Quail West paves way to new record

In 1997, the developers of Quail West made the decision to replace its concrete streets with brick pavers -- not just at street corners and intersections as many other communities have, but the entire road system that winds its way throughout the 1,180-acre community.

"This was a major undertaking," said Sandra Hesse, a partner and general manager of Quail West Golf & Country Club south of Bonita Beach Road and north of Immokalee Road in North Naples.

Hesse said, "To our knowledge, this had never before been done before. But we are a very upscale community, with homes ranging in price from just over $1 million to approximately $10 million, and we felt strongly that having brick-paved streets better reflected that upscale image."

Steve Gunden, site development manager at Quail West, oversaw the paver project, which included two other companies, Krehling Industries and Interlocking Pave Stone. Gunden said when the numbers came in it seemed like an overwhelming task.

"To date, we've brick paved approximately 11.3 miles of roadway within the community, which equates to 1.375 million square feet," said Gunden. "It takes about 4-1/2 bricks per square foot which means nearly 6.2 million bricks have been laid so far, all by hand, all one at a time."

But the project is far from over.

"We still have a ways to go because some of the roads in new areas of our community have yet to be built," said Gunden. "When they are, that will bring our total system up to 14.6 miles, or approximately two million square feet of roadway, pushing the total number of bricks laid to more than 8.5 million."

When Quail West celebrated its grand opening in February 1993, only a few intersections within the community were accented with brick pavers. It wasn't until 1997 that the developer decided to brick pave the entire road system.

The first brick pavers were laid on top of the existing concrete roadway. However, all roads created since 1997 do not have the concrete foundation.

"This has been an on-going project over the past six years," said Gunden. "For the first couple of years, the majority of the work was done during the evening to minimize any inconvenience to our residents and their guests. But that also meant we needed additional nighttime security and portable lighting."

Gunden said, "However, in the past three years, we started laying the brick on roads that were interconnected. And with some adjustments to the work program, much of the work could be done during daylight hours."

Krehling Industries manufactured the brick pavers for the Quail West project. The company's sales manager, David O'Connor, said Krehling Industries to date has manufactured more than 37 million pounds or 18.6 thousand tons of bricks for Quail West.

"When the project is completed, the total number of brick pavers that we'll have manufactured will exceed the 48 million pound mark," said O'Connor.

The roadway system at Quail West consists of two types of brick pavers. The main brick used is a 4-by-8-inch classic pewter charcoal; the other is a red and black cobblestone accent brick.

"Brick paved roads have longevity," said O'Connor. "The roadways in Quail West have a 30-year warranty on materials. This is a two to three times longer life expectancy than typical asphalt paving.

Anthony Del Duca, president of Interlocking Pavestones Inc., was responsible for overseeing the company's own work crews.

"Our crew of 12 men could put down approximately 5,000 square feet or 200 linear feet of brick every night," said Del Duca, who has been in the business for more than 10 years. "One person runs the tractor, two or three men transport the bricks via cart to the final crew who actually position the pavers in place."

At the pace of 200 linear feet a day, Del Duca said it takes approximately 26 working days to lay a mile of brick pavers, depending on weather cooperating.

"To our knowledge and according to the records of our national association, which keeps track of all the large projects, Quail West has the longest brick paved private road system in the nation," said Del Duca.

The only businesses or places to have more brick pavers, according to Del Duca, are at the ports in such places as Portland, Oregon, and Tampa."