November 30, 2006

Green Building

Walking on rubber: new technology

Rubber sidewalks remain an anomaly in Canada

BRIAN BAKER

staff writer

Municipalities looking to add a ‘spring’ to their step may look at the innovative rubberized sidewalks now available on the market for greener solutions to concrete.

Rubberized sidewalks are a relatively new product, and one of several to be showcased at Construct Canada’s Green Building Conference this week.

Kelowna is the only Canadian community to install the product and the jury is still out on its sustainability.

“I don’t think it will last longer than concrete since we have 100 year old sidewalks here in Kelowna,” said Dan Lamb, road design technician for the City of Kelowna.

Lamb noted cost and a slippery quality are two concerns since installing the sidewalks about a year ago.

“There have been some complaints that they are a little bit slippery; wet rubber would be certainly more slippery than concrete. And they are expensive to install,” Lamb said.

Rubberized sidewalks cost Kelowna six dollars a square foot.

“That’s probably double what you would pay for concrete. Shipping from California was brutal; it was a staggering amount for freight because the product was quite heavy.”

Kelowna installed 400 square feet of rubber sidewalks on Lawrence Avenue to help alleviate heaving in the sidewalks from roots of nearby trees. Concrete sidewalks were used between each tree. The weight load of rubber sidewalks is 3,000 PSI and it’s 10.8 lbs per square foot.

“The boulevard was already bulking; it was very difficult,” said Lamb.

“Trees would be the only reason you would use rubber sidewalks.”

According to Lamb, the City of Vancouver recently investigated the rubber sidewalk option for walkways around their mature trees.

“You have to be very happy with the product, especially if you are spending a lot of money,” added Lamb.

Sidewalks that are invulnerable to freeze-thaw and shifting tree-roots are tempting for apprehensive municipalities.

“Like any new area, it is interesting. Somebody has to be the first, but nobody wants to be the first to put rubberized sidewalks in,” said Dan Joyce, vice president, RubberSidewalks Inc.

“Once somebody does, then everybody gets to walk on it, see it for themselves.”

Rubberized sidewalks also offer a green element, providing developers with four LEED credits for recycled content, heat island effect, non-roof and regional materials.

The product is made with 100 per cent recycled crumb rubber, urethane resin binder and colourant purchased from the processors who granulate the tires.

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