“Concrete offers several major advantages when building parking areas, said Bryan Perrie, Managing Director-The Concrete Institute (TCI) and Long-time Former Director-ISCP.”
He added that several studies in the United States have shown that, over a typical 20-year life span of a parking area, concrete required very little maintenance, compared with the maintenance required for an asphalt parking lot, which ended up being as much as 80% of the initial construction cost.
MAINTENANCE:
Concrete parking areas’ maintenance costs are minimal, with usually only some yearly joint sealing and cleaning required. On the other hand, “Asphalt parking surfaces need to be treated every few years and totally resurfaced at least every ten years. Such maintenance work can be very disruptive to the operations of a commercial shopping complex or office block.”
LIGHTING COSTS:
Additionally, the lighting of the parking lot can be reduced when using light-colored concrete surfaces—an estimated 3 out of 10 light fixtures can be eliminated without losing the level of lighting!
SAFETY:
“With crime being a constant problem in South Africa, lighter-colored concrete parking lots create safer storage for cars while reducing energy costs,” Perrie explained.
COOLER TEMPERATURES:
Lighter-colored concrete also lowers temperatures in parking areas during the hot South African summers and, by eliminating the ‘heat-island effect’, can even lower cooling costs for adjacent buildings.
Further, concrete parking lots—particularly those with brushed finishes—are more skid-resistant and allow for easy installation of so-called rumble strips. Concrete pavements also do not rut or develop potholes when carrying heavy loads.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES:
He highlights that the environmental aspects of concrete parking lots should also not be overlooked: “The runoff is low in toxicity and cooler than those from asphalt surfaces. Moreover, permeable interlocking concrete pavements substantially reduce runoff, which is now increasingly enforced through legislation overseas. Additionally, the concrete mix used for parking lots can include recycled materials such as slag, fly ash and recycled concrete.”
Perrie also pointed out that concrete pavements are built in one layer – usually on a subgrade of compacted earth – whereas asphalt pavements require an additional gravel or crushed-stone base. All of these are practical considerations when using concrete for parking areas.
CURB APPEAL:
Moreover, the selection of concrete to pave a parking lot offers the designer unlimited choices of texture, pattern and colour for aesthetic appeal, which improves the appearance of the lot. Color can also be used to designate specific areas for buses, trucks, and visitors’ vehicles, as well as directional signs for pedestrians.
Parking lots can also be blended with adjacent greenbelts or equipped with water features.
“Parking areas are more than just surfaces for cars. They serve as attractive welcome mats for offices, sports stadiums, airports, shopping centres, besides others. They also demonstrate quality to visitors – even before they walk through the front doors,” Perrie enthused.
For the Creamer Media Engineering News article titled “More to concrete parking lots than meets the eye”, please go to: https://m.engineeringnews.co.za/article/more-to-concrete-parking-lots-than-meets-the-eye-2020-05-22/rep_id:4433
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