What happens to old tires? Many of them end up building new roads – Jalopnik

Tires have many useful uses even after they are worn out, such as swings, retaining walls and planters. They can even be shredded and put back into the roads we drive on, which has the advantage that pure asphalt doesn’t keep them out of landfills. Ongoing research continues to figure out the best ways to do this, but some places have already put the rubber to the road and are taking advantage of the benefits of these surfaces.

In the US, states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas have extensively researched or are already using rubberized roads. California is leading the way, with state laws requiring Caltrans to use recycled tire rubber in 35 percent of its road projects, according to Chemical and technical news. Part of California’s motivation stems from a tire fire in Westley in 1999 that was so large it sparked the Springfield Tire Fire.The Simpsons“a run for its money. Georgia has also successfully used recycled tires in paving The beama 20-mile stretch of Interstate 85 that experiments with many new technologies, from rubberized asphalt to solar EV charging and V2X communications. Georgia is also using it to repave some roads in downtown Atlanta in preparation for the World Cup Fox 5 Atlanta.

The mixture also reduces road noise, because the rubber absorbs some of the noise that tires create just by rolling on the road. This will benefit not only the people in the cars driving on these roads, but also the people who live and work near them, who will have to put up with less noise. Arizona DOT says rubberized paving reduces tire noise by about four decibels in neighborhoods near urban highways. It also doesn’t absorb as much heat, meaning it won’t release heat when the sun sets and lowers nighttime temperatures, something Atlanta might appreciate during the World Cup matches.

Rubberized paving is a great idea and offers numerous benefits. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is less durable than traditional paving in cold climates. The rubber that remains soft and flexible in the heat instead becomes harder and more brittle, making the road even more likely to fail than traditional paving. This is likely why the states currently using rubberized paving are all in the southern US. It’s all about using the right tools for the right job.