The Use and Recycling of Waste Tire Rubber Hot Mix at Thamesville Ontario

In support of efforts by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to dispose of waste tires, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation built a demonstration hot mix pavement incorporating waste tire rubber at Thamesville, Ontario, in 1990 and 1991.

The purpose of the demonstration was to confirm that (a) the construction of asphalt rubber hot mix pavements is environmentally acceptable and complies with worker health and safety regulations; (b) asphalt rubber pavements can be recycled; and (c) to compare the performance and cost of asphalt rubber pavements to standard pavements.

In 1990 the work consisted of placing 6.0 km each of asphalt rubber mix and standard mix. Both mixes were produced in a drum plant. The rubber content of the mix was 2.0% by mass of dry aggregate. In 1991, both mixes were recycled using the same drum plant and a new section of asphalt rubber mix with a finer gradation of rubber was added.

A full schedule of stack testing was carried out in 1990 and 1991 to determine the presence and levels of a wide variety of pollutants. Testing was also carried out to confirm that the process was in compliance with Ontario worker health and safety regulations.

A description of the equipment and the work, data on mix quality, a preliminary performance evaluation, a discussion on the findings of the environmental and worker safety testing and a costing analysis are included in the paper.