Scrap tires could gain a new purpose as ingredients for construction materials, thanks to research at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Discarded tires are a big problem. Landfills are teeming with them and they can harbor disease-carrying mosquitos and rodents. Stockpiles of old tires also burn easily — creating fires that can quickly get out of control and may burn for months or even years.
But the longevity and resilience of scrap tires also makes them ideal for other uses.
Dr. Mohamed A. El Gawady, a researcher at Missouri S&T, is currently testing new masonry blocks made with ground tires.
“Rubber has a lot of benefits in addition to its sustainability,” says El Gawady, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering. “It’s very durable and provides good insulation. Among their many potential benefits, these new blocks could cut heating bills by 50 percent.”
ElGawady has been working with Midwest Block and Brick, a Jefferson City, Mo.-based company, to create the blocks, which are made from sand and scrap tires ground to fine particles.
These rubber-added blocks, called rubberized blocks, were constructed with a variety of ratios of sand to rubber particles before coming up with the right balance.
“The rubber makes the blocks a bit weaker, so after testing various percentages, we now only replace about 20 percent of the sand with rubber, so the blocks retain their strength,” ElGawady says.
He and his students use a compression machine to test and compare the strength of prisms built with the rubberized blocks to conventional concrete masonry blocks.
Both rubberized and conventional blocks are being tested in an environmental chamber at Missouri S&T. In the chamber, the blocks undergo cycles of extreme temperatures and humidity levels, simulating different weather conditions. The rubberized blocks are also tested under cyclic compression loads simulating earthquake loads.
“Construction with these new blocks could improve a building’s resiliency during an earthquake by acting as shock absorbers,” says ElGawady.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA hires Worthen, Fitzgerald for sustainability, young architects initiatives
As part of an ongoing effort to bolster its education and outreach on sustainability, the American Institute of Architects has hired William J. Worthen, AIA, LEED AP, vice president of Simon & Associates (a green consulting firm) as Director and Resource Architect for Sustainability. The AIA has also hired Kevin A. Fitzgerald, AIA, a former associate with Robert AM Stern Architects, as a staff coordinator/team leader for several AIA committees devoted to young architects.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins+Will acquires Canadian firm Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners
Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners of Toronto, Ont., Canada, has been acquired by Perkins+Will, a global integrated design firm headquartered in Chicago. The merger marks Perkins+Will's 19th office in North America and its second in Canada.
| Aug 11, 2010
NBBJ and C.T. Hsu associates join forces for Florida healthcare market
NBBJ has entered into an exclusive alliance agreement with C.T. Hsu + Associates P.A. (CTHA) to provide world-class design/planning services for Florida's emerging healthcare and science facilities market. The alliance combines NBBJ's international reputation for the design and planning of healthcare and science & research facilities with CTHA's knowledge of community needs and established reputation for planning and design expertise in Central Florida.
| Aug 11, 2010
Minneapolis Public Housing authority, Honeywell launch energy retrofit program
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and Honeywell today announced a $33.6-million energy efficiency and facility renewal program that will help the housing authority improve its infrastructure, reduce its impact on the environment, and save more than $3.7 million in utility costs per year. Local contractors will also complete a majority of the work for the program, one of the largest of its kind for a public housing authority, helping boost the Twin Cities job market.
| Aug 11, 2010
Shepley Bulfinch announces merger of Merzproject
National architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston and Merzproject of Phoenix today announced their merger. The merger unites Shepley Bulfinch, one of the country’s leading design firms, and Merzproject.
| Aug 11, 2010
Skanska Promotes Richard Kennedy to COO for NY/NJ Metro Area
Skanska USA Building Inc., headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., has announced that Richard Kennedy was promoted to Chief Operating Officer from his previous role as Senior Vice President – General Counsel. Kennedy’s promotion marks the latest addition to Skanska’s national leadership team.
| Aug 11, 2010
The New Yorker's David Owen: Why Manhattan is America's greenest community
David Owen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 14 books, most recently Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, in which he argues that Manhattan is the greenest community in America. He graduated from Harvard and lives in Washington, Conn., where he chairs the town planning commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Brown Craig Turner opens senior living studio
Baltimore-based architecture and design firm Brown Craig Turner has significantly expanded its housing design capabilities and expertise with the launch of its new senior living studio.
| Aug 11, 2010
George H. Miller, FAIA, inaugurated as 2010 AIA President
George H. Miller, FAIA, partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, was inaugurated as the 86th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 4th.
