Finish Well: The Types of Kerbing Used in Australia Today
Any paved area or street design looks better with a properly installed commercial kerbing product because it makes a neat visual finish between elements. It can be used for steps, to create barriers between roadways and pathways and to form borders where lawns and paved areas meet. The perfect finishing product for hard landscaping projects, kerbing comes in many forms. Let's take a closer look at those commonly used in Australia these days.
Extruded Kerbs
Ideal for long sections of kerbing, extruded kerbs are made relatively cheaply and are extremely popular in the US and Australia. Laid by a specialist machine, which makes them inexpensive to install, they are made from bonded asphalt or concrete and are perfect for motorways. They are not the best choice for winding roads, however.
Pre-Cast Concrete Kerbs
Ever-popular, concrete kerbing is often precast into various shapes so that it can be laid together on site to form a variety of straight lines and curves. It is also ideal for when the roadways and pavements will need to be laid up and over hills and other uneven sections of ground. Highly durable, the concrete kerbs will last for years.
Natural Stone
Offering a different finish to many types of kerb, natural stone comes in all sorts of colours and feels. Basalt and granite are popular choices in the UK, but sandstone tends to be favoured in Australia, largely due to its attractive finish. Usually a feature of high-end urban development, natural stone is rarely used on public highways due to its cost.
High Containment Kerbs
This kerbing is designed to restrict vehicles from mounting the pavement. It is generally higher, at about 450 mm, than normal kerbing and will often have a curved lip, which means that wheels find it hard to bump up and over. High containment kerbs might be used at the edge of a car park or at a junction where pedestrians and vehicles come in close proximity to one another.
Block Paving
Smaller than other types of kerbing, these blocks are manufactured to compliment other hard landscaping products. Although they function as kerbs, where the side and top can both be seen, they should ideally conform to the look and scale of the section block paving they are used with.
Kerb Drainage Systems
Kerbing which also needs to function like a drain hole is more and more commonplace in urban settings, today. Where the roadway needs to be kept clear of drains, holes in the kerbing product chosen can work instead. The camber of the road allows water to drain into an underground culvert or an integrated pipe that actually sits within the kerb itself.