| Using scrap tires as construction materials in civil engineering is of growing interest. Whole scrap tires have been used as culverts, retaining walls, and for slope and beach stabilization. Shredded tires have been used as horizontal drains, ravine crossings, highway embankments, lightweight backfill, and road bed support. The practice of these applications needs the engineering properties of scrap tires. This dissertation involves the quantification of the structural and hydraulic properties of whole truck tires as underground culverts, the derivation of a new stress-strain relationship for low-stiffness flexible pipes and its application to a truck tire culvert, and the investigation and integration of the mechanical properties of shredded tire material. The design guidelines for truck tire culverts developed in this research are also included. |
