common sense for the common good

Hit the Road

September 12th, 2007 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Design, Technology, Transportation

A Greener Asphalt BaseA few days ago, a friend of mine forwarded me an article entitled, “Engineered Soil Greens Up Parking Lots“. And boy does it! I won’t go on my rant about intentionally low road construction standards in this country but let’s just say elsewhere roads have to last a lot longer, and they do. Grrrr. From the article:

‘Paved areas pollute. They harbor exhaust-spewing cars, absorb and radiate heat, and collect contaminants that are eventually washed into the ground through rainwater runoff.

But a new kind of engineered soil could curb pavement pollution. Made with natural and locally available materials, the aggregate can filter storm water as well as provide a better soil bed for trees, which offer shade, scrub the air of emissions, reduce ambient temperatures, and intercept rainfall.  

“Paved surfaces account for up for 20 to 40 percent of a city’s surface,” said Greg McPherson, director for the U.S. Forest Service’s Center for Urban Forest Research, which is located on the campus of the University of California, Davis. “How do we green up these impervious surfaces?”‘

I think in the ol’ Lou we’re closer to 40% than we are to 20%. Either number is ridiculous. The City itself is doing okay, though there’s still more examples than I can count of piss-poor urban planning; much of it is chronicled on this great site. I really hope this technology takes off. The “aspholes” who design and build these disgusting asphalt big box national retail chain strip center jungles for Anywhere, USA will at least be doing the country a service by using engineered soil. Now if only they would stop building them on flood plains. The humanity . . .



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  1. 2 Responses to “Hit the Road”

  2. By George on Sep 13, 2007

    Interesting, was just reading an article in Science Daily that parking spaces outnumber cars 3 to 1:
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070911155501.htm

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