On the Road Again
UMaine researcher finds valuable uses for old tires
About the Photo:
"Maine had more stockpiled tires per person than any other state.
Today, with the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Turnpike
Authority, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and UMaine
working together, the state is headed toward cleaning up all its
stockpiles." — Dana Humphrey
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Dana Humphrey likes it when the chips
are down. It means that one more stockpile of old tires is no longer an
eyesore or taking up space in a landfill.
Humphrey is the nation's leading expert on the use of tire chips in
civil engineering projects. For the past decade, The University of Maine
professor has studied the uses of shredded tires as a durable
alternative to conventional materials — such as soil and gravel — in the
construction of roads, drainage areas and retaining walls.
Humphrey's extensive research and consulting work with state
transportation and environmental protection officials coast to coast has
earned him a nickname — "Dr. Shred."
"Civil engineering is not just to discover something new but to put what
is discovered into practice," says Humphrey. "My technology is about
solving engineering and environmental problems by reusing tires and
saving money."
Each year in this country, more than 270 million used tires are
discarded, according to the Scrap Tire Management Council of the Rubber
Manufacturers Association based in Washington, D.C. Approximately 84
percent of all scrap tires come from passenger cars.
In Maine, the state Department of Environmental Protection estimates
that there were 30 million old tires in abandoned stockpiles in the
woods when Humphrey began his research 11 years ago. After this year's
tire shred construction projects, only one pile with greater than 1
million tires will remain.
"Maine had more stockpiled tires per person than any other state. Today,
with the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT), Maine Turnpike
Authority, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), and
UMaine working together, the state is headed toward cleaning up all its
stockpiles," Humphrey says.
In 1990, MDOT funded UMaine's first laboratory study of tire shreds for
use as lightweight fill. The results were so promising, shredded tires
were used as an insulating layer in a section of roadbed in Richmond,
Maine.
"It was a success for Richmond," a small town just south of Maine's
capital city, Augusta, Humphrey says. "The road had to be stabilized so
that people could get home during spring melt.
"Temperature measurements showed the tire chips provided insulation that
kept frost from penetrating into the ground in the winter. Twelve inches
of tire chips did what 24 inches of conventional construction material —
gravel — could not."
Experiments continued, including the first-ever use of tire shreds as
backfill for a retaining wall. Humphrey's studies found that tire shreds
are lightweight, provide good thermal insulation and drainage, and can
be compressed — "four characteristics that make interesting combinations
for unique projects," he says.
The next milestones in the research came in 1996 when MDOT made use of
large quantities of discarded tires — a total of 500,000 — on two more
road construction projects.
Late that same year, a new interchange was designed to provide better
access to the Portland, Maine Jetport. When the Maine Turnpike Authority
faced the major challenge of finding suitable fill that would not sink
into the thick layer of soft clay at the site, tire shreds were used.
The jetport interchange project used 1.2 million old tires from an
abandoned stockpile and saved $300,000 in construction costs. The
innovative, cost-saving alternative earned Humphrey the 1997 Maine
Governor's Special Teamwork Award. That year he also received the
International Tire and Rubber Association Friend of the Industry Award.
"The tire chip industry in Maine has worked hand-in-hand with The
University of Maine as we develop the technology for tire chip
applications," Humphrey says. "As a result, companies in the state are
way ahead of their competition. Similarly, Maine DOT now routinely uses
tire shreds for lightweight fill and drainage on highways. That's very
different from other states, where only a few are including tire shreds
as regular alternative construction materials. But that's changing."
Today, upward of 30 million old tires are shredded each year for civil
engineering projects nationwide. That compares to 1990, when virtually
none of the millions of scrap tires generated annually were being
reused, Humphrey says.
Some of the first uses of tire chips in civil engineering projects
occurred in the mid-1970s. At that time, whole tires were included in
the construction of artificial reefs. Their use in road embankments and
as backfill for retaining walls was on the increase in the early 1990s.
Nationwide by the end of 1995, an estimated 10 million scrap tires were
being reused each year in civil engineering applications.
What appeared to be an exponentially growing market for tire shreds came
to a screeching halt in December 1995 and January 1996, when two roadbed
embankments in Washington state and backfill in a retaining wall in
Colorado caught fire. Humphrey was one of the researchers who joined
industry and Federal Highway Administration representatives on a
national committee to investigate the internal heating problems caused
by tire chips, which by the mid-1990s had been used in more than 70
civil engineering projects across the country.
Humphrey had already been working with the Scrap Tire Management Council
to draft guidelines for use of tire shreds. He subsequently took the
lead in writing the national standards for use of scrap tires in civil
engineering applications, which are set by the American Society for
Testing and Materials.
Among the regulations is a 10-foot limit on the depth of tire shred
fill. At the three sites that burned in Washington and Colorado, fill
depths were 25 feet or more, causing internal combustion.
Tire shreds can be up to 12 inches long. The larger the tire shred, the
lighter the fill and lower the likelihood of heating.
In highway applications, Maine and Minnesota lead the way, says
Humphrey. Other states now are experimenting with tire shreds or have
recently completed their first projects.
Those states now testing tire shreds in road construction include
California, where in June Humphrey spent a week consulting on a project
using shreds from 700,000 tires at a site just north of San José.
"Today, the biggest hurdles are concern about water quality and people
not wanting to try something new," Humphrey says. "A
five-and-a-half-year study that ended last year showed tire shreds pose
no threat to water quality. What's needed in these states is an advocate
willing to explore alternatives. That advocacy often comes from a state
environmental agency responsible for managing scrap tires, or from the
scrap tire industry looking to expand markets."
Humphrey fields up to 200 telephone inquiries each year about his
research, in addition to his duties in the classroom and as chair of the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
In the summer, Humphrey travels coast to coast, helping other states
build tire shred projects. On Monday he may be giving a how-to
presentation in Indiana; by Friday, he's headed to Delaware to evaluate
a tire shred drainage system in a landfill.
"The best part of being a faculty member is working with students and
watching them grow into mature professionals," says Humphrey, recipient
of UMaine's 1998 Presidential Public Service Achievement Award, and the
University's 1994 Distinguished Professor and Carnegie Foundation Maine
Professor of the Year awards. "A close second is helping the state solve
some of its pressing problems, such as disposal of waste tires and
improving the durability of our highways."
by Margaret Nagle
October-November, 2001
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