Business Journal Story on Tempark
February 16, 2011 at 5:00 PM
Business Journal
Polivka Intl., Ltd., a specialty developer and large-scale paving contracting firm, introduced a temporary parking surface at a news conference Oct. 23. Called TemPark, the product features an easily removable “sandwich” of geotextile fabric and polymeric mesh core.
TemPark is intended to solve most of the problems encountered with temporary parking areas, says A. Basil Polivka, president of Polivka Intl. “Many temporary surfaces such as gravel, wood chips or shredded rubber made by recycling tires do not provide a stable parking surface and can lead to vehicle damage when excessive rain washes away the material, leaving a muddy quagmire,” he notes. “TemPark provides strength to withstand traffic and cannot be washes away or absorbed into the soil.”
Temporary parking is typically required by the railroad and automobile industries for short-term storage of vehicles prior to distribution or transfer, making construction time and expense a critical factor. TemPark can be installed at an 80 percent saving over traditional parking surfaces, Polivka says.
The product rolls out quickly in long strips with interlocking side edges that are then joined and simultaneously staked into the underlying soil. Formed of surface layers of now-woven geotextile fabric heat-fused to an inner core of polymeric open-mesh core.
TemPark allows water to seep through its surface, through the core and bottom layer and into the soil beneath. Thus, the need for retention ponds to collect run-off water is eliminated, mud and soil cannot penetrate into the surface and the underlying soil is not denied necessary moisture.
“TemPark is resistant to tears, soft chemicals, puncture damage and ultraviolet light exposure and is unaffected by hydrocarbons, mildew, rot and the free thaw cycle,” Polivka says. “When it is removed, the underlying site is virtually undamaged.”
TemPark made its industry debut at a trade show in Dallas last month, Polivka says. The product will be marketed internationally by American Parking Solutions Inc., a sister company of Polivka Intl. also based in Niles.