Final expansion in the Rodensee 2 development area in Erzhausen with a special paving system
When a new residential area is developed in Germany, the road pavement often initially consists only of a temporary asphalt surface. The reason for this is the heavy load placed on the roads by construction vehicles. As long as the building construction work in the new development area has not yet been completed, there would otherwise be a risk that the ongoing construction work would immediately destroy a freshly paved road. For this reason, the road is often not finished until all the building construction work has been completed. This also applied to the Rodensee 2 development area in Erzhausen near Darmstadt. When choosing a suitable road surface, the planners also used concrete paving stones as a traffic-calming element.
Over 16 years ago, the municipality of Erzhausen in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district developed the “Rodensee II” residential development area in the south-east of the built-up area. The access roads were constructed with a construction road surface consisting of a 10 cm thick asphalt base course to approximately the later width of the roadway. Now that almost all the plots have been built on, the final expansion of the roads began in mid-2019. According to the planners’ ideas, these were to be developed at the same level, without separate side spaces, predominantly with a 5.50 m wide carriageway and side footpaths. In all streets within the residential area, there will therefore be no edges or steps between the carriageway and sidewalks.
Visual separation between roadway and sidewalks
It was also important to the planners that lanes and sidewalks are visually separated: René Beyer from Department III/Building of the municipality of Erzhausen explains: “The area is designated as a 30 km/h zone, and some areas even have a walking speed limit. We therefore considered how the road surface could also contribute to traffic calming. The solution was to use different materials. The
The sidewalks were paved with relatively light-coloured concrete block paving in the shade of shell limestone and the parking spaces with a dark anthracite-colored paving. In contrast, the roadways were asphalted – with the exception of the intersections. Here, we deliberately opted for a light gray concrete paving to create a different visual effect. By changing the road surface, we have changed road users’ perception of the traffic situation. The result is a reduction in speed on these sections.”
Changing the road surface changes the perception of the traffic situation
When choosing the type of paving, the planners opted for a special system from the manufacturer Beton Pfenning from Lampertheim. Rene Beyer explains why: “It’s not as if the roads are no longer used now that the building construction work has been completed – on the contrary: furniture trucks, refuse collection vehicles and maneuvering cars continue to put a strain on the surfaces. This is why a paving system was needed here that was also designed to last, so that no damage would occur. Especially in the intersection areas, particularly high shear and shear forces act on the 5,000 m² paved areas. That’s why we opted for a paving system with a special anti-displacement system.”
CombiStabil-Natura with D-point joint technology
The system is “CombiStabil-Natura”, a 10 cm thick concrete block paving with broken edges in 21 x 14 cm format. The special feature: This system from the Einstein paving family combines aesthetics and functionality in an ideal way. Thanks to the so-called D-point joint technology, the joint required to absorb traffic loads is always maintained. When laying the paving stones, there is only minimal contact at the bottom edges of the stones. Unlike many other interlocking pavers with spacer or interlocking cam systems, the proportion of the surface where the stones touch is therefore very small. This prevents the otherwise frequent crunching and ensures optimum force transmission between the stones. Shear and horizontal forces caused by traffic are buffered by the joint material and transferred evenly to the base courses. To ensure even better displacement protection, the stones were laid in an elbow bond everywhere.
In addition to the positive technical properties, this paving system also sets visual accents: The stones have broken edges and therefore look almost like a natural stone surface when laid: “The sidewalks in the shell limestone color are particularly effective and bring a harmonious ambience to the residential area. Ultimately, this also contributes to traffic calming,” concludes René Beyer.
