Shredded tires for use as lightweight embankment fill

Abstract

Approximately 26 million tires are currently stockpiled in Canada each year and upwards of 240 million tires are currently stockpiled in the United States each year. The majority of these tires are taking up valuable landfill space, posing health hazards and serious fire risks. With less than five percent of tires being recycled worldwide, it is the publics responsibility to act on this continuously escalating problem. Typically scrap rubber tires are being recycled for use as fuel for energy and the for the production of rubber-based products. A possible solution which has the capability of consuming large quantities of tires is the construction of road embankments using shredded tire chips as a fill material. The objectives of this report were to test and research shredded tire chips located in the Fredericton Landfill Site for possible use as a lightweight material for embankment construction over soft and highly compressible soils.