Amazing stuff.

Pervious concrete is able to drain up to 400 INCHES OF RAIN PER HOUR directly into the ground under it.This permeable product is laid atop 6-12" of sand.

It works in all climates, and apparently is not affected by freezing. (The water has drained into the ground, remember.)

It is used in parking lots, driveways and road shoulders, but I don't see why it couldn't be used for sidewalks.

The photo that accompanies the attached article was taken during an Iowa winter. http://tinyurl.com/6dza4dy
Note that you can actually see the guys reflection as he stands atop the icy road, and then look at the pervious concrete road shoulder next to him.

It is bone dry.

Standing water caused by freeze/thaw cycles would simply drain into/through the a pervious concrete sidewalk. Voila! That dreaded winter sidewalk icing syndrome is no more!
(We could install this stuff in the downtown district and at crosswalks.)

The increasingly frequent summer road flooding in the busy SW metro area, would also be history if all the parking lots out there SOAKED UP a 'rain bomb', rather than draining it to overtaxed storm sewers.

An added bonus: while 1000s OF ACRES OF PARKING LOTS are soaking up that water, the aquifer is recharging at the same time.

And finally it seems logical that huge expanses of pervious concrete up and down the valley, would have a salubrious effect on river levels.

Worthy of serious testing.

(Not for use on high-speed, heavy traffic lanes.)