July 28, 2006

Where rubber hits the road: Rubber sidewalks growing phenomenon in U.S.

WASHINGTON

Pounding the pavement is getting a little easier on people’s knees in many cities around the United States.

For reasons of safety and ease of maintenance, Washington and dozens of other communities are installing rubber sidewalks made of ground-up tires.

The rubber squares are up to three times more expensive than concrete slabs, but last longer, because tree roots and freezing weather won’t crack them. That, in turn, could reduce the number of slip-and-fall lawsuits filed over uneven pavement.

And the rubber sidewalks are considered more environmentally friendly: they offer a way to recycle the millions of tires thrown out each year, and they do not constrict tree roots the way concrete slabs do.

Rubbersidewalks Inc. of Gardena, Calif., manufactures the small rubberized squares now being used on some sidewalks in more than 60 cities.

Since 2001, Rubbersidewalks has been grinding thousands of old tires into crumbs, adding chemical binders and baking the material into sidewalk sections that weigh much less than concrete. The panels are available in two shades of grey and a terra cotta orange.

Many of the squares have been installed in areas where damage from tree roots, weather and snow removal have required sidewalk replacement or major repairs every three years. Rubber sidewalks are expected to last seven years or more.

The District of Columbia has spent about $60,000 US to replace broken concrete with the rubberized panels here and there in a residential neighbourhood northeast of the Capitol where towering willow oaks line the street.

“Maybe we won’t have to worry about the cracks in the sidewalk when the seasons change,’’ Charlene Baker said as she walked with her daughter. She added: “If this helps save the trees, that would be a good thing.’’

The panels are firmer than a running track or a rubberized playground, but far more resilient than concrete.

Dr. Frank Kelly, a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Macon, Ga., said people walking on the surface would be less vulnerable to heel spurs and knee and back problems.

In 2004, the sidewalks in front of two homes in New Rochelle, N.Y., were replaced after roots repeatedly caused concrete cracking and heaving.

The rubber panels have withstood two winters of snow shovelling, rock salt and repeated freezing and thawing.

“Some of these trees are close to 100 years old and we wouldn’t want to take them down,’’ said Jeffrey Coleman, New Rochelle’s commissioner of public works.

About 30 metres of rubber sidewalk was installed in a town square-style shopping area in Tallahassee, Fla., in 2003 as a temporary measure after a major root pruning project.

“They wanted that to be in place for a year before we came back and put the concrete in,’’ said Tom Lewis, the city’s street maintenance and construction supervisor, “but the rubber has held up so well, we’ve just left it out there.’’

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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