More than 280 million tires are discarded each year in the United States, and some are getting a second life on Michigan roads in an effort to reduce cracking and future potholes.
It’s called rubber-modified asphalt. Tires are ground into a powder and blended with asphalt before being laid on the road.
The Washtenaw County Road Commission is testing rubber-modified asphalt on Ellsworth Road between Carpenter and Platt, a busy stretch that carries about 20,000 vehicles a day. Researchers and road officials want to see how the surface performs under real traffic and weather conditions.
Neeko Robison, a WCRC project manager, said drivers may notice a difference.
“If you are a motorist, you may notice it being slightly quieter,” he said.
Michigan Tech Transportation Institute Director Zhanping You said the rubber blend could improve durability.
“This type of asphalt is not likely going to crack easily, so we’re less likely to see potholes in the near future,” he said.
Robison said the road commission plans to monitor the test area over time and compare it with a standard section of Ellsworth Road.
“We are going to observe this over the next couple of years, compare it to the control section of Ellsworth Road and if it does well, we might anticipate using more of it in the future,” he said.
The Bay County Road Commission is also using rubber in its roads, with plans for about two miles of rubber-modified asphalt this year. Officials there say rubber in roads isn’t new, but the technology has improved significantly.
Jim Lillo, an engineer-manager at the BCRC, said today’s approach is not the same as earlier attempts.
“The processes that we’re doing now with rubber is completely different than what they were doing 30 years ago, when it didn’t work so well.”
Road officials say the rubber mix costs more than standard asphalt, but it’s expected to last longer and require less upkeep.
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