[Greenbuilding] Green Streets?

[Chris Green]

Leslie Moyer wrote:
> I got a request recently that I thought someone here might be able to 
> assist with.  It's a town councilman of a small town near me.  His 
> question is well outside my area of expertise.  The question was:
>
> ********
> I am long time believer in sustainable living and "smart growth" 
> techniques.   I am currently working on a proposal that would 
> systemically replace all our roads with a paving system not unlike our 
> original brick roads.  The new paving system has many environmental 
> advantages I am sure, but I need some help articulating them.  I have 
> some road experts coming in from Kansas City to help me out with the 
> engineering aspects but that is only part of the package.  The 
> environmental impacts need to be displayed well in the proposal.  Any 
> help possible?
> *********
>
> Any suggestions on where to turn for this?
>
> --Leslie Moyer / Oklahoma
>   
Admittedly Kuwait is a completely different environment, but this 
article entitled  Asphalts roads give way to brick roads in Kuwait, in 
the Kuwait Times, discusses the subject to some extent.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTc4MzI4OQ==

Interestingly, the Kuwaiti Minister of Public works claims bricks are 
cheaper than asphalt...
> Brick roads are much more practical than asphalt roads and even 
> cheaper," Sabah pointed out.
As well, the pdf file here is entitled 'Research Links for Permeable 
Paving' and looks like it contains a lot of appropriate links.
http://www.plantsf.org/Research_PermPavers_0511_Friedel.pdf

Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio has some 7 miles of brick streets.
>
> ( Councilman John) Fair not only pushes the aesthetics of brick, he 
> also says it is more cost-effective.
>
> "When I saw how much money we were spending on asphalt repair, I said, 
> 'This is stupid,' " he said.
>
The above quote is from The Columbus Dispatch, Wednesday,  July 25, 2007
Your town councilman might want to read this article and try to talk to 
his peers in Mount Vernon or one of the other communities mentioned 
here. Perhaps they can help outline the environmental pros and cons.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/25/Brick_Roads.ART_ART_07-25-07_B1_IR7CD6C.html

TinyURL for the above link:
*http://tinyurl.com/yuwudk*

Also,, brick roads are said to be less slippery than asphalt.


Cheers,

Chris Green