Recycled Rubber in Various Engineering Applications

Used tires ready for recycling

Used tires ready for recycling

Recycled rubber from tires has been used in various civil engineering projects. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) promotes these uses which included RAC or rubberized asphaltic concrete as a friction enhancing and noise mitigation top layer on roadways. But there are other uses for the material as well. Tire-derived aggregate or TDA can be used as a lightweight backfill material to reduce loading on existing structures or lower driving forces on landslides and etc. Finally, the article describes how TDA was used for vibration mitigation under the subbase for a light rail line. [Source: Recycling Today via ASCE SmartBrief. Image: Tire Recycling]