New brick sidewalk turning white

[anon-rrpp]

I noticed that there is some pretty severe white staining on the new brick sidewalk on Main St. It seems to be worst around Teddy's and near Schoolhouse Lane.

[anon-6658]

It's from the use of salt this past winter to melt ice.

[anon-91so]

It's a brick, historic, bad pick by the group the "intellectual group" must be the best for Cranbury!!!! I know who has the Forum web site do you???

[anon-4n32]

How do you know who runs the forum?

[anon-4qo6]

Please do tell how you know who runs the forum? They go through great pains to not disclose who they are....

[isbrickbetter?-617n]

You decide

what is the best product for the job based upon the cost over the life of the product, not just the first cost. And therein is my argument. Based upon first cost, concrete sidewalks will usually be about 1/3 the cost of brick. However, based upon the life of the product, and the circumstances under which it is used, brick will frequently be the winner and by a large margin. Why? Life expectancy and maintenance.





Figure 1
Figure one shows one of the entrances to Central Park in Louisville, Kentucky. This historic park was completed in 1904. While the brick sidewalks work just as well today as they did 100 years ago, look at the handicapped curb ramp that was installed about 30 years ago. The severe cracking is not a recent occurrence. It has looked that way since I moved into the neighborhood in 1978. Had this ramp been installed in brick, the same brick that was removed from the sidewalk and discarded, we would not have been looking at this ugly mess for 30 years.







Figure 2
The sidewalk shown in Figure 2 was replaced about three years ago. The tree roots had cracked and displaced the sidewalk, causing a woman to trip and seriously injure herself. How long before that occurs again? The original "repair" took several days and probably cost over $1000. How soon will it need "repairing" again and at what cost? If this sidewalk were brick, the initial repair would have taken only a couple of hours at a cost of less than $100 and could be repaired again today for less than half of that.







Figure 3
Figure three shows a section of sidewalk along Oak Street in Louisville, Kentucky. Each section of concrete in this figure is approximately 4 feet square. To repair the damaged and displaced concrete surrounding the tree on the right side of this figure will require the removal of at least 7 of the concrete squares. The cost: about 20 to 30 times the cost of repairing a brick sidewalk and probably two to three days of time. That means this entire sidewalk will be closed to pedestrians for two to three days, a driving lane of the street will be blocked while the work takes place and the restaurant adjacent to the site will endure the sound of jackhammers for hours. If this were a brick sidewalk, the entire repair would require only a few hours, would not block the street, and it would make virtually no noise.







Figure 4
Figure 4 again shows a section of sidewalk along Oak Street. Notice how much area is available for rainwater to enter the ground. It is fortunate that the water table in this area of Louisville is relatively high and the sandy soil makes it easy for the tree roots to penetrate. But what about street trees that are not so fortunate? A brick sidewalk, laid over sand or gravel, allows a significant amount of rainwater to enter the ground. As an additional benefit, puddles tend to disappear in minutes rather than the hours or days they last on a concrete sidewalk.

After all of this, you probably think I believe brick to be a better sidewalk pavement than concrete. No, I don't. What I do believe is that the unthinking assumption that concrete is a superior product in all situations is wrong.

Here are the major points to consider:

In terms of durability, brick has a slight advantage over concrete because it can accommodate small amounts of movement without cracking.

The cost to install a brick sidewalk over a bed of gravel and sand is about 3 times the cost of concrete.

The cost to repair a concrete sidewalk can be from ten to thirty times the cost of repairing a brick sidewalk

The time required to repair a brick sidewalk is very little compared to concrete, it requires no heavy equipment and is relatively quiet.

Brick is more environmentally friendly than concrete because it allows some amount of rainwater to enter the ground where concrete will not.

Brick can be recycled where concrete cannot.

Where esthetics are a concern, brick is probably more desirable than concrete.

[anon-0o99]

[publius-4sn2]

Concrete can indeed be recycled. It is crushed, and its used as a bed for roads. Thank you.

[anon-np42]