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I've used Styrofoam too. Like you I haven't seen any cracking either, but
have not revisited site for a couple of years. It's 600 miles away in
Miami, Fl. Its been in place now for about 8 years.
I have wondered if some more flexible material wouldn't be better for
serving those areas subject to root expansion. I would think that there
must be something that would be hard enough but flexible enough to fill
that need.
"The Corridor" H.E.A.T. Highspeed Enclosed Automated Transport
Mans economical opportunity for ecological and social enhancement
Act Localy
Think Globaly
George schrader@beaches.net;phc-hm@spectre.ag.uiuc.edu
American Tree
1309 W. 10th St.
Panama City, Fl 32401
Tel 904 769 4060
Portable 904 832 0274
Pager 1 800 849 6162
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> From: oxman@chatlink.com.Mike.Oxman
> To: phc-hm@spectre.ag.uiuc.edu; schrader@beaches.net
> Subject: Re: Re: tree planting sites
> Date: Monday, December 09, 1996 10:11 PM
>
> We used styrofoam over the roots that had cracked a sidewalk. The goal is
to allow some time for the growing roots to crush the foam before the slab
cracked.
> The theory has not been borne out yet because only a couple of years have
elapsed. The sidewalk hasn"t cracked yet. The placement raised the grade of
the sidewalk to where it had to be ramped up to comply with ADA (Americans
with disabilities Act) steepness standards.
> This made it more expensive than usual, but the city streets supervisor
felt the tree was worth saving. To restore the old grade level, major roots
would have had to have been cut, possibly destabilizing the tree. This was
a case where severe thinning would have been indicated, never to compensate
for the imaginary root/shoot ratio, but for safety.