Structural performance of scrap tire culverts

Abstract

Culverts constructed of whole truck tires are a cost-effective alternative for draining water from small drainage basins with areas up to several hectares. Truck tire culvert design involves both hydraulic and structural performance considerations. This paper focuses on the structural considerations. Structural performance of truck tire culverts depends on the strength and stiffness of the truck tires and on their interaction with the surrounding backfill soil. The strength and stiffness properties of truck tires were determined by parallel plate testing. Field tests were conducted to evaluate the soil-structure interaction of buried truck tire culverts under a relatively shallow backfill. Responses with well-compacted and uncompacted (dumped) glacial till backfill soil were compared. Drawing on the results of the parallel plate tests and using the buried conduit test results for calibration, the Culvert Analysis and Design (CANDE) program was used to assess the load response of a truck tire culvert for a variety of backfill soils and to develop structural performance-based design guidelines.Key words: scrap tires, culvert, parallel plate test, field testing, CANDE.