TIMELINE

Inception of Research

Research on Pervious Concrete incepted as a structural element of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD).
Conducted research using single aggregate size and 2 mix designs and focused on solid particle retention. 

Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College, Malabe, Sri Lanka

02 Undergraduate Projects (02 students)

Second Batch - CINEC

Started the analysis on aggregate size impact on compressive strength. Dwelled deeper with varying aggregate size as design parameter. Also analysed partial substitution of fly-ash and rice-husk-ash for cement. 

Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College, Malabe, Sri Lanka.

05 undergraduate projects (05 students)

1st Batch - E13 (University of Jaffna)

Continued investigations from CINEC campus research, to more finer aggregates.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

02 undergraduate projects (06 students)

STUDENT AWARDS

A student group won the prestigious Innovative Research Proposal at Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna (LKR 50,000.00) for their proposal on pervious concrete.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

GRANT: University Research Grant

A research grant was acquired to support the experimental work and material procurement. The grant was awarded by University of Jaffna (LKR 800,000.00), for a period of 1 year.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

E14 (University of Jaffna)

Incorporated basic image analysis to assess porosity of pervious concrete. In addition, started the analysis on heat transfer in pervious concrete. In addition, incorporated compaction and aggregate to cement ratio (AC) as mix design parameters.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

04 undergraduate projects (08 students)

STUDENT AWARDS

2 students secured the coveted Innovative Research Proposal at Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna (LKR 50,000.00) for their proposal on pervious concrete, for the second consecutive year.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

GRANT: University Research Grant

A second research grant was acquired to support the experimental work and material procurement. The grant was awarded by University of Jaffna (LKR 800,000.00), for a period of 1 year.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

E15 (University of Jaffna)

Focused more on heat transfer in pervious concrete and durability during intermittent wetting and drying of pervious concrete.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

03 undergraduate projects (06 students)

E16 (University of Jaffna)

Dwelled deeper and established convincing methodology to incorporate image analysis for performance assessment of pervious concrete. Also expanded the mix-design parameters for more thorough experimental schedule.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

02 undergraduate projects (04 students)

GRANT: University Research Grant

A third research grant was acquired to support the experimental work and material procurement.

The grant was awarded by National Research Council of Sri Lanka: Grant 19-045 (LKR 2,520,000.00), for a period of 3 years.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

E17 (University of Jaffna)

Initiated assessment of permeability as a performance parameter in addition to porosity and compressive strength. 

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

03 undergraduate projects (06 students)

First Conference Publication

We got two undergraduate students, publishing the first peer reviewed articles at the 12th International Conference on Road and Airfield Pavement Technology. 
The 02 articles were selected and published in the Scopus Indexed Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering (Springer Nature)

Professional Seminar - Dissemination

The Convener of the Research Group, Prof. D N Subramaniam was invited to present the current state of knowledge to an audience more than 300 comprising of practicing engineers, academics and students, from hoe and abroad. 
Organized by the INSEE Cement (pvt) Ltd through their i2i knowledge dissemination portal. 

E18 (University of Jaffna)

It is now seen, aggregate size needs more emphasis. Experiments are now designed for three different size distribution of aggregates. In addition, shape of aggregates needed numerical representation, which is now incorporated in the research objectives. Impact of aggregate shape on compressive strength is also incorporated to understand initial trends. Owing to non-linear parameter impact, machine learning techniques for regression models have also been incorporated.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

05 undergraduate projects (10 students)

First Postgraduate Research Student

We had the first student getting enrolled to Doctor of Philosophy, with a research focus on pervious concrete. This is a part-time enrolments with an expected completion in 2026/April. 
The focus of the study is to thoroughly analyse the impact of mix-design parameters using statistical, empirical and machine learning models, on compressive strength and porosity. 

Department of Civil Engineering, 
University of Jaffna 

STUDENT AWARDS

2 students secured the coveted Innovative Research Proposal at Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna (LKR 50,000.00) for their proposal on pervious concrete, for the third time from the research group.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

E19 (University of Jaffna)

The impact of different aggregate size distribution on permeability was focused more in this year in pervious concrete. Non-linear empirical models and machine learning techniques had been given more prominence for performance prediction model. Non-destructive test methods have been introduced to pervious concrete performance parameter analysis. 

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

04 undergraduate projects (12 students)

Professional Seminar - Dissemination

The convener of the research group, was invited by the Society of Structural Engineers - Sri Lanka (SSESL), to disseminate knowledge on pervious concrete design and model at their Annual Seminar at Cinnamon Grand, Colombo.

E20 (University of Jaffna)

Performance modeling using classification technique for gap-graded aggregates has been introduced in pervious concrete research. In addition, using Fourier Shape Descriptors (FSD) has been initiated to define shapes of aggregates. A student from Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department of University of Jaffna and a Senior Lecturer from University of Moratuwa joined the research team for this purpose.

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

02 undergraduate projects (02 students)

E21 (University of Jaffna)

A more detailed experimental approach was incorporated to both define the shape of aggregates and their impact on compressive strength of pervious concrete. In addition, for the first time, incorporated fine aggregate partial substitution for coarse aggregate. 

University of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka.

06 undergraduate projects (06 students)