GEOMECHANICS AND ENGINEERING, cilt.9, sa.4, ss.447-464, 2015 (SCI-Expanded)
Millions of scrap tires are discarded annually in Turkey. The bulk of which are currently landfilled or stockpiled. These tires consume valuable landfill space or if improperly disposed, create a fire hazard and provide a prolific breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes. Used tires pose both a serious public and environmental health problem which means that economically feasible alternatives for scrap tire disposal must be found. Some of the current uses of scrap tires are tire-derived fuel, creating barrier reefs and as an asphalt additive in the form of crumb rubber. However, there is a much need for the development of additional uses for scrap tires. One development the creation of shreds from scrap tires that are coarse grained, free draining and have a low compacted density thus offering significant advantages for use as lightweight subgrade fill and backfill material. This paper reports a comprehensive laboratory study that was performed to evaluate the use of a shredded tire-sand mixture as a backfill material in trench conditions. A steel frame test tank with glass walls was created to replicate a classical trench section in field conditions. The results of the test demonstrated that shredded tires mixed with sand have a definite potential to be effectively used as backfill material for buried pipe installations.