Edmonton Zoo
Edmonton, AB
PRODUCTS USED: VAST Composite Permeable Pavers
CONTRACTOR: City of Edmonton
Installation of VAST Composite Permeable Pavers Gives the Valley Zoo in Edmonton a Green Solution for Refurbishing an Observation Deck
New Deck is Strong, Durable, Slip-Resistant, and Green. Using VAST Pavers for the 1,500 Square-Foot Deck Keeps 750 Scrap Tires and 22,500 Plastic Containers Out of Landfills.
The Valley Zoo in Edmonton, Alberta has a 1,500 square-foot observation deck from which visitors can view three different African animal exhibits. The deck is situated on the roof of the building that houses the zoo’s zebra exhibit. It was a wood deck that required extensive and costly annual maintenance. “Every spring we had to rip out and replace 20 or 30 boards and then re-stain the deck,” said Kevin Engelking, structural contract inspector for the City of Edmonton. In the spring of 2009 the time had come to re-do the entire deck.
The maintenance problems associated with the wood deck did not surprise Lee Wilburn, president, Castle Rock Contracting, Ltd. “There are many bridges with wood planks in the urban parkland and paths along both sides of the North Saskatchewan River that flows through Edmonton,” he said. “The city gets complaints all the time from runners and walkers about worn and cracked planks, and we routinely go out to fix them.”
Project requirements
According to Rachel Curry, architectural sales representative for Brock White Canada, the main requirements for the project included: (1) durability and ease of maintenance; (2) structural strength to withstand frost heave and repeated freeze-thaw cycles without cracking; (3) slip resistance for safety, especially since the deck is ten feet above the ground; (4) weight that the roof of the building could safely support; and (5) aesthetics.
“Permeability for managing rain runoff and using a green material were not requirements in the project specifications, but the Valley Zoo prefers to incorporate green building practices and materials,” said Colin Wenger, site services team leader, the Valley Zoo.
Initially, installation of a concrete slab on a Styrofoam base was specified for the project. “But the proverbial light bulb clicked on over my head when I recalled the seminar on VAST Composite Pavers that I had attended at Brock White,” recalled Engelking. “It occurred to me that the attributes of VAST could make it ideal for the project, and we changed the specs to specify VAST.”
The VAST advantage
VAST pavers are manufactured with the company's composite material that consists of patented blend of up to 95 percent recycled auto tires and plastic containers. All VAST pavers are cradle-to-cradle green. The VAST manufacturing process starts with recycled materials, emits minimal greenhouse gases (90 percent less carbon dioxide than concrete product production), generates no volatile organic compounds, yields zero scrap, and creates products that are 100 percent recyclable with no waste.
“VAST offers very good slip resistance, and the composite material does not crack like concrete,” explained Curry. “At one-third the weight of concrete, VAST is an excellent material to use on roofs. And VAST has a permeable version of its pavers that would help direct rainwater off and away from the roof.”
Project Items
