Challenges
★Materials
The JW Eco-Technology Pavement uses reinforced concrete and hollow pipes to ensure durability and permeability. However, instead of using steel bars to reinforced the concrete structure, the JW Eco-Technology adopts an Aqueduct Assembly embedded in the reinforced concrete to build the pavement. The reasons for such change were due to consideration of cost and the characteristics of the materials themselves.
1. Cost considerations—using the steel bars is too expensive, so Jui-Wen Chen needed to find a cheaper material that is just as reliable to replace the steel bars.
2. Characteristics of the materials—the materials used for the JW Eco-Technology Pavement needs to withstand the test of time. Steel bars are susceptible to rust. Once the rust starts to form on the steel bars, the steel bars will expand; this will result in cracks on the pavement and severely weaken its structure.
In his search for the perfect material, Jui-Wen Chen had tried and failed many times. One after another—iron, aluminum, copper, and many others—he finally found that plastic was the best material to use for the JW Eco-Technology Pavement.
What makes plastic, as a material, so special? Mr. Chen discussed with us some of the reasons that plastic is the most suitable material.
We asked if the plastic material can withstand various weather conditions, such as the change in daily temperature. He said the plastic he chose was called the Polypropylene or PP. It can resist both acidic and alkaline chemicals; it is structurally strong, and it can withstand heat as high as 140 degrees Celsius and cold as low as -40 degrees Celsius. Therefore, he believes it would be very hard to cause any damage to the Aqueduct Grate.
In addition, the Aqueduct Grate, which is made from recycled plastics, will not cause the concrete to crack when the temperature rises or falls. It is because, when embedded in the concrete, the structure will expand or contract with the concrete, putting no stress on the pavement. At the same time, test results showed that the reinforced concrete with the plastic grate embedded is just as strong as the ones with steel bars. The structural mechanics of the pavement allows the weight to be evenly distributed, even with a load as heavy as a car.
Jui-Wen Chen later added, “I didn’t expect to see such a perfect match of these two distinct materials, concrete and plastic, in road construction.”
By Kevin Chang