To: WSFAlist at WSFA.org
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 04:08:32 -0400
Subject: [WSFA] compounding asphalt
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 22:41:11 -0400 (EDT) "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl at KeithLynch.net> writes:

> It says "45,000 books were used for every mile."  The M6 motorway
> is
> seven lanes wide, and each lane is 3.65 meters (12 feet) wide.
> (Just
> try finding that information in five minutes without getting out of
> one's seat before the Web and Google!)  That comes to one book for
> every ten square feet.  Conclusion:  The highway wouldn't be harmed
> if they rotted.  Nor would it be improved if they didn't.  The
> whole
> story seems very implausible to me.
>

The M6 Toll motorway is a road distinct from the M6 motorway.  The M6
Toll is a privately financed 27 mile long bypass connecting two junctions
on the M6, providing a faster alternative route around a congested
portion of the M6 near Britain's second largest city.

The M6 Toll is described as a 'three lane' motorway, but, looking at the
pictures ( http://www.freefoto.com/browse.jsp?id=2032-48-0 ), it becomes
clear that means three lanes in each direction, making a total of six
lanes.  If we take 45,000 books per mile each direction for 27 miles, it
comes to 2.43 million books, which is quite close to the 2.5 million
figure quoted in the article
( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/3330245.stm ).

45,000 books per mile of three lanes, each lane 12 feet wide, implies
about 4 sq. ft. of asphalt per book.  The article says the pulped books
are used in the 'top layer' of asphalt, apparently as a fibrous binder
and sound absorber.  Assuming the 'top layer' could be as little as one
inch thick, one book's worth of cellulose fibers mixed in four sq. ft. of
one-inch asphalt would amount to three books per cubic foot of top-layer
asphalt, a content which does seem quantitatively significant.  If one
paperback book is taken to be about 25 cubic inches in volume (5 x 7 x
3/4), it works out to a cellulose fiber content for the asphalt of more
than four per cent, by volume, under the forgoing assumptions.  If the
top layer were two inches thick, the pulp content would be two per cent
by volume.

Ron Kean

.