We not only went to see the JW Eco-Technology Pavement, but we also saw other types of pavement. We saw the grass brick pavement used mostly in parking lots, and we also saw the permeable brick pavement, which is suitable for sidewalks. Among these, the JW Eco-Technology was the best because it could endure heavy load, make the surrounding area a comfortable place, allow water to infiltrate through its surface quickly, lower the surface temperature, and many others. I wish it were the most widely used pavement.
Chief Yang used a sprinkler to sprinkle some water on the pavements, showing us how the different types of pavement have different rates of infiltration. Sure enough, the JW Eco-Technology had the fastest infiltration rate, whereas the permeable brick was the slowest, and there was even water left on its surface. This shows that we should promote the JW Eco-Technology instead of using the seemly-effective-but-in-fact-not permeable bricks. Therefore, it can decrease the chance of flooding in the city and help create an environmental friendly sponge city.
On this visit, we even saw several cars driving on the JW Eco-Technology Pavement. It was very surprising. The pavement was made using plastic, and it was able to bear the weight of a car and two people combined. I thought it was really incredible!
During the visit, I learned a lot of new information. This information not only helped me to understand the JW Eco-Technology better, but it also enriched my learning experience. I am happy and glad that I went to the Water Resources Agency.
Top
Sean Lin
Shortly after, I heard the sound of raindrops. Was it raining?
Today, we went to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian. We saw a lot of plants the moment we entered the area where the office is located. It was very different from the offices we had visited before, so we got off the bus excitedly.
When we got off the bus, we immediately saw a road paved with JW Eco-Technology, grass bricks, permeable bricks, and permeable asphalt. Shortly after, I heard the sound of raindrops. Was it raining? No. In fact, the Water Resources Agency was conducting an experiment in an attempt to figure out which of the permeable pavements allowed the most amount of water to infiltrate through its surface. After this experiment, I learned that permeable bricks only allow some water to go through, and grass bricks as well as permeable bricks allow more water to infiltrate through its surface. On the other hand, the JW Eco-Technology Pavement had the highest infiltration rate, and it did not leave any water on its surface.
After Mr. Yang’s explanation, I learned that the JW Eco-Technology was the most effective permeable pavement. It allows the most water to infiltrate through its surface, and it is also the most environmentally friendly eco-technology. In addition, the keeps the air clean and helps to prevent floods. However, it still had its downside – there were open holes on the surface. Whenever water started to flow into the hole, it would bring dirt and such with it and block the holes. Therefore, it needed to be cleaned regularly.
I learned so many things at the Water Resources Agency; it was such a nice place to visit.
Top
Demi Lin
The JW Eco-Technology Pavement had the least amount of water remaining on its surface.
During this visit, I learned about many kinds of pavement, for example, permeable asphalt, permeable grass bricks, permeable bricks, and the JW Eco-Technology.
While we were at the Water Resources Agency, we saw an interesting experiment. A machine sprayed water on each of the four different types of pavement, and the permeable asphalt model had the most water remained. On the contrary, there were many holes on the JW Eco-Technology model; the holes helped the water to flow quickly below the surface. Therefore, the JW Eco-Technology Pavement had the least amount of water remaining on its surface.
Under the pavements, we could observe the structure and the makeup of each pavement. I saw that the structures underneath all the pavements were the same. It was mainly because the purpose of the demonstration was to compare different kinds of pavement and the influence they had when dealing with rainwater on its surface.
Afterwards, we visited the eco pool, Chief Yong, who guided us throughout the tour, told us that the water from the pool came from recycled rainwater. The roof of the office building would collect and stored rainwater. The water would get transported through some pipes into the eco pool. He also told us that the eco pool supported many lives, like the fish in the pool, the snakes in the bushes, the insects everywhere, and the little egrets that only show up in the morning.
From this visit, I learned many things about roads and the structures of different types of pavement. I also want to thanks Mr. Yang for giving me the best lesson on the environment that I would have never learned anywhere else.
Top
Kevin Chang
The JW Eco-Technology Pavement we saw did not disappoint us.
Our visit to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian was very different from our previous visits because our previous visits were all about interviews and presentations. Our experience at the Water Resources Agency was different because we did not see a presentation or interview anyone. Instead, we got a tour, and there are many simulations of real-life water disasters that amazed us. All of us thought this was a rather fun visit.
Even more interestingly, we saw many types of pavement at the same time. They even built a sprinkler system to simulate rainfall, which allowed us to closely observe where the water goes after it reaches the pavement. They made a see-through glass, and we could easily see how the water infiltrates into the soil. Once we observed the infiltration, we could actually feel the temperature on the surface dropping and the surrounding environment becoming more comfortable. The load-bearing capacity of these pavements was also impressive. After many experiments, some of the pavements could even handle the weight of an airplane.
We saw four types of permeable pavement — permeable asphalt, grass bricks, permeable bricks, and the JW Eco-Technology, our topic of this project. Starting with the permeable asphalt, like its name, it is an asphalt pavement that has good permeability. The grass brick allows the plants and flowers to grow in the brick. Permeable bricks are bricks with good permeability.
The JW Eco-Technology Pavement uses holes to allow water to infiltrate and filter the air at the same time. The JW Eco-Technology Pavement we saw did not disappoint us. While the other three methods required frequent maintenance to avoid clogging and water buildup, the JW Eco-Technology can remain effective with some simple and regular cleaning.
After our visit and seeing all the permeable pavements, I think the topic of our research is the real deal. I used to believe this eco-engineering could not be true; there could be no pavement that was able to be permeable and filter the air at the same time. Now, I am confident that the JW Eco-Technology can be the solution to many water problems.
Top
Iris Chen
I thought that, like most other government buildings, the Water Resources Agency would have air-conditioners and offices.
In order to gain a more complete understanding of our topic, our research team decided to go to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian to get a closer look at the different types of permeable pavement.
When I arrived at the Water Resources Agency, I was stunned. All the scenes were different from what I had expected. I thought that, like most other government buildings, the Water Resources Agency would have air-conditioners and offices. How can a place full of flowers and trees be the Water Resources Agency!
After some explanations by Chief Yang, I learned the reason the Water Resources Agency is full of green footprint is because they do not want to destroy the nature for technological gain. Chief Yang used sprinklers to simulate rainfall, so we could observe, in detail, where the water went when it rained on the four different permeable pavements – permeable asphalt, grass bricks, permeable bricks, and JW Eco-Technology Pavement – and the whole world below.
Permeable asphalt contains the least amount of sand in its structure, so there are gaps on the surface of the road, allowing water to seep into the ground. Grass bricks are usually used in parking lots. Water gets into the soil directly, but when unevenly constructed, grass bricks will cave in. Permeable bricks use an internal pore structure to direct water into the ground. The bigger the pores are, the better the permeability. The JW Eco-Technology Pavement uses permeable concrete pavement, held by a well-structured Aqueduct Assembly and connected with the drainage system to let water flow into underground storage tanks.
Although the four kinds of pavement are all permeable, but some parts of the pavements remain non-permeable due to the material, design, and construction methods. From the experiments, we learned that the JW Eco-Technology is truly the only permeable pavement. The degree of permeability of other pavements, from best to worst, is as follows: permeable asphalt, grass bricks, and permeable bricks. Permeable bricks and grass bricks both have limited load-bearing capacity, so the surface will easily cave in under pressure and cannot be used as high loading pavements. On the contrary, the JW Eco-Technology Pavement reinforces its structure with an Aqueduct Grate underneath to strengthen its structure, so that even heavy vehicles can travel safely on it.
Top
Ian Chen
After our visit to the Water Resource Agency in Xindian, I learned more about the JW Eco-Technology.
The Water Resources Agency in Xindian has four kinds of pavements, permeable bricks, permeable asphalt, grass brick, and the JW Eco-Technology. There has a roof-like cover that has a rainwater collecting machine. We saw an experiment for simulating rainfall. It creates a rain-like situation by dropping actual rainwater previously collected from the rainwater collecting machine instead of water from the faucet.
When we observed how the rainwater permeated, first, we walked down to the transparent window to look at how the rainwater permeated into the soil, the surface temperature, the comfort index, and the load bearing capacity. The surface temperature is not measured same way as when we were in Limen Village in Xihzi. The thermometer here is the high-tech infrared ones, and so is the device measuring the load bearing capacity.
After our visit to the Water Resource Agency in Xindian, I learned more about the JW Eco-Technology, permeable asphalt, grass brick, and permeable brick.
Top
Gordan Huang
I did not know such a natural place in Taipei existed; this experience left me with a very different impression of the Water Resources Agency.
On November 27, we took a tour to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian to look at different kinds of pavement. It was totally different from what I had originally thought of the “Water Resources Agency” where I had believed would have a lot of offices. In fact, it was a very natural-looking place full of all kinds of plants and animals, just like a beautiful, all-natural garden.
We saw four different kinds of pavement. There are permeable bricks, the JW Eco-Technology Pavement, asphalt roads, and grass bricks. Chief Yang, who guided us throughout the tour, told us that each pavement could be used in many different ways, and they have different kinds of advantages. What interested me the most was the ecological pond. Mr. Yang told us there are many different species of plants and animals living in the pond. The pool was an eye-opener because I did not know such a natural place in Taipei existed; this experience left me with a very different impression of the Water Resources Agency.
I really appreciate Mr. Yang for his guidance and explanation of the Water Resources Agency, and I also really like the environment there. I hope we can have more natural environments like that all over Taiwan.
Top
Philip Huang
They found out that the JW Eco-Technology Pavement had the best results in terms of the water infiltration rate, surface temperature, and human comfort index.
After visiting the Water Resources Agency in New Taipei City, we found out all of the equipments there are for experiments, and the buildings there are all designed to carry out hydrological experiments as well. For example, we saw a permeable pavement experiment ran by the National Central University. This experiment simulated rainfall onto different types of pavement to test the process of water infiltrating through into the soil.
We saw four kinds of permeable pavement: permeable asphalt, grass brick, permeable brick, and the JW Eco-Technology Pavement. The sensors there measured the amount of water infiltration of each permeable pavement, the surface temperature due to the change in weather, human comfort index, the load-bearing capacity, and many other tests.
After the experiment, they found out that the JW Eco-Technology Pavement had the best results in terms of the water infiltration rate, surface temperature, and human comfort index. I was in awe of the ecological pond behind the experiment area. The water stored there helps irrigate the landscape in the Water Resources Agency, making the whole park full of greenery. It really did seem that these pavements, water storage tanks, and the pipelines had a great impact on the ecosystem here.
Top
Ariel Tsai
This visit not only answered many of our questions, but also gave us much inspiration and more topics to discuss.
We went to the Water Resources Agency in Xindian District of New Taipei City to learn more about the sponge road and the uses of them. In the exhibition park of the Water Resources Agency, we saw many water sprinklers on the poles above the sponge road and other permeable pavements. We walked with the administrator who guided us through the park and carefully explained the unique structure under the road.
We found out that when the water sprinklers are turned out, the water on the four different pavements would infiltrate through the pavements’ surface. Some were fast, and some were slow. We could observe the infiltration process from the observation box below.
We followed the sponge road and walked to the “water bank” in the back of the park. There were a lot of flowers, trees, and a beautiful small pond; it was an ecologically-rich environment. What truly amazed me was that the water in the small pond was supplied by rainwater that had been collected on the rooftop of a building. The place beside the wooden walkway was surrounded by trees; it was almost as if I were in a small forest.
This visit not only answered many of our questions, but also gave us much inspiration and more topics to discuss. I realized that the principle and the construction of the sponge road was like imitating nature’s way of balancing life – to save the water needed and to get rid of the excess water by putting an enormous sponge inside the road. The sponge road could breathe as if it were a person. It kept most of the oxygen and got rid of the carbon dioxide. Therefore, I think this is why Mr. Jui-Wen Chen named his creation “the breathing sponge road.”
After this visit, I learned more about the sponge road¸ and I grew a lot from this experience. I believe that it will help us in explaining our topic for the CyberFair project!
Top
Kathleen Chien
We noticed that the JW Eco-Technology had the best permeability among all the pavements.
On November 27, the entire gifted math class used the extra-curricular club periods to visit the Water Resources Agency in Xindian. At first, by the sound of it, I thought the Water Resources Agency was a place full of office buildings. When I actually got there, it was actually a place filled with plants, flowers, and trees. There was greenery everywhere.
There are four types of permeable pavement on display at the Water Resources Agency in Xindian. This place is very different from the other places we had visited in the past because other places usually only have one type of permeable pavement. Here, they let us compare the pavements. When stimulating rainfall, we could observe the water infiltration process underneath the pavements. In addition to the JW Eco-Technology, there were also permeable asphalt, grass bricks, and permeable bricks. Looking from the outside in, we noticed that the JW Eco-Technology had the best permeability among all the pavements. From our actual observation, we saw the water traveled through the small holes on the surface and was collected by the water retention balls below. Even though the JW Eco-Technology has the best permeability, it is not used much in Taiwan. What a missed opportunity!