Tyre rubber in building foundations
UC AND ESR RESEARCH PROJECT
LOCATION
Christchurch
ROLE
Research & Development
TYRES RECYCLED
Passenger | Truck | OTR
WHAT THEY DO
Researchers at the University of Canterbury (UC) and Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) have been investigating the use of finely shredded end-of-life tyre rubber as an additive in building foundations.
Laura Banasiak (ESR), Gabriele Chiaro (UC) and Alessandro Palermo (UC) assessed the seismic performance of concrete foundations with a tyre rubber additive. The conclusion? A significant improvement in the resilience of foundations in the event of an earthquake.
The work found a mixture using 40% rubber was optimal – the equivalent to 9,000 passenger tyres in the foundations for a 200m2 residential building.
Plans are under way to construct a test building using the system where its performance and environmental impact can be tested in a real-world setting.
The researchers see it as a very promising, cost-effective system for protecting residential buildings against the effects of earthquakes. It has the added benefits of reducing the need for gravel as aggregate and could keep used tyres out of landfill. The ESR did lab-scale testing on leaching and found no toxicity issues.
Building 722 x 200m2 homes in this way would use all the end-of-life tyres generated in New Zealand annually.
“Using tyres in foundations means they are kept out of landfill. It also reduces the need for virgin material such as gravel and makes protecting residential building against earthquakes financially viable. So, we’re solving three problems with one solution.”
