Re-laying Concrete Pavers and Our Town

It isn't as if I were posting much new material on 'that place' or the like. I was just - blah. But life goes on, and I might even show up at the polling place on a Tuesday in November. Or not. The sidewalks getting there and back, though, are uneven.

And two-thirds of the path has no sidewalks at all. That's the easy part.

Except that stopping during a walk on the 'easy' part is forbidden. It's on a signed and numbered highway. Benches? No.

But that is a project for the future. Before trying to sell that project, an easier task or two might be useful. Like re-laying some concrete pavers.

Concrete pavers are made of concrete. Big enough to discourage angry mobs for throwing the pavers, but small enough to lift the pavers with two hands. And the pavers don't mind, because they are not cemented in. Gravity and compression do the work. And sand. But when the sand base is too skimpy, things get distorted.

18" - i.e. eighteen inches of sand was what one of the TV house-building hosts said. 18" of sand - minimum. Then lay down the pavers for a long life as level sidewalks. Unlike our downtown sidewalks.

Did I mention the vegetation? Well, too-little sand as a base seems to encourage the growth of vegetation. And that could be an issue. That's because - in my vision - young people as volunteers would be a keystone for the project. And it may be that chemicals strong enough to discourage vegetation might also hurt humans - while the new sand base is unpaved.

Another major issue is money. Even though volunteer help will do a lot of the work, digging down two feet means a machine, or several machines. And sand. A lot of sand.

So I'll be trying to figure the next steps. Is sand measured by the yard, or is sand measured by dump-truck?

best, john

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PriceRip's picture

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sojourns's picture

Nope. The TV host is mistaken.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

So what is the depth? Our sidewalks are about 1 1/2" - in general - below the curbs. And even then, the looks of the sidewalks would be OK if they were the same - but they aren't even level in their sub-curb bed. Ideas and comments are most welcome.

best, john

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Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long

sojourns's picture

a little more around the edges. The bedding sand should be good high silica content builders sand. The base sand can be just washed river sand or sand and gravel. Everything gets packed well. And packed again. I'm no pro but I think that is key.

Over enough time, all pavement buckles, right? The earth moves.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

earthling1's picture

Typical dump truck will carry 16 cubic yards.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

I found one comment mentioning paying $105 for about half of one of those dump truck loads (using your measuring method). Ouch. Fortunately, we have a very small downtown.

best, john

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Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long