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"THE CREDENTIAL"
April 2024
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It's spring, we are in the midst of pothole season, and construction has ramped up significantly, too.
The Credential
has decided to feature a lighthearted although important article about curbs from a senior Specifications Writer and guest author Liz O'Sullivan, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, SCIP, Comments from a Spec Writer. Enjoy!
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One thing I’ve noticed about upstate New York is that they have some really nice curbs.
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Stone sidewalk and curb, Lake Placid, New York
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I first noticed the curbs on a college campus in Geneva, New York. They’re great components of the college landscape - granite, durable, long-lasting, probably hold up really well to the snowplows that I imagine are regularly operating in that gray, snowy place. Actually, I'm pretty sure the orange streaks on the stone are rust stains from the snowplows that scrape these curbs each winter.
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Stone curb with rust stains, Geneva, New York
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I figured that the granite curb was a campus standard, so I was a bit surprised when I noticed the same curb in nearby downtown Geneva, and then I really couldn’t believe it when I saw the curb design again on the side of some little state highway near a new strip mall and big box retail development in the middle of nowhere in the Finger Lakes region in New York. Apparently, the New York State Department of Transportation has the nicest design standards for curbs that I’ve ever seen for highway use, and it looks like the college campus decided to go with that standard.
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New stone curb being installed, near
Seneca Falls, New York
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I’ve encountered some terrible curbs in Denver, where I live, including at one decaying median with disintegrated curb with a corroded rebar sticking out on a busy US highway that runs through south Denver. More typically, I see unreinforced concrete curbs cut up by snowplows and work trucks. No orange streaks of rust staining on these - the concrete seems to just get scraped off.
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Damaged concrete curb, Denver, Colorado.
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Over time, the concrete disintegrates. |
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A detail of the damaged concrete curb, Denver, Colorado
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A big piece of granite will last a lot longer than a chunk of cast-in-place concrete. This natural stone material will cost more than concrete, but stone curbs may not cost more in labor than concrete curbs do, and labor costs these days are really something to consider. The granite will look better, year after year, even under harsh conditions that seriously damage other materials. |
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The old quality-time-cost dynamic is at play in the stone curb vs. concrete curb design question. We rarely get good quality, with fast construction time, with low cost. Something can be built well – good quality - but it’ll cost more and may take more time than producing something of lesser quality. Something can be built quickly, but compared to something built on a more typical schedule, it will either cost more or be of lesser quality, or both. Something can be built cheaply, but the quality is likely to be poor.
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For me, quality always includes durability – effectiveness and appearance over the long term. A higher-initial-cost, more durable building component can cost less in the long run, because of lower maintenance costs over its service life. Durable building components almost certainly look better over the long term, too. With cheap materials, there is often a period of time after their beauty has been exhausted but before they have been replaced, during which they are unbearable to look at. Durable things age gracefully. The beauty of an object, whether it's part of a building, a piece of furniture, a good quality leather bag, or even a curb on the side of the road, is an incentive to keep and properly maintain the thing so that it continues to serve its purpose. Those nice curbs last long, look good for decades, maybe centuries, even when scraped by snowplows, and therefore probably cost less in the long run. Win-win-win. |
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Each year, Earth Day has a theme that focuses on a particular environmental concern. The theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics. |
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Architects:
Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
04/2024
Washington DC, Hawaii
05/2024
None
06/2024
Iowa -
last name first Initial A-K,
Kansas -
last name first initial A-L,
Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina,
West Virginia
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Engineers:
Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
04/2024
Hawaii,
Kansas - first initial last name A-L,
New Jersey
05/2024
None
06/2024
Delaware,
Kentucky -
last name first initial L-Z,
Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon -
last name first initial
S-Z,
Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Texas
________________
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Landscape Architects:
Jurisdiction License Renewal Due Date
O4/2024
Hawaii
05/2024
New Jersey, Utah
06/2024
Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky,
Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico,
North Carolina,
West Virginia
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Contact Details:
LS Credentialing Services LLC
WBE Certified
P.O. Box 91
Olathe, KS 66051
Lexi@AECredentialing.com
913-424-5606
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Join us in our efforts to go "green".
Think before you print. |
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