Engineered Soil Greens Up Parking Lots

From Discovery News:

Sept. 10, 2007 — Paved areas pollute. They harbor exhaust-spewing cars, absorb and radiate heat, and collect contaminants that are eventually washed into the ground through rainwater runoff. But a new kind of engineered soil could curb pavement pollution. Made with natural and locally available materials, the aggregate can filter storm water as well as provide a better soil bed for trees, which offer shade, scrub the air of emissions, reduce ambient temperatures, and intercept rainfall. "Paved surfaces account for up for 20 to 40 percent of a city's surface," said Greg McPherson, director for the U.S. Forest Service's Center for Urban Forest Research, which is located on the campus of the University of California, Davis. "How do we green up these impervious surfaces?"

Read the whole article