Construction Curiosities #53
Magic Concrete
Hey! Happy Saturday! Matt here.
Welcome to the Construction Curiosities newsletter. Where I use memes and gifs to distract you from the fact you are reading a Construction Newsletter on your weekend.
This weekly Newsletter explores my Curiosities about the Construction Industry. It's meant to make you think, smile, and become a better, more thoughtful Construction Professional.
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Summary
This week we will look at:
One Article: Magic concrete road
One YouTube: Magic concrete engineering
One Meme: The reason we need magic concrete
One Article
Ever since I saw this video with water just disappearing on the concrete years ago I’ve been wondering why this hasn’t taken a stronghold in the industry yet. I mean it's magic concrete. Who wouldn’t want it?
Yet I’ve literally never seen it in real life to my knowledge. It seems in major cities, such as Houston, that are susceptible to flooding even on a normal heavy summer rain. It seems like this would be a no-brainer for all new roadways.
Yet I knew there had to be major limiting factors that were the cause of a lack of mass adoption such as durability, cost, and the fact the water doesn’t actually magically disappear. It does actually still has to go somewhere.
I just saw this article from Construction Dive about how New York City rebuilt, a major corridor with permeable concrete. Maybe we’re seeing a change. Maybe new green stormwater laws (like in this in this case) will force the industry to innovate to a point that this solution becomes a feasible option.
New York City rebuilds $16.6M corridor with permeable concrete
A recently completed, $16.6 million infrastructure project in Queens used porous pavement to allow nearly 1.3 million gallons of stormwater to be absorbed back into the ground instead of flowing into the sewer system
You can’t argue that this:
Doesn’t look way more aesthetic than this:
Well, you could argue it. But you’d be wrong.
One YouTube Video
Want to learn more about the background of permeable concrete, how it is installed, and current issues with implementing the new technology?
Check out this awesome video:
One Meme
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