Design of unsurfaced roads constructed with large-size shredded rubber tires: a case study

Stockpiles of scrap tires are serious fire hazard, public health hazard, and an environmental burden. The construction of road embankments, using tire shreds as a lightweight fill, can consume large quantities of scrap tires and has certain engineering benefits. All the previous research focused on small size tire shreds (3-6 in. size) in terms of its use in civil engineering applications and determination of the engineering/environmental properties. This research specifically focuses on large size tire shreds (12 in. size) and its direct comparison with the other sizes of the tire shreds to develop mechanistic-empirical practical design model and so that the use of tire shreds in road bases could be used on regular basis with enhanced reliability instead of on an empirical basis. The research also examines the potential environmental implications of the use of shredded rubber tires and the comparison of the short-term results with other long-term monitoring studies.