Computech Middle School, Fresno, California
Schoolyards take harder use than most commercial sites and get less maintenance money than almost any of them. At Computech Middle School in Fresno, California, Fresno Unified School District needed permeable pathways and tree surrounds that would stand up to daily student traffic without becoming an annual repair line. The specification was a permeable ROMEX assembly: FLEX JOINT across roughly 3,000 square feet of Orco permeable pavers, and PROFI-DEKO bonded gravel over TRASS BED across about 1,500 square feet, installed in 2026 by Cervantes Landscape Services.
PRODUCT SELECTION
Permeable paver joints on projects like this are commonly filled with loose chip, a material that scatters underfoot and typically has to be topped up or replaced every two to three years. ROMEX FLEX JOINT replaces it with a permanent, permeable, flexible joint that stays where it is placed. It resists weed growth, does not migrate into the surrounding play areas, and is maintained with a pressure washer rather than a refill. For the larger open areas around the playground and the trees, ROMEX PROFI-DEKO binds decorative gravel into a stable, walkable surface that still passes water. ROMEX TRASS BED sits beneath it as the permeable support layer, adding the strength needed where larger vehicles reach the site.
PROJECT LOCATION
Computech Middle School sits in Fresno, in California’s central San Joaquin Valley, where long dry summers and concentrated winter rainfall place opposite demands on an exterior surface. The campus is a Fresno Unified School District facility with established mature trees, several of them shading the pathways and play areas included in the work. Across a district of this size, surfaces that need periodic rework compete directly with maintenance demand at dozens of other campuses, so specifying for longevity has value well beyond a single schoolyard.
PROJECT NEEDS
Four requirements shaped the specification. The surfaces had to be permeable, so stormwater infiltrates on site and reaches the root zones of the mature trees instead of being shed to drains. They had to be safe for children, with no loose material to scatter, trip, or throw. They had to be low maintenance in practice, since a two to three year replacement cycle on loose chip is a recurring cost the district wanted out of the budget. And the finished assembly had to satisfy local guidelines for work in and around protected mature trees.
PROJECT SOLUTION
FLEX JOINT was selected as noted above for the permeable pavers, locking the joints permanently while leaving the pavement’s infiltration performance intact. Weeds have nowhere to root, nothing scatters into the play areas, and routine cleaning is a wash rather than a refill. It is worth noting here that this solution and product is unique in the world, there is not a known product which allows the combination of flexibility, permeability and the strength to deal with H20 loading the way Flex Joint does when designing with flexible base and assembly.
Around the playground and beneath the tree canopy, roughly 1,500 square feet of PROFI-DEKO over TRASS BED delivers a firm, even walking surface that continues to pass air and water to the soil below, with the bedding built to carry occasional heavy vehicle access. Cervantes Landscape Services completed the installation in 2026. The result is a schoolyard surface the district specified once instead of servicing on a cycle.
Permeable pathways and tree surrounds for daily student traffic
Fresno, California
2026
Commercial
