Philadelphia: City of Rubbery Love

[Signe]

Philadelphia Could Get Rubber Sidewalks

Published: February 5, 2007

Filed at 8:34 a.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Philadelphia official wants the city council to look at whether the city's sidewalks should be made of rubber.

City councilman Jim Kenney recently toured Chicago to see environmentally-friendly city projects there. He came back with a number of ideas on which he plans to hold hearings.

One is using rubber for sidewalks.

No, don't expect to see people bouncing down the street. Kenney says the rubber is very solid -- probably harder than a running track.

He says rubber sidewalks are made from recycled tires. They don't crack, and they last longer than concrete.

Kenney says rubber sidewalks could also reduce the number of slip-and-fall accidents and the resulting lawsuits.

SOURCE


I'd move there if there was bouncing.

[bhodi]

We have those in DC. I guess it took off.

Roots won't grow through them (they let air+water in, so roots grow properly downward instead of suffocating), thus preventing lawsuits from broken sidewalks.

They last three times longer, but cost three times as much.

They hold together through the freeze-thaw cycle a lot better than concrete.

Kids like them, because you can bounce. A little.

[tazelbain]

I have seen enough commercials to know it would be bad if they bounced.

[Merusk]

They're a nifty product.  They only cost so much because so few folks use it, much like any other "green" or new tech.

[kaid]

We had these at school putting them in is more expensive but in an area like Green Bay with our crazy ass winters it holds up well through the freezing and thawing. It is also kinda funky to walk on as it has a slight bounce. Its not much but you do notice that somethings a bit different.

[Trippy]

Why can't you put a gap between concrete "slabs" like they are doing with the rubberized ones? Also those do sound a bit like the athletic tracks I used to run on my in my youth.

[bhodi]

They can, but that doesn't fix the tree problem.

[Trippy]

They can, but that doesn't fix the tree problem.

The WP article says the reason why the rubber sidewalks don't get tree roots pushing through them is because they have a quarter-inch gap between the panels which allows the water and air in.

[Dren]

They can, but that doesn't fix the tree problem.

The WP article says the reason why the rubber sidewalks don't get tree roots pushing through them is because they have a quarter-inch gap between the panels which allows the water and air in.

My guess is that the "tree roots cracking sidewalks" thing is caused by roots searching for water blocked by sidewalks.  If the water penetrates as well as normal ground then the roots should stay buried and cause no problems.

The cracks would worry me some in that plant would try to grow between them.  Maybe that isn't a concern.

Not certain, just a guess.

[Polysorbate80]

Why can't you put a gap between concrete "slabs" like they are doing with the rubberized ones? Also those do sound a bit like the athletic tracks I used to run on my in my youth.

Concrete sidewalks already have at least minimal gaps between pavers; they're required as expansion joints or the material will crack as it goes through the daily heating/cooling cycle.

I thought the benefit of rubber sidewalks was that the pavers were A) easier to move, allowing more regular tree maintenance and B) somewhat flexible, allowing them to not crack in case maintenance isn't quite keeping up with any given tree at the moment.

[Paelos]

Flexibility seems more plausible than gaps.

[Merusk]

Concrete sidewalks already have at least minimal gaps between pavers; they're required as expansion joints or the material will crack as it goes through the daily heating/cooling cycle.

Yes and no.  Your concrete is going to crack, just because of settling, heat/ cool and plant roots.  The joints are there so it doesn't crack in the middle of your slab, but instead happens at that joint or - at the worst - at a corner.

I dunno where the idea about the 1/4 gap in the rubberized stuff came from.  Trippy was the first to mention it.

[Polysorbate80]

Yes and no.  Your concrete is going to crack, just because of settling, heat/ cool and plant roots.  The joints are there so it doesn't crack in the middle of your slab, but instead happens at that joint or - at the worst - at a corner.

You're right, I tend to forget that sidewalks are often poured in larger slabs with control joints instead of expansion joints.

In my neighborhood we have shorter slabs with full joints, and I have one of those problem trees out in front of my house.  It's shifted three slabs considerably out of alignment, but none have buckled.  It's an old sidewalk; whoever poured it did a good job.

Too bad the city is going to destroy it at the same time they tear out my eighty-year old spruce trees to widen my street.

[Llava]

I was positive this was going to be about dildos.

[Yegolev]

I, too, waited a long time before my curiosity got the better of me, and for a post from Signe with the word rubber in the title, I found it rather bland.

[Signe]

Good Grief.  You people have potty brains! 

[Riggswolfe]

I was positive this was going to be about dildos.

I thought it was going to be a city-wide condom initiative myself.