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Rainforest Relief

12/7/11 New York City Design Commission Dear Commissioners:

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RAINFOREST

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RELIEF

I am thrilled that the members of the Design Commission were able to see some of the holes in the rhetoric presented by Parks personnel regarding the "need" to use concrete for the understructure and part of the decking of the Reigelman Boardwalk. It was, once again, extremely frustrating to have to stand, silent, and listen to misinformation, obfuscation and avoidance coming from Parks personnel without the ability to respond. Rainforest Relief has been advocating for the use of durable, structural recycled plastic lumber (RPL) for the Boardwalk since 1995. Indeed, within the environmental community, we have more experience with, and information about, this class of materials than any other group in the country. We have had numerous meetings with Parks Department Commissioners, engineers, designers, specifiers and others since we first brought this material to their attention. Just as Parks is today saying that domestic hardwoods "do not work for us", so they insisted, from 1995 to 2005, that RPL wouldn't work for them. Having at that time been sold (literally) on tropical hardwoods as the only answer for the Boardwalk, Parks ignored our suggestions and those from engineers working for the companies producing structural. RPLs for more than a decade. In fact, they ignored us to such a great extent that, even when 'complying' with us when it came to ending the use of tropical hardwoods for the platforms of playground playsets, they still couldn't get it right and used a wood-plastic composite lumber, something we specifically suggested they notuse. They are now having to replace those with true RPL. Today, Parks is willing to admit that RPLs can work. However, they have yet to explore the options for using this class of high-tech material. While Parks has used some RPL for bench slats, they also allow their bench vendors to choose a type of RPL that is not structural and thus needs a metal bar embedded into the material for support. This system is patented by one supplier and thus Parks is locked into using that supplier, even though structural RPL is available that is stiff enough to not need the metal support. In 2007, the director of Parks' Specifications Office declared that the plastic lumber tried in a few park benches since 2000 was holding up better than any other material, including tropical hardwoods. Rainforest Relief had suggested as much as far back as 1995, 12 years prior. Today Parks seems as wedded to concrete as they were to tropical hardwoods a decade ago. Ironically, they seem quite ready to use RPL as a decking material but only directly atop a concrete slab. This is a mistake. Indeed, any material put directly on top of the concrete will be lifted by the ice that forms when the water that gets trapped
Exposing and Challenging Rainforest Consumption

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Church Street Station, PO Box 298, New York, NY 10008-02.98 New York City: 917/543-4064 Northwest Office: 503/236-3031 info@rainforestrelief.org www.rainforestrelief.org Printed on recycled paper

RAI NFOREST

Rainforest Relief

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between the boards and the concrete freezes. As well, any boards, wood or plastic, are trapping sand that subsequently does not allow moisture to run off. This should have been a no-brainer. Yet Parks insists they need the concrete to support the loads they require to allow for vehicles on the Boardwalk. Indeed, Chief Engineer Natoli often refers to a "fire truck surrounded by a crowd of people". Yet this situation has never occurred on the Boardwalk. If it were to occur, true structural RPL (sRPL referred to by the premier company as recycled structural composites, RSCs) has been used by the US Army Corps of Engineers for multiple bridges that are able to support 71-ton tanks and another that is able to support a 125-ton locomotive. Even if Parks wanted to bring on a full pumper, a plastic sub-structure could be designed to hold it. Indeed, just such a bridge was built over the headwaters of the Mullica River in southern New Jersey, rated to 36 tons, to allow fire trucks into the forest. The question is notwhether RPL is 'strong' enough to support the loads that question has been answered. The question is, why has Parks not explored what such a design might look like and cost. The US Army has found that, for the tank bridges, RPL was the material with the lowest cost on an installed-cost basis, including wood, steel or concrete. The added benefit that these materials will likely outlast even steel or concrete makes them undeniably the least expensive material over time. John Natoli, Parks' Chief Engineer, has stated on numerous occasions that RPL is too slippery for the decking of the main Boardwalk. Thus, the concrete center alley they have proposed is a compromise to allow for vehicles to drive at high speed. But at least one RPL manufacturer has delivered test data that shows that their product is just as resistant to skidding (that is, it has a higher coefficient of friction) as other materials used on the Boardwalk, including concrete and new ipe. Even so, Rainforest Relief has been suggesting for years that one RPL manufacturer in particular score the surface of their material to make it more suitable for decking. Given the experience of these materials in the field, it would make sense to produce a product that would be more skid-resistant over the life of the material. This would not be a difficult thing to do but, given the added expense to the company, would likely necessitate an understanding that an entity such as New York City would be willing to purchase the material once it meets this requirement. Until then, Rainforest Relief will continue to advocate for a structural plastic understructure and a domestic hardwood deck. To clarify: some information mentioned by Parks has suggested the RPL is likely to burn. This is simply not the case. Parks has cited the case of the Tiffany Street Pier, which caught fire after multiple lightning strikes, shortly after it was built. The truth is that the City engineers that oversaw the construction of that pier neglected to place lightning rods on the top of the structure. One experimental material that was tested on this structure was a metal piling surrounded by plastic. Against the recommendations of the inventor of recycled plastic lumber, the City engineers used this material for the posts of the gazebo (the highest structure on the pier) that ran from the roof of the gazebo, through the pier, into the substrate below the river. In effect, they had erected six extremely efficient
Exposing and Challenging Rainforest Consumption

RAINFOREST

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Church Street Station, PO Box 298, New York, NY 10008-0298 New York City: 917/543-4064 Northwest Office: 503/236-3031 info@rainforestrelief.org www.rainforestrelief.org Printed on recycled paper

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lighming rods. These poles were hit during the first large thunderstorm that came through the area, lighting up the pier. Yet, the fire marshal stated that, if the pier had been made of wood, under the same conditions, the entire pier would have burned. As it was, only 1/3 of the pier burned and melted. Even still, many of the plastic beams in the understructure, even having lost 1/3 of their size, were still able to remain in place and support the pier. Rather than this being a condemnation of plastic, this incident was a affirmation. Recently, Parks has stated that, for decking, domestic hardwoods "do not work for them". We have heard no explanation as to why. Parks has never tested black locust, white oak or Thermorym thermally-modified ash on the Boardwalk. They have tested white oak on some benches (which held up well enough for them to start using it for that purpose I have personally seen two parks with new white oak benches). They have tested one brand of thermally-modified wood, including red oak, which has not performed optimally. Not only have they not tested Thermorr, a unique and very high-tech process of thermally modifying domestic white ash, but, prior to my presentation at the Design Commission meeting, Parks had not even heard of it, even though it has been used in Europe for more than io years, with excellent results. Thermorr comes with a 20-year warranty. The one black locust bench that Rainforest Relief convinced Parks to try (we actually delivered the test slats to their bench manufacturer), was working so well in the two years it was observed, that it was stolen from outside Parks' Olmstead Center in Queens. Wildwood, NJ city engineers were convinced enough by black locust's mechanical properties and history of use, that they ordered black locust for a one-block renovation of their vehicular coastal Boardwalk. The use of the material fell through only when the vendor delivered a lower grade of wood than what was specified. Mutual lawsuits ensued. There is no doubt that domestic hardwoods are strong enough to withstand the loads Parks desires on the Boardwalk. This is a given, since Parks formerly used domestic softwoods on the Boardwalk prior to ipe. Below is a comparison of some of the materials Parks has used on the Boardwalk in terms of their modulus of rupture (that is, when they will break under a load). All numbers are in lb.ft/in2.

Ipe: (Tabebuia sp): 25,360 Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia): MOR: 19,400 White ash (Fraxinus americana): MOR: 15,00o White oak (Quercus sp.): 15,200 Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii): 12,400

Exposing and Challenging Rainforest Consumption

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Church Street Station, PO Box 298, New York, NY 10008-0298 New York City: 917/543-4064 Northwest Office: 503/236-3031 info@rainforestrelief.org www.rainforestrelief.org Printed on recycled paper

Rainforest Relief

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'RE LI EF

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Clearly, the ipe that Parks used for years is twice as 'strong' as the Douglas fir they used prior to the ipe. Yet, it is our belief that the understructure of the Boardwalk has not been changed significantly since the Douglas fir was used. Thus, any decking material as strong or stronger than the Douglas fir utilized on a substructure constructed in the 'traditional' way that Parks utilized since the Douglas fir was the material of choice, would meet the load requirements that the Boardwalk needed up until that point (woo). Clearly, black locust, white oak and white ash (Thermory) would meet these requirements as decking materials. Thus, all of the problems suggested by Parks can be solved with a design that is similar to the original Boardwalk an open-air, piling/pile-cap/runner/stringer/decking structure. The understructure should utilize the most durable readily-available material, one that will notrot, does not warp, is impervious to insects, can be made fireproof and is, especially in the long-run, less expensive on an installed-cost basis: structural recycled plastic lumber. The deck can be durable domestic hardwoods, such as mentioned above, or skid-resistant RPL. Until Parks builds a sustainable, durable and effective boardwalk, they will continue to be caught up in a maintenance nightmare. What they have designed will never be an effective model for boardwalk communities across the US, all of whom are facing continuing protests for their use of tropical hardwoods and seeking solutions. Tim Keating, Director Rainforest Relief

Exposing and Challenging Rainforest Consumption

RAINFOREST

RELIEF

Church Street Station, PO Box 298, New York, NY 10008-0298 New York City: 917/543-4064 Northwest Office: 503/236-3031 info@rainforestrelief.org www.rainforestrelief.org Printed on recycled paper

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