Giving Back

New rubberized Porous Pave paths encircle the 9-11 Garden of Reflection

Michigan-based Porous Pave is fortunate to be involved in many projects that have a positive impact on our communities and our nation, company owner Dave Ouwinga said.

“Despite the challenges of 2020, we were privileged to be involved in two recent projects that honor the lives of Americans lost to violence and terrorism,” Ouwinga said.

Porous Pave XL was recently installed at the Amazing Grace Park currently under construction in Marion, South Carolina to honor the late Senator Clementa Pinckney.

Pastor Pinckney was murdered along with eight others in the June, 2017 Charleston, South Carolina church shooting. Amazing Grace Park, which will be completed next year, has already had over 15,000 sq. ft. of beautiful Cypress Porous Pave XL paths and walkways installed.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on our nation, Porous Pave was approached by Ellen Saracini and asked to participate in the revitalization of The Garden of Reflection 9-11 Memorial Project.  Ellen’s husband, Captain Victor Saracini, was the captain of United Flight 175, which struck the World Trade Center’s south tower.

This beautiful garden is located in historic Bucks County, Pennsylvania and was created to remember and honor our loved ones and all 2,973 individuals killed on September 11, 2001. The Garden of Reflection Memorial Park was originally constructed in time for the fifth anniversary of this tragic event.  Fifteen years later as preparations are under way for the 20th anniversary of 9-11, Porous Pave partnered with the Garden of Reflection to transform its worn paths into an aesthetically beautiful trail system.  The 10,500 SF trail paved with Porous Pave XL is a positive reminder that despite the evil in this world, good can still prevail.
“We are so grateful to Porous Pave, Inc. for their tremendous partnership in supplying and installing this permeable paving material,” Ellen Saracini said. “Completion of this project means that visitors have full access to the 9-11 Memorial and the Oak Garden including ADA accessible walkways,” she said.

“Porous Pave was excited to be involved in the installation of 11,000 square feet of material at the 9-11 Memorial. This is a phenomenal memorial,” he said.  Ouwinga also praised the company’s local distributor and installer who worked alongside Porous Pave to make this successful installation happen so quickly.  With their help, Porous Pave installed 8,400 sq. ft. in one day beating the company’s previous installation record of 6,000 sq. ft. in a day.

In August, students from the Bucks County Technical High School donated their services to prepare the site for the paving work, excavating the original red crushed stone pathway that had eroded over the years.

Made from recycled tires, stone aggregate and a proprietary binding agent, Porous Pave is an eco-friendly surfacing material with endless applications.  The unique design of the material allows the entire surface area to be porous which allows 5,800 gallons of water per hour to pass through each square foot of surface area.

It’s a pour-in-place material that is mixed on-site and applied as a single, monolithic pour.  Installation is much faster than traditional pavers and is much easier than concrete to finish.  Porous Pave is easy to install using a mortar mixer and readily available concrete tools. It can be applied using a paver or hand screeded and is fully cured and ready to use after 24 hours, the company said.

In fact, not long after installation at the Garden of Reflection was complete, visitors were already enjoying the newly-paved walkways, which are now also accessible to wheelchairs and strollers.

Porous Pave is offered in eight colors which are often blended and five construction models including:  Porous Pave XL, Porous Pave XLR, Porous Pave XLS with soft binder and Porous Pave XLB Sand Guard.

Since its founding, Porous Pave has recycled more than 15 million pounds of tire derived rubber.

© Scrap Tire News, December 2020