Road Engineering
Morrison Hug, Alexander Choi
Overall, our plan is to showcase the effects of the urban heat island effect and indicate the impacts
Physical Models:
A model idea we can utilize for our urban heat island effect demonstration is creating a physical model that portrays exactly how the urban heat island effect works, and how other materials besides the material usually used on roads, concrete, can contribute to lessening the urban heat island effect.
Goal: Influence Others to Build a road that has cooling material in which cools down the atmosphere
Websites mentioning the manners in which urban heat island effect directly impacts cities:
Measuring Heat Islands | US EPA
https://www.rockpave.com/using-permeable-pavement-to-reduce-heat-islands
The urban heat island can influence the intense heating of the environment of the city, leading to many predicaments. Some of these include the usage of energy in business and households to combat this heat, the creation of dangerous air quality and smog, the downfall of certain environmental species in the city, and decrease the health and the life expectancy of the people in the environment.
Urban heat islands
Gravel Used as a Reducer of the Urban Heat Island Effect:
Gravel could be utilized for roofs of buildings and roads, due to its many holes, air pockets, and cracks, and increased permeability compared to other substances. A cooler version of gravel material, a
“cool roof” solution exists, tested in central Italy to prove its immunity to solar radiation, and ability to store water within it.
Articles used for gravel’s permeability are:
https://www.rockpave.com/using-permeable-pavement-to-reduce-heat-islands
What materials are permeable?:
Website used to find materials: https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-permeable-pavement#:~:text=These%20alternative%20materials%20which%20include,layers%20of%20soil%20and%20gravel
Amended Soils
Soil amendment increases the probability of surrounding vegetation near roads to survive. It is shown that grasses themselves are permeable, reflect heat, and absorb water, decreasing the urban heat island effect by themselves. Soil amendment is the changing of organic matter, such as soil, turfgrass cultivars, and seed mixtures, similar to soil, into a flat, drivable surface. Soil is amended by mixing several solutions together, such as the aforementioned cultivars and seed mixtures. A test was conducted in Rhode Island that showcased how amended soils sustained the condition of the road, and also influenced the spread of turf across the roads.
Use this website: https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/46/10/article-p1404.xml
Interlocking Pavers
Interlocking pavers can be utilized for road production since they are a very permeable surface with many gaps present within them and support a vegetated environment in the area surrounding them. These surfaces sustain a cooler ambient temperature, and do not exert heat, but rather repel it. Therefore, the urban heat island effect could be reduced in two manners, through the interlocking pavers themselves and the vegetation that would develop adjacent to the pavers.
Use this website:
https://oldtownpavers.com/environmental-advantages-of-interlocking-pavers/
