An area roofing contractor has some major cleanup work to do today in south Springfield.
Kirberg Co. crews will vacuum some 325 tons of gravel off the roof of the Springfield-Greene County Library Center.
That’s right, vacuum. They’re using an industrial-size vacuum to clean off the center’s 72,500-square-foot flat roof before replacing the roof altogether.
Library officials say the gravel was installed at the time of construction – as a Payless Cashways hardware store in 1995 – to weigh down the roof membrane.
It should be a sight to see. “During vacuuming, the gravel chunks will rattle through an aluminum tube across the roof and down a 27-foot drop to a hopper and into a dump truck,” a library news release says.
Kirberg, based in St. Louis and known locally for its work on the Greene County Public Safety Center’s green rooftop, will recycle the gravel and former roof covering material.
While we never saw the tons of gravel atop the Library Center, we could find ourselves driving on it or walking over it at area parks. Library officials say Kirberg plans to sell the materials to companies for road construction and landscaping.
The new roof will have a layer of insulating cover board topped with a white polymer/filler blend to reflect the sun’s rays and provide some energy savings. The $375,000 project is scheduled to wrap up May 1.
Hey, if they need to get rid of some gravel, I’ll volunteer my driveway…