Permeable Pavers

What's going on with the pavement here? When this corner was reconstructed in 2017, smart street engineers included these permeable pavers. This means that water can permeate (also called infiltrate) into the ground below. Why? Covering urban areas with pavement resulted in rainwater having no place to go other than across the pavement and into storm drains at street corners. This water goes into creeks in large pipes (culverts) below ground and into the bay, full of pollutants, excrement, and trash. Here, instead, the water will be cleaned by soil and roots as it passes through the permable pavement into the soil below slowly.