Old tires find new use in road work

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Using shredded old tires as a material for new road construction projects has saved Indiana more than $1 million in the past two years, state officials said.

Civil engineers at Purdue University who helped determine the proper mixing ratio of tire shreds to sand for specific applications say using the mixture is a green alternative to more expensive materials, a university release said Thursday.

The Indiana Department of Transportation said the materials are more easily compacted, saving construction time and money.

"It's a green project that saves materials and eliminates the landfilling of millions of tires," Indiana Transportation Commissioner Michael B. Cline said.

Using shredded tire chips mixed with sand for road construction from 2008 to 2010 saved the state about $1.2 million in material costs and kept 1.1 million tires out of landfills, officials said.

"That's almost a dollar-per-tire cost savings," said Barry Partridge, the Transportation Department's research program director.

"Landfilling costs are significant -- possibly equal to the savings in materials," Partridge said. "So you can almost double the overall cost savings."

Several other states also are using shredded tires in highway projects, but wider use of the materials would create a significant new market, Partridge said.