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Unmatched Physical Properties Give Summitville's Porcelain Pavers the Edge
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Summitville's ability to meet the demanding specifications for jobs like tunnel projects is the result of innovative engineering and creative product development.
To demonstrate, to the Department of Transportation and the Cumberland Gap Tunnel engineering group, the feasibility of using
8" x 8" tile on the curved surface of a tunnel wall, Summitville constructed the shortest tunnel in history. Although the mockup was built to the full scale dimensions of the tunnel, it was only 4 feet long.
The "short" tunnel did, however, provide undeniable proof that Summitville's 8" x 8" porcelain pavers, grouted with S-400 Epoxy, offered a practical and less expensive solution than previously considered.
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This innovative demonstration eventually led to 6 major tunnel projects: the Cumberland Gap Tunnel in Middlesboro, Kentucky, Eisenhower Tunnel in Silverstone, Colorado, McCarran Tunnel in Las Vegas, Knox County Tunnel in Tennessee, and the Lincoln and Brooklyn Battery Tunnels in New York City.
The Cumberland Gap project with radius walls used the traditional tile setters method of installing each tile to the wall of the tunnel. Over 250,000 sq. ft. of 8" x 8", dove tail back tile provided both a chemical and a physical bond to assure a successful installation.
Although both the Cumberland Gap and the Eisenhower tunnel projects used Summitville 8" impervious, porcelain, pavers, the Eisenhower Tunnel used a panelized method of installing the tile.
Panels were constructed with tile in a controlled, labor saving, environment then transported 30 miles to the site and installed on the tunnel walls.
Summitville's Porcelain Pavers and epoxy were selected for their ability to withstand the harsh climate of the Continental Divide, 11,300 feet above sea level.
Summitville's environmental friendly, impervious, glazed, porcelain pavers have been specified and installed on building exteriors and tunnels in tile sizes ranging from 4 1/4" to 16" x 16" with smooth or textured finishes.
The manufacturing process that produces Summitville's impervious glazed porcelain pavers benefits the environment in two ways. First, feldspar tailings, a post industrial waste product, that has overloaded landfills for the past 100 years, is used as the primary raw material. Second, Summitville developed a closed system for solid waste accumulation and re-use at their North Carolina plant that resulted in a manufacturing process that is virtually waste free.
An additional benefit provided by the Summitville production process is the superior fusion of glaze to body, which results in a smoother, more continuous surface that is less prone to pitting, pinholes and other surface imperfections than those offered by other manufacturers.
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