Roads Built With Recycled Tire Rubber Might Last Longer
Researchers in Australia have discovered that mixing shredded and ground tires into asphalt cement for road surfaces can extend their lifespan by a whopping 20%. That's because rubber from used tires acts like sunscreen for roads and halves the rate of sun damage when mixed with bitumen, new research has found.
The idea of road surfaces being built with recycled tires may sound strange but it could provide serious long-term benefits for Australia. This would not only cut costs by using existing infrastructure but would also reduce the impact on landfills and help create a closed-loop system that uses waste as a resource.
According to the new study conducted by RMIT’s Associate Professor Filippo Giustozzi and published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. “We found that the aging trend is actually slowed down when you add crumb rubber, which is recycled from scrap tires, into the top layer of a road,” Giustozzi stated. “We knew that UV would be a factor in road degradation, but not by what degree or how to protect against it, as nobody has really been looking at this aspect.”
The researchers looked at how the high concentration of crumb rubber in recycled tire asphalt affected its longevity when exposed to ultraviolet light. They discovered that bitumen mixed with a high concentration of crumb rubber from recycled tires exhibited 50% less UV damage than regular bitumen.
According to Giustozzi, most of Australia's states and territories have been using recycled tire crumbs for years as a cheap way to improve road quality by adding traction and reducing dust from construction sites. The problem is that most people don't realize that this material also acts as a sunscreen for asphalt surfaces—and that's something we could all benefit from if it means longer-lasting roads.
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