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Roads made of old tyres let you burn rubber on rubber

Transport for Scotland has discovered a great new use for discarded old tyres. The agency has resurfaced a main road between Dundee and Perth with the usual building materials such as asphalt, bitumen, crushed stone as well as – yep, you’ve guessed it – shredded rubber tyres.

TfS discovered that its rubber road results in less cabin noise for drivers and less ambient noise for nearby residents, a reduction to the tune of 25 per cent. It also means the 480,000 tonnes of recyclable tyres banned from landfill disposal sites now have a use, other than cluttering up the place and stopping boats from smashing into docks.

Besides delivering peace and quiet, the rubber road is said to be thinner than a typical piece of asphalt. That means smaller quantities of materials are required, bringing down the cost of repairs. Cheaper repairs means money allocated for road maintenance will, in theory, go a little further, although it’s not clear how long rubber asphalt lasts in comparison to the traditional ‘blend’.

Suffice to say, this isn’t a new idea. The US began building rubber roads in the 1960s and you can also find them dotted around Europe and China.

There’s no word from the government on the possibility a wider rollout across the UK, but the future really could be much quieter. Now all we need to do is make airplane engines out of recycled rubber and we’d all live in a more peaceful environment. That would work, right? Right?

Source: Daily Mail 

Image: Flickr 

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