The rubber of recycled tires – for the new asphalt mixture, which is being developed
The SE Lithuanian Road Administration (hereinafter – the Road Administration) announces a public procurement for the development of asphalt mixtures suitable for Lithuanian climatic conditions using the rubber of recycled tires and for the determination of their operational characteristics in order to assess the possibilities of further use. The service providers participating in the open tender procedure are called to submit tenders by November 30 of this year.
The service provider selected during the tender procedure will have to examine the experience of foreign countries in using recycled tires in asphalt mixtures, and will also have to perform the raw material analyses of at least three different producers of tire rubber secondary raw material operating in Lithuania. After evaluating the analysis results, the service provider will have to design at least 4 different models of asphalt mixtures with recycled tire rubber granules and rubber powder, then produce prototypes and test them under laboratory conditions.
The final findings and results of the analysis will become the basis for making decisions regarding further testing of the developed asphalt mixtures under real operational conditions by equipping a test road section.
“The developed prototype mixtures could be tested under real conditions, and, after receiving positive results, the principles of circular economy could be applied: the use of recycled materials would help build the road infrastructure and would contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution“, – emphasizes Remigijus Lipkevičius, head of the Road Administration.
This is not the first attempt by the Road Administration to use recycled materials for road construction. In autumn last year, the construction of a unique section of the road in Jurbarkas district was completed. Slag, which has formed after the conversion of non-hazardous waste into energy, was used on this road section. This is the first such project in Lithuania, the purpose of which is to analyse thoroughly the recycled materials used in the road structure and find out the impact of slag on the operation of the road. After conducting the analyses and evaluating the results obtained, it will be possible to decide on the further use of slag on Lithuanian roads. If the experiment will prove to be successful, in the future, the slag of suitable properties, which has formed after converting non-hazardous waste into energy, could be used to build roads. Such slag will replace part of the normally imported materials of natural origin.