Waste Tires Used to Rebuild Dirt Road, Benefiting Streams 

Construction crews are nearing the successful completion of an innovative use of waste tires to rebuild a rural road and protect and adjacent stream in north-central Pennsylvania. 

Using PA DEP grant funds, Penn State University’s Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies used baled waste tires as a fill material to rebuild a severely entrenched dirt road in Madison Township, Columbia County. The work has drastically reduced the sediment that runs off into an adjacent stream during heavy rains, and created a smooth, low-maintenance driving surface. A slideshow and video detailing the project and the technology behind it is available on the center’s Web site, http://www.rps.psu.edu/pennsylvania/tires.html .

The project used 2,066 tire bales, each comprising approximately 100 tires. By removing more than 200,000 tires from the Starr Tire Pile in Columbia County, the project reduces the risks of a catastrophic tire fire and eliminates mosquito breeding grounds. The Penn State project is one of several efforts aimed at cleaning up the Starr Tire Pile and finding beneficial uses for the estimated 8 million to 10 million waste tires there. If the tire bales prove to be a durable solution, the concept could also reduce rural communities’ road maintenance expenses and improve the quality of travel for thousands of residents and visitors.