30
Backers
$3,893
pledged of $20,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on May 18, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
A personalized thank you card and a hand-signed photo of the team alongside or standing on the finished product.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Your name (or alphanumeric string of your choosing) inscribed on a plaque that will be affixed to a full-scale prototype. Your thank-you package will include photographs and other verification.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
We will hand-write a letter to the recipient of your choosing detailing your kind and generous nature, your virility and animal magnetism, or whatever qualities you would like us to emphasize. For example, we could write your mother a happy letter praising your character and her good parenting. Also guaranteed lie-free, as you are a good person if you donate to help our project.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
A scale model of our production prototype, made in a rapid prototyping machine, with your name and chosen inscription on it (character limit to be determined).
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
We will cast a full sized unit in your name. It will have an inscription of your choosing (character limit to be determined) and be available for your retrieval after a limited testing period. Delivery not included. We will also send you additional, as yet to be determined rewards.
Pledge $10,000 or more Pledge $10,000 or more
We will come to your home town and work with a local precast company to construct a couple units to demonstrate to your municipality, in your honor.
Pledge $10,000 or more Pledge $10,000 or more
You will be flown to lovely Kansas City - the Paris of the Midwest - for an overnight visit to witness the casting of your very own paving slab. You will stay in a luxury hotel, be chauffeured to the finest restaurants, and receive a personal welcome and presentation from the project team. (Continental United States only)
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
We are a team originating from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. The lead, Tim Sylvester, has been working on this project as time affords for several years, and now we are ready to move to the next level.
Bob, there will be a small gap to allow for thermal expansion, no more than 1/8". However, it will be filled with the "compression garment" which acts as a joint sealant. The civil engineers I've spoken to have told me that joint sealants universally do not work 'as designed' to exclude water intrusion, so this is a universal problem.
Our design intent is to provide adequate drainage that the freeze-thaw cycle isn't as troublesome as you imply, and we have several designs to lock the units together. Furthermore, if any water was trapped between the slabs in the joint, when it froze, it would simply compress the garment in the joint, without affecting the slab itself.
I assume there will be some sort of "gap" between the sections, as you probably can't get a gap-less connection. How would you prevent water from getting between the gaps, then freezing, melting during the day, then re-freezing again - potentially pushing the pieces apart?
Andrea, good question. The slabs are designed 'to span', which means that, from the surface, you would never notice any problems underneath - and the sensors inside would report back to home before those sub-surface problems would have a chance to become problems that would affect drivers.
The slabs could certainly shift in extreme conditions, yes - but in the situation you describe, a typical road would wash out completely, which is a much more expensive repair.
The upkeep on this style of pavement is far lower than for asphalt - we estimate a cost savings of nearly 50% versus asphalt across the life of the precast pavement despite costing more up-front. Asphalt has to be repaired pretty much every spring, whereas a similar pavement in southern Missouri is now six years old and hasn't required any maintenance, and has none scheduled. MoDOT says the pavement could survive without maintenance for 50 years and still be in good condition.
So the expected upkeep on these roads is actually far, far less than with asphalt. Thanks for asking!
What about erosion? With the shifting of the dirt, would the modules (puzzle pieces as I've decided to call them) not shift as well? Thus causing rather harsh bumps in the road even worse than potholes? It seems like the upkeep on these roads is more extensive than the upkeep workers do on potholes. (Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely love this all to pan out. I do hope there is a complete solve to my question.) Good luck!
Alex, thanks for your comment. The pressure sensors wouldn't generate enough energy to produce line power, but would be useful in powering sensors, for example a position sensor for the car that powers itself through the car's motion over it so that its only working when its needed.
This is a really cool idea. Would it be possible to integrate some pressure sensors under the slab that might be utilized for power production? It would be a nice additional capability if it produced power.