Lakeland is a town full of history and charming brick streets in many residential and commercial areas. Over the years it has become a source of pride for residents. So when it is time to do maintenance on the streets, the city is careful to use a reputable and ecologically minded company as contractor for the job.

Central Pavers Inc. was brought in because it specializes in business of laying and repairing interlocking concrete and brick as road surfaces.

Down a residential street in well-established area of town, a drainage problem demanded attention. It required that the bricks, that had been there for decades, be picked up. For several days, the neighborhood was full of heavy equipment and work crews digging up old bricks.

When a job of this type is done, every effort is made to preserve and use the original materials, not only as a money-saving device, but also to reduce waste and recycle as much as possible, in order to retain the original feel of the neighborhood.

“The interlocking concrete and brick surfaces look good and have structural integrity,” said Patrick Martin of Central Pavers Inc. “The streets often last for 70 to 80 years without needing maintenance. Lakeland and the rest of Polk County are using more and more interlocking paving in residential areas because of this. And it is a major choice in Miami, Naples and Fort Myers.”

Martin said he realizes the need for special handling of the materials.

The bricks were dug up using both heavy machinery and by hand. Crews used a Bobcat 7000 to move bricks and fill trucks as they removed them from the area so the road surface could be prepared. Later the bricks were returned to the site where they were laid by hand after rollers and compactors prepared the surface for re-bricking.

It took the company three weeks to complete the project.