SEATTLE - As Assistant Engineering Professor Steve Muench looks down from an overpass onto Interstate-5 in Seattle, he can't hide his admiration.
"They really built it well," marvels the UW researcher and representative of the new Green Road Project.
But while he admires the thickness and durability of a decades' old highway, he cringes at the state of some of the country's newer roads. He says many were built in the right place, with the wrong materials and the wrong engineering. He says his Green Roads Project, in conjunction with Global Engineering CH2M Hill, aims to put some common sense and sustainability in road building and repair.
"You don't design it to last a long time and be very durable, you're back in no time fixing it up and spending more money," said Muench.
The Green Roads Project would, among things, improve planning for proper drainage of roads using new porous materials that allow natural seepage instead of heavy pooling and runoff. It would make more use of recycled and locally produced materials to make stronger roads and boost local economies. And it would make sure new roads would have proper pedestrian and bicycle lanes, which would reduce congestion by promoting alternatives to driving.
It's all part of a road project based on the success of LEED and other environmental rating programs for construction and remodeling of buildings.
Muench and CH2M Hill presented the plan to the National Department of Transportation this week and, according to Muench, his plan for more solid road construction and savings in repair costs went over very well.
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