Suelo-caucho

Information Note 1/2005 Rubbersoil Key message:

March 2005

Rubbersoil is a new construction material made of rubber crumbs/chips derived from scrap rubber tyres and has been proposed to be usedin slope upgrading works. The Civil Engineering and Development Department always welcomes and keeps an open-mind on the development and use of new materials in geotechnical engineering works. We areactively studying its suitability for use in slope upgrading works.

Introduction Rubbersoil is a lightweight and porous geo-construction material, which is mainly composed of rubber crumbs/chipsderived from waste rubber tyres, cementitious materials and water. Rubbersoil is a new construction material and study is in progress to examine its suitability for application in slope improvementworks. Merits of Rubbersoil The most prominent advantage of rubbersoil is that it provides permanent solution for massive utilization of scrap rubber tires, with the result of (1) saving in landfillspaces and (2) reduction in environmental hazards of illegal dumping of scrap tires. Design with rubbersoil can take advantage of its ability to be made light or heavy, its free draining property, and itshigh cemented strength. According to the manufacturer, rubbersoil is also chemically and physically stable under both short and long-term conditions in the laboratory for normal applications in civiland geotechnical engineering works. Limitations of Rubbersoil Based on the assessment so far, there are a number of issues that we need considering on the wider use of rubbersoil in upgrading loosefill slopes: The unit cost of rubbersoil is generally higher than other replacement materials used for loose fill slope recompaction, e.g. soft backfill and no-fines concrete. When using rubbersoil toupgrade a loose fill slope, the top few metres of existing loose fill needs to be removed and the existing trees on the slope need to be felled, as with conventional recompaction of loose fill...