Chicago’s Green Alley Program

Chicago’s Green Alley Program is in full flight and Prairie Material has supplied pervious concrete for many of the successful installations through out the city. Prairie achieved 3000 PSI on Cores taken form the 5300 North Glenwood Project which exceeded the 2000 PSI requirement. Our research and development team will remain at the forefront for the development for pervious concrete in the Chicago Market. In a statement to the citizens of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley wrote the following statements about the Green Alley initiative. “With more miles of alleyways than any other city in the world, Chicago has a unique network of infrastructure integrated into the very fabric of our city…we have established new alley designs that help conserve our resources and improve our environment. Green Alley designs showcase innovative, environmental technologies to help manage storm water, reduce heat in urban areas, promote recycling and conserve energy…working together we can conserve Chicago and build a sustainable city for generations to come…Richard M. Daly, Mayor.

Read more about the Green Alley initiative.

Experimental concrete will help ISU environment

NORMAL -- Oil, gasoline and other contaminants are typically left behind by the hundreds of cars, trucks and SUVs sitting idle each day in the Illinois State University parking lot at the corner of College Avenue and Main Street. When rain falls, petrochemicals from the vehicles are washed into the local storm water system and eventually get dumped into the Illinois River, said Mike O'Grady, ISU's director of ground operations.

The environmental problem occurs in parking lots throughout Illinois. ISU officials want to fight the pollution on campus, and today will use a concrete material known for trapping such pollutants when they resurface the lot today at College and Main. "We know this concrete will clean up the water and capture petroleum products that come off the lot during a storm," O'Grady said. "But the perception is that the freeze/thaw will destroy it. The question is will it hold up to the rigors of an Illinois winter?" The material, known as permeable concrete, has pores that capture products like oil and gasoline before they can be carried away with storm water. Although the material is commonly used in the South, some wonder whether permeable concrete can work in Central Illinois, O'Grady said. If water were to fill the honey-combed material and freeze, it would expand and destroy the concrete. That's why ISU officials have set aside a 60-by-18-foot section of the parking lot to test whether it will work. The experimental concrete has also been coated with oil-eating bacteria that will further break down contaminants that seep into the pavement.

Should the concrete survive winter, ISU officials would likely resurface all parking lots with permeable concrete, O'Grady said, calling it a common sense move similar to ISU's use of Ice Ban, a salt substitute that melts ice while minimizing corrosion of equipment and road surfaces. Although there's certainly a risk the permeable concrete could be destroyed, the cost to replace it would be minimal, O'Grady said. Resurfacing the area with regular concrete would cost about $7,000.00 O'Grady said. "We have enough confidence that (the concrete) will work and are willing to take that risk," O'Grady said. "We were resurfacing the parking lot with concrete anyway. This looked like a good opportunity to experiment with permeable concrete."

This article was written by Brett Nauman of http://www.pantagraph.com Wednesday, August 10, 2005