Silver Spring Square Shopping Center undergoes plastic surgery

Central Penn Business Journal, Aug 10, 2007 by Veronikis, Eric

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

A North Carolina company is helping developers dress up roads and walkways with a pro duct called thermoplastic.

The material, which was recently installed at Silver Spring Square Shopping Center in Silver Spring Township, can achieve the same look as pricier surface materials and requires less maintenance, proponents say. At Silver Spring Square in Cumberland County, the walkways resemble cobblestone paths.

Flint Trading Inc. of Thomasville, N. C., manufactures Deko Mark, a thermoplastic material. It costs between $7 and $8 per square foot.

Red Lion-based D.E. Gemmili Inc. installed Deko Mark crosswalks at the shopping center. Gemmill specializes in installing pavement markings, graphics, traffic signs and more.

"You just lay down the material and then heat it. It liquefies the plastic into the concrete or asphalt," said Gary Gordon, vice president of D.E. Gemmili.

Thermoplastic has practical uses, too. The material is used to create the white lines that tell motorists they are approaching stop signs and red lights, for example.

Corporations use it as a branding tool. It's not uncommon to find a company's name and symbol etched into thermoplastic on its grounds, said Terry Flaherty, regional sales and support manager for Flint Trading. Townships and boroughs use thermoplastic for crosswalks. Some use it to decorate walkways and othersurfaces at their homes, Flaherty said.

Thermoplastic was developed in Denmark in 1987. It's gaining popularity in the U.S., Flaherty said. The product is used heavily in Maryland and is picking up steam in Pennsylvania, he said.

Thermoplastic is reflective, and its sandpaper-like texture helps prevent falls in slippery conditions. The material also cuts down maintenance costs, Flaherty said, and is an ideal replacement for weatherworn bricks. "You can have a nice brick-pattern design but not the same cost," he said.

Mike Kauffman, president of Penn South Commercial Maintenance in Greenville, Del., installed thermoplastic in several shopping centers. He laid 1,500 square feet of it at a shopping center in Paoli, Montgomery County. And after two years, it still looks great, Kauffman said.

"It held up after the three ice storms we had last year. We abused it thoroughly, and not intentionally. It held up after a 44,000-pound wheel-loader scraped it," Kauffman said.

Thermoplastic is expensive compared with traditional waterbased surface paints that cost about 30 cents per square foot, but the money saved in maintenance makes the product worthwhile, Kauffman said.

"There is nothing comparable. It bonds with the concrete. We did a chisel test on it, and it came up with the concrete," Kauffman said. "And when you stand back 20 feet and look at it, it looks like the best bricks ever."

BY ERIC VERONIKIS

ericv@journalpub.com