< Back Eighth Street, Grand Rapids (MN) Sunken street gets new life Year Completed: 1997 Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) was the preferred solution to fix a stretch of residential street in Grand Rapids, MN. The paved street, originally built over a deep peat swamp, had settled four feet in some areas. An innovative solution was needed, according to Tom Pagel, office manager, RCM Associates, Grand Rapids. “Considering the soil tests, and with recommendations from Braun Intertec, we went right to tires without seriously looking at other options,” he said. RCM reconstructed three blocks of the street in the fall of 1997 using TDA as fill over the soft soil. One year later, RCM announced that TDA had demonstrated that it can withstand a Minnesota winter. RCM continues to monitor the road to watch for signs of settlement or cracking. “This project is well documented,” Pagel said. Based on his experience with R.-T.E.A., he believes they would use tires again. In the beginning of the project, however, there was some concern. It was a learning experience for RCM and the city. “We were scratching our heads and saying, ‘If this doesn’t work, we’re shot,’” Pagel said. The residents in the area were supportive but also wondered if it would work. Monte Niemi, C.E.O. of First State Tire Recycling, says TDA was an ideal solution in Grand Rapids for several reasons: · Recycled tire aggregate weighs approximately 550 pounds per cubic yard compared to 2,800 pounds per cubic yard for gravel fill. · Lightweight-tire-fill material costs considerably less than other alternatives. · TDA performs well over soft soils. · The pieces compact and interlock providing a stable foundation in sandy and wet soils. · Tire chips are very porous and drain moisture from the granular material placed over the chips. · Recycled tire fill material works as a thermal blanket to reduce the effects of cold on the subgrade beneath the chips. · Tire chips prohibit frost from disturbing the driving surface. · Road projects that use recycled tire material make a good, environmentally friendly use of scrap tires. In addition to working well in wetlands and over other marginal soils, TDA is also often the best engineering solution in terms of road settlement for any roadbed application, Niemi said. NOTE: First image is from 1997; all other images are from 2018. Project Gallery Previous Next

< Back Previous Next < Back American Engineering Testing (St. Paul, MN) Saving limited valuable real estate space Year Completed: 2018 The City of Woodburyʼs Maintenance Facility project will accommodate the cityʼs 2040 goals for public works expansions by allowing the City to expand facility parking and properly manage stormwater runoff. The City of Woodbury chose to use a sustainable, next generation material, ASTM D6270: Tire derived aggregate (TDA). TDA is an aggregate manufactured from discarded tires. In the construction process over 210,000 recycled tires were used. This project entailed constructing 2 underground stormwater infiltration basins. TDA was selected to fill around those basins because of its 50% void space. TDA has the ability to store and infiltrate the stormwater runoff. Using pervious pavement over the stormwater basins filled with TDA allows a driving surface and parking lot on top of the stormwater system. "Our city is starting to age in certain areas and part of that redevelopment is going to trigger a different kind of stormwater management for those properties. And this is something we can say is an option that we would support.” -Teresa Keller, Woodbury Engineering Project Coordinator

< Back Kroschel Township Roadway Benefit of Lightweight & Hydrophobic Properties of TDA Year Completed: 2021 Kroschel Township’s minimum-maintenance road, located at 370th Avenue, was built in 1908, serving as the main road that connected Finlayson, MN to Highway 65. It remained the main road until State Highway 18 came through town. Not long after Highway 18 was built, beavers and other wildlife moved in, creating problems on 370th Avenue and downgrading it to a minimum-maintenance road. In 1971, DNR hired workers to come through and open it up by hand, making it more usable as a trail, for walking and ATV use. Even then, the minimum-maintenance road began to grow back up and became barely passable with off-road equipment. In January of 2021, after a long permit approval process, the decision was made to use a new road subgrade/corduroy underlayment to replace the log corduroy originally used to create 370th Avenue. This new subgrade/rubberized corduroy component is a sustainable Aggregate called Tire-Derived Aggregate (TDA). They choose TDA because of its snowshoe effect over the soft organic soil bridges over the weak materials without a differential settlement. Marvin Rostberg, Kroschel township official, commented that he likes TDA in road subgrade because of its water draining properties. "TDA is hydrophobic, eliminating future frost heaving, which will allow us to restore 370th Avenue to a year-round, fully maintained road," he said. TDA is made from processed shredded tires, and its’ properties are ideal for stormwater management systems, roads, retaining wall support, and many other civil engineering projects. In this case, 370th Avenue will benefit highly from TDA’s hydrophobic property, one of the ten properties TDA provides in their projects. The hydrophobic property prevents TDA from the crystallization of ice, thereby eliminating road damage caused by seasonal frost heaving, as mentioned above, making maintaining the road more sustainable year-round. Project Gallery Previous Next

< Back Lumber Street (Mora, MN) Building a road over a swamp Year Completed: 2009 Going back many decades, Lumber Street in Mora, MN has required continual monitoring, as it is built over a swamp. The road was originally built using corduroy logs, and every spring these logs came up through the roadbed (and sometimes surface) due to seasonal high water from the Snake River. Nearly every year, the road was flagged or even closed during the spring and after heavy rains. After the water subsided, grading and/or gravel was needed for repair work. The road is not often traveled by local residents but is needed by the post office, school buses, and emergency vehicles. Brunswick Township had two options: abandon the stretch of road altogether, or install TDA. Road Supervisor Paul Kollar attended a presentation by TDA Manufacturing in Isanti, Minnesota and chose to repair Lumber Street utilizing TDA to stabilize the road and create capillary break in the subgrade. Since construction, Lumber Street is now one of the stronger roads in the township and will remain so for a long time. Project Gallery Previous Next

TDA CIVIL ENGINEERING PROPERTIES LIGHTWEIGHT Tire Derived Aggregate is approximately 1/3 weight of soils (600lbs. per loose volume cubic yard). 1 ton = 1.67 cubic yards (in place), In-place density = 45-50lb/ft3. HIGH PERMEABILITY Drains 10x better than soil. TDA is free draining and has higher permeability than typical drainage rock. (1 to 30 cm/sec) THERMAL INSULATION Process of insulating material from transferring heat between the materials that are in thermal contact. TDA is 8x better than stone with an R-Value of 7. SHEAR STRENGTH Shear strength is the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear. The shear strength is the load that an object is able to withstand in a direction parallel to the face of the material, as opposed to perpendicular to the surface CAPILLARY BREAK TDA can be the material between the parallel layers stopping capillary action. The high porosity of TDA and its non-absorptive qualities prevent water from wicking towards the surface, eliminating frost heaving. INTERLOCKING The fibrous nature of TDA produces internal reinforcement, creating a “Snowshoe Effect” that prevents differential settlement and adds global support to an overlying structure. REDUCE LATERAL LOAD Lateral loads are live loads that are applied parallel to the ground; that is, they are horizontal forces acting on a structure. They are different from gravity loads which are vertical, downward forces. VOID SPACE TDA has a large storage capacity due to its 50% Void Space (10% greater than stone). The Void Ratio of a mixture is the ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of solids. It is a dimensionless quantity in materials science and is closely related to porosity as follows: and where is void ratio, is porosity, VV is the volume of void-space, VS is the volume of solids, and VT is the total or bulk volume. VIBRATION MITIGATION TDA can reduce ground borne vibrations (a technical term that is used to describe mostly man-made vibrations of the ground, in contrast to natural vibrations of the Earth studied by seismology). For example, vibrations caused by explosions, construction works, railway and road transport, etc. - are all ground bourne vibrations.

(Back) Projects: Road Construction County Road 12 (Kettle River, MN) Frost-heaving problem resolved County Road 12 (Kettle River, MN) Eighth Street, Grand Rapids (MN) Sunken street gets new life Eighth Street, Grand Rapids (MN) Highway 48 (Mankato, MN) Cracks in bridge threaten railway Highway 48 (Mankato, MN) Highway 61 Bridge Approach (revisited!) Bridge Approach Stabilized with Recycled-Tire Engineered Aggregate Highway 61 Bridge Approach (revisited!) I-35 Exit Ramp 171 (Pine City, MN) Slope stabilization going strong over 20 years later I-35 Exit Ramp 171 (Pine City, MN) Infrastructure Improvement Project (Waconia, MN) Under-street sewer and water in area with excessive moisture and sloping terrain Infrastructure Improvement Project (Waconia, MN) Kroschel Township Roadway Benefit of Lightweight & Hydrophobic Properties of TDA Kroschel Township Roadway Lexington Avenue (Shoreview, MN) Six inches of rain doesn't derail 5-day construction Lexington Avenue (Shoreview, MN) Lumber Street (Mora, MN) Building a road over a swamp Lumber Street (Mora, MN) Polk & 381st (Stanchfield, MN) Elevating a Swamp Polk & 381st (Stanchfield, MN) River Road (Bismarck, ND) Road re-opens after four month closure River Road (Bismarck, ND) Virgo Street (Oxford Township, MN) Reducing tax dollars and yearly maintenance Virgo Street (Oxford Township, MN) Wright County Road 14 TDA rescues road project through wetland Wright County Road 14

< Back Renewable Energy Program Recycling is the beginning of converting waste to energy The technologies now exist to recreate how we make energy in this country by converting waste into energy. If energy stopped flowing from all these sources, the U.S. could create the energy it needs by converting its waste sources to energy. It's a very exciting time and we're proud to be a part of the future of waste to energy. Power in Numbers ​ Programs ​ Locations ​ Volunteers Project Gallery Previous Next

< Back Hooper Driveway (North Branch, MN) A retirement dream Year Completed: 2017 In 2001, Sam Hooper and his wife, owners of Little Alaska Cabins, built their dream log home on 55 acres outside of North Branch, Minnesota. Just getting to their homestead was a challenge due to difficult soils. For years, they battled the red clay that swallowed up the gravel on their driveway. The clay got greasy when wet, making it hard for even four-wheel-drive vehicles to make it through the hilly terrain. They would add gravel, but it never lasted for long. In addition to the physical challenges of the driveway, the Hoopers were turned down from obtaining home insurance due to the access issues for fire and rescue staff in case of an emergency. Sam Hooper was thinking out loud about their driveway issues with their friend Ed, who worked at First State Tire Recycling in Isanti, MN. Thatʼs how Hooper learned about tire-derived aggregate (TDA) And heʼs so glad he did! In 2017, TDA Manufacturing reconstructed Hooperʼs challenging driveway using TDA. Hooper worked with the Isanti County Planning and Zoning Department to obtain appropriate approvals and permits. County commissioners were impressed with the project design and use of TDA green aggregate, according to Hooper. TDA helped his budget, too. “The price is extremely good, far cheaper than conventional repair materials. I canʼt even believe everything theyʼre doing,” Hooper said. “Theyʼre doing a superb job.” TDA Manufacturing also helped Sam with another dream heʼs had for a while. On their rolling acreage, He had picked out a beautiful spot on the back corner of their rolling acreage on which to build a log home for his parents (who wanted to retire from 40 years on the west coast). However, Sam's parents hesitated at the opportunity, knowing what a nightmare Samʼs driveway had been over the years. But after the completion of the original driveway, Samʼs parents were confident utilizing TDA in the design and construction of their new driveway would provide them with consistent and easy access to their new dream retirement home! Project Gallery Previous Next

INSTALLING TDA In civil engineering applications, TDA is usually installed in 18-inch layers. After kneeding and compaction (repeated as necessary until final elevation is achieved), a geotextile fabric may be used to cover TDA. On top of that, 18-24 inches of other aggregate is used to compress the compacted TDA. Then, depending on the project design specifications, the surface can be built as usual. ​ TDA can be easily spread and compacted with conventional construction equipment. Typically, the material is delivered to the job site using walking- floor trailers, and excavators and bulldozers are used to place the material. Once the TDA is spread over the site in lifts, it is compacted with a compactor or bulldozer by running over it several passes. (In some applications, a drum roller is used for compaction.) As these vehicles move over the fill, the pieces tend to interlock, orienting parallel to the horizontal shear plane as they form a snowshoe­-like layer. ​ "Dribbling" of tire pieces is reduced significantly by isolating the equipment spreading the TDA from the equipment moving soil and keeping heavy equipment to the area holding the TDA. (Avoid moving this equipment in and out of other construction areas.) Simple maintenance of equipment such as cleaning tire pieces out of tracks ensures smoother operations, as well. ​ Remember that TDA will have elevation shrinkage when compressed with the 18-24 inches of soil. To achieve the correct design depth following compaction, engineers and designers recognize that approximately 50% more loose volume TDA is required compared to conventional aggregate. Request Installation Guide

< Back Depot on Main Apartments (Zimmerman, MN) Underground stormwater system for 65-unit apartment Year Completed: 2019 Previous Next

(Back) Projects: Recreational Spaces Black Bear Casino Trail Path stabilization with TDA Read More Chomonix Golf Course TDA replaces poor soils under parking lot and tees Read More Elm Crest Park Trail TDA keeps city park opening on schedule Read More Lake McKusik Trail City realizes significant cost savings Read More Purgatory Creek Recreation Area Stable foundation for recreational area Read More