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Eighth-grade team asks Vinton City Council for input on restoring brick roads
Summary
An eighth-grade First Lego League team told the Vinton City Council about tests of a sealant and a concrete-base approach to restoring the city's brick streets, estimating sealant costs at about $18,450 for the blocks they studied and asking for council feedback on feasibility and next steps.
A team of eighth-graders from Vinton Middle School presented a brick-road restoration proposal to the Vinton City Council on Jan. 8, outlining test results and cost estimates and asking the council for feedback.
The students said their ‘‘innovation project’’ focused on restoring the town’s brick roads rather than replacing them. They described two approaches tested in their work: treating existing bricks with a commercial sealant to improve water resistance and installing an 8-inch concrete base beneath the bricks for long-term stability. The team reported treating a sample brick and leaving an untreated comparison outside for two or three days; they said the treated brick repelled water during the test.
The students estimated coverage and cost for a stretch of Second Avenue from 13th Street to Fifth Street: roughly 10,200 square feet per block, 51 gallons of sealant per block, eight blocks in the project area, and 82 five-gallon buckets at about $225 per bucket — a sealant cost estimate of $18,450. They said the sealant could extend the usable life of the bricks 10 to 15 years and that annualized cost would work out to a little over $1,000 per year for maintenance over that lifespan.
Council members and local residents asked technical questions about the proposals. One council member said an 8-inch concrete base is the ‘‘tried and true’’ method to prevent future deterioration; other members and the teacher accompanying the group raised the need to consider subbase drainage, labor, and the expense of replacing sewer or water lines if a street tear-up triggered a ‘‘complete streets’’ reconstruction.
Lori, the students’ ELP teacher, told the council the students had received donated sealant from a local distributor and had used photos and test samples for their presentation. The teacher said the presentation also supports the students’ entry in an upcoming state competition where they must show outreach and practical engagement.
The mayor and council thanked the students for the presentation and indicated staff would review relevant plans and past project records, including engineering work from prior restorations, and suggested the students remain engaged as the city prioritizes street projects. No council action was taken; the presentation was placed in the record for future consideration.
The council meeting record shows the city’s street superintendent rates streets annually and that projects proceed in priority order as funding and engineering allow; staff noted a large engineering and design cost would be required for a full brick-street reconstruction and that brick restoration is not currently on the city’s critical top-list.
